What are you thinking right now?

[vcs]

It is never unethical to keep books longer than necessary. Nothing should come in the way of writing a good essay, preparing for an exam or whatever.

If the other person needs it so badly, they'll find a way to get it.

[Goughy]

Ive been spending time talking to people and thinking about the Philippines and it isnt good news. A whole group of problems that no matter how hard you think doesnt lend itself to simple and easy solutions.

20% of GDP comes from remittances. Their only viable export is people. These remittances are vital to the economy and the survival of 10s of millions. An unfortunate side effect of these billions and billions been sent back is that to do so people are selling dollars and buying pesos in order to send it home. This leads to the currency being far stronger than it should which makes exports a near impossibility. Whether true or not, I was told by a reliable source that prostitution is a larger sector of the economy than manufacturing.

The country has slow econ growth rates yet the population has doubled in the last 25 yrs (50 mil to 100 mil.) There is not the infrastructure to deal with this and conservatively you could trim 50% of the national workforce with no loss of productivity. Labour is so cheap that every store--no matter how small-- has its own security guards, every rack of clothes in a shop has its own attendant, there are few traffic lights as it is cheaper to have a man directing traffic at each and every junction, every family with a little bit of money has a driver and domestic help and I could go on. I thought South Africa was bad in how many unnecessary jobs it has but PH takes it to a new level.

Despite all this labour it has recently become a large importer of rice and through mismanagement has huge food security issues.

Poor children becoming adults today have harder lives than their poor parents did and that isnt how it should be.

Add into the equation almost unparalleled corruption (certainly in Asia.)

In the last election the Catholic Church refused to endorse a single candidate but said that it would refuse to give communion to any candidate that supported reproductive health education. 1 yr before the election all candidates recognised the population growth problem. By the election--after pressure-- all said that these were not issues that were suitable for politics and should be left to the church, people and their conscience. It was a battle for the soul of Filipino democarcy and the Catholic church won (70% of the pop wanted reproductive health education policies but were ignored.)

The grinding poverty is one thing but the incredible affluence is another. There is an old joke that the 10 middle class Filipinos all moved to the US a long time ago. There is wealth here on a huge scale like I have never seen before (not in USA, UK, SA etc) but the drop from that is to absolute poverty and helplessness. How this place has avoided a real bloody revolution is beyond me-- not that I am advocating it, I certainly am not. There are Communist rebels in the North (New Peoples Army) and Islamics insurgents in the South (M.I.L.F.) and there are other security issues.

Also 50 yrs ago PH was effectively an English speaking nation with a bright future and a huge comparative advantage over other Asian nations with the exception of Japan. A nationalist movement has all but destroyed high level English in favour of Tagalog as the first language. While this has certain 'pride' benefits, it has contributed greatly to PH retreating further into the economic backwoods.

The problem isnt one of education. A degree is needed for all but the most menial of jobs. A degree is all but worthless but to be without one is even worse. Across the globe a recognised fact is that the more educated you make the female popultion the fewer children are born. Female education rates are inversely proportional to population growth rates. Not so in the Philippines. It bucks the trend and the one sure fire way of dealing with the problem doesnt work in the country.

Add into all this the international embarassment of the bus incident and the global exposure of how unprepared and illtrained the forces are for a crisis.

The Filipino people are fantastic but the country itself has been ill prepared to deal with the past 50 years and there are few signs that it can extricate itself from its considerable and complex issues. The population will continue to grow at a remarkable rate, the economy will still grow comparatively slowly and the issues faced in the past and today will be multiplied in the future. I really enjoy this country and its people. I just dont envy the challenges they face in the future.

Apologies. This was only supposed to be a short paragraph and I got carried away. I dont expect anyone to read all that, I was just answering the question. I should also add that these are my observations and off the cuff thoughts and I speak for myself only.

[Craig]

Originally Posted by Goughy

Ive been spending time talking to people and thinking about the Philippines and it isnt good news. A whole group of problems that no matter how hard you think doesnt lend itself to simple and easy solutions.

20% of GDP comes from remittances. Their only viable export is people. These remittances are vital to the economy and the survival of 10s of millions. An unfortunate side effect of these billion and billions been sent back is that to do so people are selling dollars and buying pesos. This leads to the currency being far stronger than it should which makes exports a near impossibility. Whether true or not, I was told by a reliable source that prostitution is a larger sector of the economy than manufacturing.

The country has slow econ growth rates yet the population has doubled in the last 25 yrs (50 mil to 100 mil.) There is not the infrastructure to deal with this and conservatively you could trim 50% of the national workforce with no loss of productivity. Labour is so cheap that every store--no matter how small-- has its own security guards, every rack of clothes in a shop has its own attendant, there are few traffic lights as it is cheaper to have a man directing traffic at each and every junction, every middle class family has a driver and domestic help and I could go on. I though South Africa was bad in how many unnecessary jobs it has but PH takes it to a new level.

Despite all this labour it has recently become a large importer of rice and through mismanagement has huge food security issues.

Poor children becoming adults today have harder lives than their poor parents did and that isnt how it should be.

Add into the equation almost unparalleled corruption (certainly in Asia.)

In the last election the Catholic Church refused to endorse a single candidate but said that it would refuse to give communion to any candidate that supported reproductive health education. 1 yr before the election all candidates recognised the population growth problem. By the election--after pressure-- all said that these were not issues that were suitable for politics and should be left to the church, people and their conscience. It was a battle for the soul of Filipino democarcy and the Catholic church won (70% of the pop wanted reproductive health education policies but were ignored.)

The grinding poverty is one thing but the incredible affluence is another. There is an old joke that the 10 middle class Filipinos all moved to the US a long time ago. There is wealth here on a huge scale like I have never seen before (not in USA, UK, SA etc) but the drop from that is to absolte poverty and helplessness. How this place has avoided a real bloody revolution is beyond me-- not that I am advocating it, I certainly am not. There are Communist rebels in the North (New Peoples Army) and Islamis insurgents in the South (M.I.L.F.) and there are other security issues.

Also 50 yrs ago PH was effectively and English speaking nation with a bright future and a huge comparative advantage over other Asian nations with the exception of Japan. A nationalist movement has all but destroyed high level English in favour of Tagalog as the first language. While this has certain 'pride' benefits, it has contributed greatly to PH becoming retreating further into an economic backwoods.

Add into all this the international embarassment of the bus incident and the global exposure of how unprepared and illtrained the forces are for a crisis.

The Filipino people are fantastic but the country itself has been ill prepared to deal with the past 50 years and there are few signs that is can extricate itself from its considerable and complex issues. I really enjoy this country and its people. I just dont envy the challenges they face in the future.

Apologies. This was only supposed to be a short paragraph and I got carried away.

My best friend is from the city you're living in, and he actually wishes he didn't come to Australia when he was 9 (he's now 26) because his family has a lot of money behind them, so he never had to lift a finger. They also had maids and the whole lot.

He also said told me that it was quite bad that Manny Pacquiao got voted into the Congress simply on the basis of who he is, rather then his policies.

[NZTailender]

Originally Posted by Goughy

There are Communist rebels in the North (New Peoples Army) and Islamics insurgents in the South (M.I.L.F.) and there are other security issues.

Now there's a movement I could really get behind...



Sorry for making a cheap gag from what was a really interesting post. How does tourism rate on the money making scale for the Philippines?

[Craig]

It's either a stroke of genius in getting people's attention, or in retrospect they could of picked a better name.

[Goughy]

Originally Posted by NZTailender

Now there's a movement I could really get behind...



Sorry for making a cheap gag from what was a really interesting post. How does tourism rate on the money making scale for the Philippines?

TBH, after writing the long post I expected the first comment to be about that. Thank God Craig got there first.

Moro Islamic Liberation Front. Some people pronounce the initials, some people say it as the word (and it still gets giggles)

[Goughy]

Originally Posted by Craig

My best friend is from the city you're living in, and he actually wishes he didn't come to Australia when he was 9 (he's now 26) because his family has a lot of money behind them, so he never had to lift a finger. They also had maids and the whole lot.

He also said told me that it was quite bad that Manny Pacquiao got voted into the Congress simply on the basis of who he is, rather then his policies.

There is no reason for anyone with money to leave here. It would be virtually impossible to replicate the lifestyle in any Western nation. The only reason to lift a finger is to point to a spot someone has missed.

Westerners (especially men with a private income) move here in large numbers and have a wonderful existence and frankly I dont blame them at all. Everyone speaks the lingo, you have to do jack ****, everything you could want is available and the women love you.

Originally Posted by NZTailender

Sorry for making a cheap gag from what was a really interesting post. How does tourism rate on the money making scale for the Philippines?

Tourism is big business. The scuba here is unparalleled on the planet. Tourism contributes massively to the economy. However, it isnt as developed as it could be due to the relatively remote location of the country, the geography of the nation (an archipelago of 7000 islands) and limited infrastucture and traffic problems. It still attracts huge numbers but the ongoing problems in Mindanao are bad publicity and the recent bus incident led to the Chinese and others canceling thousands of vacations.

[G.I.Joe]

Originally Posted by Jono

I'm thinking about whether the following actions are unethical:

I'm doing a 10k word media law essay. It's my final semester at uni, and I've got a gem of a book borrowed from the library which touches upon all the issues I am writing on.

Now I had like 5 books due for return on Tuesday. I returned back 4 of them, but kept this one as I'm still using it. Figured I'd give it back Wednesday, cop the 50 cent fine, as we get a "$15 grace" anyway. As It's my final semester, I basically have up to $15 worth of fines in the bank in which I won't have to pay.

Obviously didn't return it Wednesday, as it's Sunday and I still have it

Now, as this book is important for my essay, I'm heavily considering keeping it until I get to $15 and then returning it.

Some poor bastard who has put the book on recall won't get it, and will be pissed. Is this unethical? It seems like the answer is yes, but then again, I'm still copping my penalty. My penalty is $15 worth of fines. Not my fault there's a $15 grace amount

What does putting a book on recall mean exactly? Does it mean that he'd borrowed it earlier and reserved a slot for borrowing it back in future? In that case, he can GAGF. That's more of a dick move than anything else.

[Jono]

Nah not quite. So if I borrow a book, I can have it for a certain time, and if it hasn't been 'recalled' by anyone, I can just automatically extend that time online.

However once someone 'recalls' the book, I can't just automatically extend it. I have to return it on the original due date.

Appreciate the support from CW though. Going to assume you're all correct in saying it's just a dick move, and not unethical, and not accept the likely reality that CW is just filled with evil people

[G.I.Joe]

Originally Posted by Jono

Nah not quite. So if I borrow a book, I can have it for a certain time, and if it hasn't been 'recalled' by anyone, I can just automatically extend that time online.

However once someone 'recalls' the book, I can't just automatically extend it. I have to return it on the original due date.

Appreciate the support from CW though. Going to assume you're all correct in saying it's just a dick move, and not unethical, and not accept the likely reality that CW is just filled with evil people

Haha, in that case you're just doing the wrong thing. Return it, you sociopath.

[vcs]

He's your classmate competing with you to get maximum grade on this assignment, and you're just holding onto the book so that he can't steal a march on you, right?

Knew it.

[GIMH]

Jono you are a complete scumbag

[nightprowler10]

Wow what a douche. I can't believe people like you exist. Please do us all a favor and don't ever copulate.

[Matt79]

My tooth hurts. Has been hurting all weekend, was bad enough last night to wake me up.

Probably should go to the dentist or something.

[PhoenixFire]

He's going to be a lawyer, he needs to get used to unethical practices.