For what it's worth
Eto yung essay na sinulat ko para sa photo competition ng klase. Hindi ata ito napansin ng student body na dumadaan sa third floor ng St. Raymund's building at kung napansin man ito, siguro hindi din nila alam na exhibit yun kasi medyo, uhmm... yung decoration ay parang obstruction dun sa harap. Actually, mukhang palaging in construction yung exhibit kaya di ako pumasok. Tapos na pala, di ko man lang nakita kung ano nangyari dun sa loob. Pinost ko ito para mabasa naman ng iba. Kahit medyo bangag ako nung sinulat ko ito at mas lalong uber bangag ako ngayon habang sinusulat ko ang maikling introduction na ito dahil kagagaling ko lang sa impiyerno, me kaunting katotohanan at kaunting aral ka naman na mapupulot dito.
Btw, sinama ko ang Diyos. Kung hindi lang para sa UST ito uhmm.. never mind. Hindi ko din napigilan ang sarili ko, sinamahan ko ng linya galing sa isa kong paboritong palabas, isang cliche at isang sinabi ni Nietzsche. Enjoy.
***
The global financial crisis was brought upon itself by a number of events, not only by the subprime mortgage crisis and the collapse of the major banks in America. It has been brewing for a long time and the fall of the US stock market generated a tidal wave which rippled through markets in Latin America, Europe and Asia. Mortgages and loans were not paid leading to the downfall of the financial pillars of the US which include Merryl Lynch, Bear Stearns. Even the Lehman Brothers Holdings, which survived the Great Depression in 1929 was not spared. This is the US situation, so what? If the US goes into economic depression, what will it do to us?
It has everything to do with us and will affect us Filipinos, sooner or later. To start, a root of the problem is capitalism’s dependence on the “paper commodity markets” like securities, bonds and stocks. Stockholders suddenly found themselves holding alarmingly depreciating stocks which by the way, spell losses for stockholders. As this paper commodity trading compose a large part of the activities of banks both here and abroad, local banks that have a large exposure or large investments in the US will experience losses, proven by a report that in just 6 days, October 5 to 11, local banks lost P554 billion pesos. Going further, because US is the center of the Philippines’ global economy, local companies who are owned by US companies and have a high exposure to US companies like the export and import industries will suffer decreased economic activity and thus, these industries will experience more layoffs and reduced hiring rates.
If you’re an ordinary office worker and everything is fine now in your company. What will happen to you? Then if you’re working in a call center, beware. Because call centers support mostly foreign companies, the fall in the US economy will reduce their hiring rate and call centers will try to minimize their losses by reducing employees. Filipinos will also experience a decline in foreign remittances because of reduced earnings by OFWs and the reduced economic activity of the United States. Loans will also be more and more difficult to obtain as economic insecurity will give rise to more stringent policies on loan application.
The previous paragraphs are just about the gist of what any normal economics student will tell you. But as thomasian economists, we would go further to elaborate that according to the Associated Press, suicide rates are going up in the US. Fathers killing their families because of bankruptcy and killing themselves afterwards because they have lost a fortune and even some who have killed themselves so that their families could receive insurance money have graced the foreign broadsheets with their tragic stories. The crisis spells disaster for the materialistic. Money has become the center of families that it becomes justifiable to die not because of hunger but because people could not feel the crisp texture of US dollars on their hands and toss in their beds for they are unsure if they will have a job to wake up to tomorrow. This is what is happening to the US. Will it happen to us also?
It will not happen to us if we Christians hold dear the important things and values we have learned. We need to remember that the family is bonded by love, which is an infinitely stronger force than money. We need to remember God and trust Him but not put our trust entirely in the fates; we need to make decisions by ourselves and for ourselves. This crisis will come to pass, as all things in the past have come to pass. Nietzsche said that what does not kill me make me stronger and we will survive and weather this crisis. Remember that there is such a thing as free lunch for the best things, and those that make life worth living, are absolutely free.
Btw, sinama ko ang Diyos. Kung hindi lang para sa UST ito uhmm.. never mind. Hindi ko din napigilan ang sarili ko, sinamahan ko ng linya galing sa isa kong paboritong palabas, isang cliche at isang sinabi ni Nietzsche. Enjoy.
***
The global financial crisis was brought upon itself by a number of events, not only by the subprime mortgage crisis and the collapse of the major banks in America. It has been brewing for a long time and the fall of the US stock market generated a tidal wave which rippled through markets in Latin America, Europe and Asia. Mortgages and loans were not paid leading to the downfall of the financial pillars of the US which include Merryl Lynch, Bear Stearns. Even the Lehman Brothers Holdings, which survived the Great Depression in 1929 was not spared. This is the US situation, so what? If the US goes into economic depression, what will it do to us?
It has everything to do with us and will affect us Filipinos, sooner or later. To start, a root of the problem is capitalism’s dependence on the “paper commodity markets” like securities, bonds and stocks. Stockholders suddenly found themselves holding alarmingly depreciating stocks which by the way, spell losses for stockholders. As this paper commodity trading compose a large part of the activities of banks both here and abroad, local banks that have a large exposure or large investments in the US will experience losses, proven by a report that in just 6 days, October 5 to 11, local banks lost P554 billion pesos. Going further, because US is the center of the Philippines’ global economy, local companies who are owned by US companies and have a high exposure to US companies like the export and import industries will suffer decreased economic activity and thus, these industries will experience more layoffs and reduced hiring rates.
If you’re an ordinary office worker and everything is fine now in your company. What will happen to you? Then if you’re working in a call center, beware. Because call centers support mostly foreign companies, the fall in the US economy will reduce their hiring rate and call centers will try to minimize their losses by reducing employees. Filipinos will also experience a decline in foreign remittances because of reduced earnings by OFWs and the reduced economic activity of the United States. Loans will also be more and more difficult to obtain as economic insecurity will give rise to more stringent policies on loan application.
The previous paragraphs are just about the gist of what any normal economics student will tell you. But as thomasian economists, we would go further to elaborate that according to the Associated Press, suicide rates are going up in the US. Fathers killing their families because of bankruptcy and killing themselves afterwards because they have lost a fortune and even some who have killed themselves so that their families could receive insurance money have graced the foreign broadsheets with their tragic stories. The crisis spells disaster for the materialistic. Money has become the center of families that it becomes justifiable to die not because of hunger but because people could not feel the crisp texture of US dollars on their hands and toss in their beds for they are unsure if they will have a job to wake up to tomorrow. This is what is happening to the US. Will it happen to us also?
It will not happen to us if we Christians hold dear the important things and values we have learned. We need to remember that the family is bonded by love, which is an infinitely stronger force than money. We need to remember God and trust Him but not put our trust entirely in the fates; we need to make decisions by ourselves and for ourselves. This crisis will come to pass, as all things in the past have come to pass. Nietzsche said that what does not kill me make me stronger and we will survive and weather this crisis. Remember that there is such a thing as free lunch for the best things, and those that make life worth living, are absolutely free.
posted by armisael at 3:48 AM
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