So What Does It All Mean?

So this is my second time to feature a YouTube video. The first one was about that old swine flue warning commercial in the 1970s. But for today, this is one of my favorite videos in YouTube that I keep on watching every time. It is really my favorite vid that I even used it for a class report just last week. But sadly, my fellow classmates did not appreciate it that much because the laptop my groupmate brought has some problems with its 'sound system.' They missed the very catchy and 'groovy' background music. But why? Well, please watch the video below:

The presentation is quite nice right? This YouTube video had already been viewed more than 5 million times and still counting (I think I had contributed 100 views to it, haha..). It had already undergone three revisions. It was originally intended for a school presentation in America to pose a challenge to its teachers to become effective in teaching their students so that these kids would be prepared for the real world. But it was too good to be just kept as a school presentation.

So here it is now on its third edition wherein this latest version was said to be used for a presentation at the meeting of Sony BMG executives (That explains that last part added which was not in its original version, the number of illegal downloads, the music industry's greatest arch-nemesis).

I bet you were quite impressed at some of the facts presented on the video. Or maybe you got quite dizzy after you have been bombarded with all those numbers. You may be quite amazed on how fast our times are really changing, how fast our time is moving.

But what really caught my attention is the question at the end of it all: so what does it all mean?

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We are undeniably living in 'exponential times' as the video says so. Tingnan niyo na lang ang Facebook. In just two years, umabot na sa halos 50 million ang users at balita ko mahigit 100 million na ata ngayon. We should not be surprised if a new innovation sprouts out of the net that would also receive the same reception that Facebook had. That is why it had been always a must to constantly improve their system to catch up with our ever changing world.

The video had also mentioned that scientists are fast approaching on the creation of a supercomputer that would surpass the computational capabilities of man and before this century ends, they would be able to create a simple desktop PC that would exceed mankind's computational capabilities.

Another one is that the amount of unique information that we would be creating this year would exceed all of the information that we had been able to produce in the past 5,000 years!

Quite impressive. But again the question is "so what does it all mean?"

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If I am going to roughly translate it into Filipino I would get this: 'Eh ano ngayon?'

The creators might have a different message to convey but for me, that last question was the most important part of the video. It means so much especially to our present regime.

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Our dear President keeps on bragging about the number of BPOs and call center companies that have been investing in our country these past few years. She is even very proud to say that these companies had not been gravely affected by the global economic downturn because the "industry" still needs more than a hundred thousand people to work for them. That would be great indeed since a lot needs a job nowadays.

She even goes far by saying that the "industry" is contributing a lot to our economy.

So what does it all mean?

Our dear President has completely lost her mind. I lament the fact that she is an economist yet she cannot understand the basics.

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BPOs and call centers are not the type of 'industry' that we should help flourish in this country. Yes they provide jobs for the unemployed. Their mere presence in some areas helps to get some extra economic activity during the wee hours of the morning. Thus, providing jobs too.

But let's get real. How many call centers do we have here? Maybe a hundred. How much is the industry worth? If my memory serves me right, it is at about $10 billion. That's a lot of money. But is it worth it? Are these call centers for good? Or this is just another industry that would bring our country into another 'boom and bust cycle' - just like what happen in the late 70s?

Well, I do hope it's not. But surely because of our dear President's failure to prioritize developing and investing in our much important industries like our agricultural sector. Well, we have seen some people investing in our agricultural sector but who are they? Foreigners.

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There's nothing bad about these dollar-rich people investing in our land. But what is wrong is the mentality of this regime and the past regimes that the number priority is to attract foreign investors.

..not to encourage its own citizens to invest.

..not to develop our countryside in which more than 70% of our population lives.

..not to develop our own 'industries' which would create goods that are genuinely Filipino.'

..not to have an economy 'effectively controlled by Filipinos.'

..not to have 'genuine progress and industrialization.'

If this regime thinks that BPOs, call centers and sending millions of OFWs every year can uplift every Filipino from poverty, then they really had lost their mind. These dollars would just simply come and go. Because there's nothing of real interest here. No basic industries. A backward agricultural system. Rampant corruption.

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They must have forgotten that ours is an largely agricultural country. We have a large portion of our population dependent on agriculture for their livelihood. And most of poor Filipinos come from this sector. Why? Because the government has neglected their plight which in the past 50 years had been the main cause for the Huk uprising in the 1960s and one of the reasons why the CPP-NPA still exists upon to this day.

Instead of helping them improve their conditions, they only make their lives worst. Land reform still needs to be 'reformed.' Support for those who had been able to benefit from the land reform needs more. These two are very basic. But the government fails to give them.

That's why I have decided long time ago that I won't vote for that orange colored presidential aspirant. I dread to see him turn the whole countryside into subdivisions so that it won't be 'masikip.'

Hindi nga masikip, wala naman makain.

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And so what does it all really mean?

Simple. The last SONA that our dear President would deliver tomorrow means nothing. Just like the YouTube video that I shared with you, the presentation is very impressive. Catchy music, colorful graphic, nicely created Powerpoint presentation but it means nothing to the Filipino masses who cannot even eat once a day.

We may be living in exponential times. But we are leaving behind those who cannot go with it. We leave them in their sorry state.

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Our dear President have lived an exponential term of office. The longest term under our present Constitution.

But she would be leaving all of us in the same state that we had since she took office almost a decade ago.

If she would really be leaving.

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Credits: Gloria Photo, Farmers, Bloggers Kapihan