The whole effing world is in debt. Borrowing against the future is happening in every corner of the planet.
Not in my household its not and although it will be difficult attempting to educate my kids in the same manner that I was by my parents(in this day and age),its extremely important that I continue trying. How on earth did we allow things to get this dire? What happened to the old china piggy banks and the old fashioned attitudes to saving and living within our means? I think its an absolute disgrace how these huge debts will one day be handed over to our kids.. What kind of legacy is that? Effing shameful IMO.
Though we all, collectively, over consume our resources and live beyond our ecological means. Particularly so in the Philippines. Borrowing against the future has been rife there, where the ecological credit card is maxed out.
Huh???? Where did that come from? Are you speaking from the vantage point of having lived here for some years or are relying on what you read on the internet? :f:
Huh? Wrong thread I think.. But OK,if we are changing the subject to ecological debt,then the average UK citizen owes a whole lot more per head. You simply need to look inside a UK landfill site to realise it.. Here,it is still financially viable to recycle at least 75% of the plastic,aluminium,glass and paper etc that sits in a UK land fill which is filtered here before it arrives via 100`s and 1000`s of junk shops country wide that process this waste and then sells it on.. The collection is easy,in fact just about everything is delivered to these junk shops as it has value and the people are paid in cash. Many glass bottles have a deposit value and are reused until they are accidentally broken. Very little is wasted here as it is in the UK or the U.S. Province folk burn garden waste..They do this mainly to repel mosquito`s... I compost mine as I need the nutrients for my veg garden.. This does not increase their ecological debt above mine.. IMO it makes no difference.
Just like i am not in debt, personally, you are obviously not in debt either and evidently are responsible in your relationshop with the environment. But the Philippines as a whole has maxed out on its ecological credit card and the problem is how to reverse that trend. One person taking a responsible approach to their waste is not enough. Undoubtedly it is global problem. Wrong thread? Not really. It is about being able to feed ourselves at the end of the day, whether it be in terms of financial bankruptcy or ecological debt.
Can you be more specific John? I certainly dont walk around with blinkers on but its always easier to discuss these things if we break it down and look at the sectors within the Philippines that you think are the blame for the R.P being "Maxed out". Im not an Eco nut and have my doubts about much of the science and saving the planet malarky. I produce compost because its beneficial for my garden and it gives me big fat cabbages and tomatoes etc.. that is my only incentive and goal. Im seriously thinking about alternative forms of energy like solar and wind...Again,nothing to do with saving the planet.. Just cheaper electric bills,thats all.
How much timber left in the Philippines? Fish stocks - how much left in the seas? What will happen when it runs out as it is heading that way? Is ensuring responsible and sustainable levels of husbandry being an Eco nut? What is involved in reversing the consumption? Can it be carried out overnight? Such resources are not finite and once they are gone, they are gone.
Payback time, with interest. One of a myriad of examples. "According to Filipino officials, rampant illegal logging and mining were likely a part of the cause for the high casualty count from Category 5 Typhoon Bopha (Pablo), especially in the Compostela Valley where government officials had warned people to stop the illegal activities. So far, 370 people have been found dead on the island of Mindanao with another 400 missing. Waters rose so high even emergency shelters were inundated." "If you abuse nature, nature will get back at us," Benito Ramos, executive director of National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), said. "This is due to decades of mining and logging. Our forests are already deluded and there are tunnels left by small-time miners." http://news.mongabay.com/2012/1206-hance-typhoon-bopha.html
When we arrived we built our nipa house all out of timber and bamboo.. We cut down about 30 trees which were between 12 and 15 years old.. About 6 years ago we planted around 60 saplings (Mahoghany and Gemilina) that are now about 35 ft high.. These are extremely fast growing trees and they grow everywhere!! Lots of cows grazing around here and within their manure there are lots of tree seeds.. Young saplings everywhere. Most Filipino`s these days are opting to build with hollow blocks and cement..Far cheaper than timber.. Productive coconut trees need a permit to cut down and I believe that eventually the locals will see a far more sustainable income in the coconuts.. Ocean/sea Fish stocks?? Yes I agree,they are depleting..This is not good in an Asian country where its staple diet is fish.. To combat this the Government are investing in fish farms..(especially here in Bohol) I visited one such farm last Sunday..Impressive. The local shopping malls also grow their own Tilapia and Bangus which they sell for 100.00 per kilo at their outlets.. A few days ago I bought 2 Kilo`s of white MARLIN (120.00 per Kilo) which we cut into steaks and had BBQ`ed.. Bloody wonderful.. The fish are still out there and still reasonably cheap.
Unlike the UK where my rubbish was collected once a fortnight, no matter where I have lived here, it is collected twice a week and there are usually two guys in the back who sort all the rubbish - and I've never had to pay even 1 Peso for that. Despite the illegal logging, which I grant you was and maybe still is an issue, there are still huge acreages of forest and many of the denuded areas are being replanted with various hard woods. As for fish stocks, I would suggest to you that there are (maybe) a a few thousand times more fish available per head of the population for Filipinos than for Britons. Fish is the main source of protein, it is very cheap and plentiful. I suggest to you that, if either country's eco-credit card is max'ed-out, it is Britain's, not the Philippines'. For someone married to a lady from this land, you surprise me by the ferocity of your criticisms for this country which I believe you've only visited once, briefly.
There are heaps of documents, there for you to read, like this. And there are Filipino experts and environmental advocates on the subject matter thar are right behind it but finding that to reverse such trends is very difficult. No ferocity. Just realism. My Filipina is well aware of all of this. Have a long hard look and you will see that the Philippines needs to slam its ship into hard reverse to deal with its lack of intergenerational responsibility. All the info you will ever need is there, if you care to look. http://www.rareconservation.org/program-sustainable-fishing-philippines
Globally we are maxed out. That includes the Philippines. Over fishing and illegal logging is still ongoing. At least some expats in the Philippines are aware of that. Abuse of the coral that is fundamental to sustaining fish stocks is still ongoing. And disasters related to over farming of trees etc is still ongoing.
Nice to hear some positive news. Fish farming will undoubtedly help. Timber doesnt just fulfil a role of providing a source of building material. The forests are part of the earths lungs and provide anchorage against landslides and help combat flooding. If you look at government stats then there is still a huge issue with deforestation. Did it occur to you that the rate of logging might be outstripping the rate of re forestation?
Debt: With reference to illegal logging and over fishing etc : "We have a responsibility to future generations. This is not our world to abuse. We just borrow it from our children." These are the words of a Filipino. His words, not mine. And he had the Philippines in his mind when he said it. With a passion, of course but with ferocity - of course not.
Did you spend more than you could afford? No, did I? Well, not really. The problem is that those with the money and the power wanted more. The way they got it was to encourage everyone to spend, spend, spend. And when you couldn’t afford to spend it was borrow, then spend. We borrowed from people who make massive profits from the interest charged in the high street and then to governments buckling under the pressure. We also live in a society where mainstream media outlets tell us those things such as welfare and health services are too much for us to afford, what with their tax dodging and constant cries of poverty because making a few billion a year is too low for them. Apparently it is the working and middle classes who have to suffer! And here is where I think we need a sort of revolution. End the tax havens around the world and if a company insists on basing their businesses in one, don’t do business with them. Someone else will simply fill the void. The current trend for globalisation and how multi billion pound companies pay less and less tax is the real problem, not somebody claiming income support (no doubt because they earn too little to live on thanks to the corporate culture).
Of course,but it escalated from that point because of the amount of lenders and the fierce competition thereafter (usually Banks) offering Credit cards with a rate of 0% interest rates for 12 months.. Just try to imagine how any lender can sustain his business when throwing it around on a national scale with zero interest due!! I knew some really smart savers that had over 10 of these cards each with a 10k limit.. They paid their mortgage payments with the cards whilst saving and investing the cash.. Just before the 12 months were up they simply paid up the cards in full and then cut them up.. The banks made nothing.. Of course there were the many thousands of UK punters that hit the cards to the limit as they now had an opportunity to keep up with the Jones`s next door.. After 12 months their interest went up from 0% to 36%!!! They may have tried to pay it back for a while but I doubt the banks really saw much of it.. This kind of thing continued in the UK mortgage market and of course in the US...Well Im sure we all know about the sub prime markets.. It was basically a huge Ponzi type scheme and a large house of cards that has now collapsed and everybody feels a little depressed!! Perhaps thats why its called "a depression"!! Edit.. Of course the banks failed!! Its a little ironic that the very people that are struggling now are supporting these institutions via taxes after the Government decided to prop them up with tax payers money.. Why doesnt this make the average Brit extremely angry? Stiff upper lip thing?
