A COUPLE of days ago, I stumbled across a pile of books I bought while I was a student of political science in Germany. The questions those books dealt with (and also the thesis I had to write) could be summarized as: “What is good for development and prosperity in democracies?”
Growing up in Germany does not necessarily lead you to believe that everything we have is perfect just because we’re one of the richest countries in the world. We have learned to question our institutions, our policies and our politicians, our entire system of government constantly. Having started two World Wars, I believe it is not only legitimate for Germans but also necessary to question such things in a vibrant public discourse permanently. So, what kind of policy and which system is the best to guarantee lasting prosperity? I found it exciting to see how many of the things I read years ago can be applied to the Philippines today. And that is why I keep on asking myself: Why do things not improve in the Philippines? We’ve seen impressive economic growth, but still 25 million Filipinos live in poverty. We’ve seen efforts to bring peace to Mindanao and establish a real autonomous region in the Bangsamoro, but we’re back to square one now. We’ve seen an intense fight against corruption, but are we less corrupt today?
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