Ruins of Meroe

Being Human 31 January 2008

Exploit the exploitable.  Was it just me, or do you find the statement offensive?  No, this is not the free market vs. socialism debate. But sometimes, it is disconcerting to see the difference between their values.  It reflects how far we are from reconciling the hurt and divisiveness, the accusations and the pain; a betrayal in a society of free Filipinos, rich and the poor. 

A professor of my friend said that, exploit the exploitable, and I cannot help but think: is that the reason why there is such a big disparity in the values cherished by the business sector and the government?

Surely, the government is not a saint.  It has its more than scandalous share of the worst personas of our society.  Everyone knows that it is riddled with the big G&C.  But it is only the government that must protect the interests of the poor, the marginalized, the exploitable.  It is only the government that has the capacity to ensure the protection of those who, out of circumstance or of being out of luck, have no means of ensuring their survival in a mechanism of dog-eat-dog.  Those in the condition of absolute poverty, they are the people who do not own any factor of production, no land, capital, skills or technology, no wage that could be had for their labor.  If being marginalized is a matter of being the minority, then they are not marginalized.  They exist alongside our wealth and progress.  And their sight pain the heart as it does pain the eyes.

Who is to voice the concerns of these people and protect their rights?  For they, too, no matter how poor, are citizens of this state.  It is the government who is mandated to ensure that they, too, are cared for in accordance to the wishes of the society.

It is undesirable, but it is necessary.  It is being human when we cannot fully enjoy our wealth if we cannot be assured, to placate the conscience, that someone is out there doing its job for the unfortunate.

Maybe it is just me.  But how can you ensure fairness, and justice, and other noble things in the name of public interest and social values, if you have the people who wield disproportionate amount of power, in part because of their economic might, practicing the doctrine of exploiting the exploitable?   All for the name of profit maximization?  Maybe there is a difference between preaching and practice, and no one pays attention.  Maybe I am over-sensitive, or maybe they lack ethical consideration.  Making profit is all right.  Ensuring that the market mechanism is as efficient as it can be is even socially desirable.  But if profit maximization can only be achieved via exploiting the exploitable, then maybe, we are very far from achieving our goals when we had our first and only exercise of direct democracy more than twenty years ago.  The wounds of EDSA cannot be healed, just as the scars of a colonial past cannot be removed.  There is no reconciliation, if those that operate, or influence to a substantial degree, the market mechanism define profit maximization as an end.  If the end, and all of being human, is upholding profit maximization, then maybe, the business students need more courses to underscore the primacy of social values and objectives.