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Interconnectedness is the idea that everything is
ultimately connected to everything else.
The late
British author and humorist Douglas Adams played with
this concept in his book Dirk Gently’s Holistic
Detective Agency by having the title character charge a
client for his three-week trip to the Bahamas as part of
the search for the woman’s lost cat which disappeared in
London. Dirk justifies the expense by invoking the
“interconnectedness of everything.”
Any
child clearly understands this highly abstract concept.
When asked why the vase fell off the dining-room table
as he walked by, the boy replies, “It’s my brother’s
fault.” Why? “Because last night I could not use the
upstairs bathroom to shower since Kuya wasn’t
finished, and now my towel is downstairs and I had to
get it and walk by the table where Ate put the vase. And
it is her fault also.”
Everything is connected to everything else. Push the
balloon in on one side and it bulges on the other side.
The
problem is that as we grow more educated, sophisticated
and become “experts,” we almost entirely forget about
this concept.
Despite
the enormous public pressure and some wavering from
certain administration officials, President Arroyo is
standing firm on the point of maintaining the
value-added tax (VAT) on petroleum products. Perhaps she
does understand “interconnectedness.”
Reducing
or eliminating the VAT on gasoline would create a
potential disaster. The Philippines cannot afford to
continue to use the same amount of crude-oil products as
we did when a barrel of oil cost only $70.
The
effect on our trade account could be severe. High
gasoline prices are creating the necessary conservation
measures we need. The Metro Rail Transit and Light Rail
Transit systems have experienced a significant jump in
daily passengers. That saves the country money, a lot of
money. Further, some of those people will continue to
ride public transportation even after oil prices go
down.
Reducing
the cost of fuel through artificial methods like playing
with the tax rate is foolish. Imagine the financial
results if oil does go to $200 a barrel and we are still
consuming as much. What artificial means will be
suggested by the politicians, then, to reduce the price?
We need to support reduction in demand and one way to do
that is by not supporting political gimmicks and
artificial price controls.
Many
years ago, US and Canadian oil-bean growers and
processors mounted a vicious crusade to discredit the
use of “tropical oils” like coconut and palm oil. In
league with certain environment and “health food”
radical groups, coconut oil was particularly singled out
for its high saturated-fat content. The industry was
decimated, with farmers in Southeast Asia facing prices
that guaranteed financial losses. The winners were the
rapeseed and soybean producers in North America and
Australia.
The
unintended consequences, or the “interconnectedness” of
the antitropical-oil smear campaign, was to raise health
awareness of cooking oil in general. The public
discovered that the “miraculous” Canadian-promoted
“canola oil” was in fact rapeseed oil, canola being
nothing more than a clever marketing name.
Rapeseed
oil is highly toxic and was used as fuel for lamps
hundreds of years ago. Only through substantial efforts
at genetic reengineering and modification was rapeseed
made fit for human consumption at all. A University of
Florida study found transfat levels of up to 4.6 percent
in commercial canola oil, as opposed to the Canadian
government’s assertion that canola has only 0.2 percent
trans fat.
Because
of concerns about inhibited growth in human infants, the
US Food and Drug Administration does not permit canola
oil in infant formula.
Formerly, coconut oil was “banned” because of containing
high levels of saturated fat. Now, oils high in trans
fat are actually being banned in such areas as in New
York City.
From
Bloomberg: “Global demand for coconut oil will exceed
exports in the second half, boosting prices, as
restaurant companies, including McDonald’s Corp., shift
to trans-fat-free oils. Demand from buyers, including
the US, may reach 1.58 million metric tons, while
exports may total 1.01 million tons.”
Coconut-oil prices are going through the roof, up 60
percent in the last year. “US coconut-oil imports may
rise 24 percent to 304,200 tons in the second half from
a year ago, boosted by demand for trans-fat-free oils.
China’s imports may rise 89 percent to 122,500 tons in
the second half.”
So what
will happen to the canola- oil producers? Canola oil is
now being looked at as a very promising source for
manufacturing biodiesel. Interconnectedness.
Nursing-school enrollment is booming. Call-center jobs
are growing rapidly. They are interconnected. Both
nurses who intend to go to the US or UK and call-center
agents are required to be fluent in conversational
English.
Call
centers are having trouble meeting their employee
requirements. Now, the Philippine Nursing Association
reports (from ABS-CBN News), “The demand for Filipino
nurses in the United States and other key labor markets
is falling.” And “with domestic demand not increasing
and global demand decreasing, many nurses are now
waiting to be employed.”
Call
centers are now finding the available pool of qualified
applicants going down. And where might these new
English-speaking nurses be looking for jobs next year?
Interconnectedness.
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