I have often wondered why, in spite of all the efforts of governments and multilateral agencies and the development of theories in economics, political science and anthropology, the problem of poverty has never left us. In the Philippines economic development plans have been drawn up by every administration, and every president and wannabe has espoused his commitment to improving the lot of the poor. And yet, the poor are still with us.
In some way, it may be said that efforts in that direction have been made, as job creation, livelihood opportunities and support for small, medium and even micro-industries are already factored into development plans.
In fact, exuberant growth in many economies provided optimism that this growth would “trickle down” to the poorer countries. In this paradigm, governments were seen to take the leading role in bringing about development via capital accumulation, and government-directed efforts.
Unfortunately, the efforts at engineering economic growth did not eradicate poverty, despite economic models of every stripe with every “variable” factored in to explain economic growth, and it had to be admitted that statistical estimates could not be made with accuracy.
There must be a missing link somewhere, which economic development theory has been unable to capture. I have since learned from former Department of Social Welfare and Development Secretary Rosalinda Valenzona that there are five building blocks for a truly Christian paradigm for human and social development that is firmly founded on human work: human dignity, human development, the social dimension, family and social development.
Man’s innate ability flows directly from his dignity as man. It implies an economic dimension to human dignity. Social justice demands that every man be empowered to be self-sufficient and to participate in the creation of wealth to contribute to social progress. Work provides opportunities for discovering solutions to everyday problems at work—moving from problem identification, analysis of causes, discovery of solutions, formulation of plans and implementing them—that develops man’s potential. Man is the protagonist in his development, and he cannot achieve fulfilment by being a mere passive receiver of assistance—human development cannot be achieved without man’s participation. Government cannot do this for him.
Work has a social dimension that provides man with opportunities to bond with others, and highlights the contribution of work to the formation of culture. Standards of behavior, such as work and social ethics in the work environment contribute to the formation of culture. Work, thus, provides a social bond, the solidarity that links people to one another.
Among all creatures, it is only man that is part of a unique social and economic unit known as the family. The family provides the reason for man’s struggle for material development, and the family lives in society and must interact with a bigger collective for some of his needs. Since he has to carry this out with others, society must respect man’s duty to work to sufficiently provide for his family.
Government regulation of socio-economic and political life should ensure favorable conditions for human development without impinging on the rights of the family, which interfere with his right to uphold his dignity as a human person.
The fifth facet of work is that it is a means of helping to improve the society in which we live and in the progress of all humanity. Our development concerns should embrace our community, our nation and the entire human race. Social development takes place when each member of the community is able to participate in the process, to contribute to production, and to share in the benefits of economic growth.
It has been shown that the various theories of development—from the Malthusian emphasis on large population as a handicap, to theories that stress capital accumulation and “human capital,” which motivated governments and multilateral agencies to suggest and implement a variety of socioeconomic and political solutions—have simply resulted in failed development.
The missing link in economic and social development theory is found in man himself—he who is endowed with both spiritual and human dimension. Respect for his human dignity is tied up with his right and duty to work. In work he participates in the creative power of God, and is endowed with the capacity to use science and technology to make work productive and makes him capable of sharing the product of his work with others. And that, as affirmed by Valenzona, is what after all, socioeconomic development is all about.
E-mail: merci.suleik@gmail.com