One of the wonderful example of the use of moral suasion to implement social policies is through populist nationalism.
Take the tough talk by the Philippine president on yesterday’s holiday celebration where he mentioned that the Philippines “will not back down from any challenge” on territorial dispute, or in the previous occasion, to defend against “bullies in our backyard”
The nationalist meme essentially justifies the government’s defense military spending which according to an official, is “at levels never before seen”. [This administration seems enamored with “new order” sloganeering]
According to GMA Network,
President Benigno Aquino III signed the new Armed Forces of the Philippines Modernization Act, which will have an allocation of around P75 billion in its first five years.The Aquino administration has spent more than P28 billion for the AFP modernization program, compared to around P33 billion spent for the same purpose 15 years before his term.
And a few days back, the $15.5 million refurbished decommissioned US Coast Guard ship became part of the Philippine military’s inventory to supposedly defend the nation’s territorial boundaries.
Anyone with an iota of commonsense would realize that no matter how the Philippines government spends on defense, she can hardly match China’s military capabilities.
In naval warship inventories alone China has 972 as against 110 for the Philippines from (globalfire.com). Yet numbers are not enough. One must note that the Philippine government hardly has any new hardware, as against generically developed weaponry from China.
From the Wired.com
Two new models of stealthy jet fighter. A new(ish) aircraft carrier. Separate ballistic missiles for targeting orbital satellites and ships at sea. A host of cyberespionage tools. Everybody's already heard about China's main new weapon systems, developed and deployed in alternating fits of secrecy and pageantry over the past decade of the Middle Kingdom's explosive economic and military growth.
And as pointed out in the past China has drones and nuclear weapons. This means that such nationalist mantra represents nothing more than bravado.
Rather, populist politics has been an instrument used to expand control over society. For instance, despite the so-called booming economy, this administration appears to be in desperation to tax and squeeze the productive segments of society.
In addition, as I pointed out in the past the territorial disputes seems more and more like smokescreens to promote the military industrial complex as well as to expand US military presence here.
Such conflict could also have been used as pretext to divert people’s attention from real economic problems as well as to justify inflating the system.
The nationalism bluster justifying the defense buildup looks like Indiana Jones versus the sword master, in the Raiders of the Lost Ark
At the end of the day, promoting free trade would be the best way to attain regional or global cooperation.
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