De La Salle University Manila Gokongwei College of Engineering

Sustainability and Power: Keys to the Empowerment of a Nation

De Jesus, Mary Anne O. SOCTEC2 EA1

Integration Paper August 26, 2013

Sustainability and Power: Keys to the Empowerment of a Nation I do strongly believe in the concept of sustainable development. Theoretically, it is a form of development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of the future generations to meet their own needs. In a simpler sense, people are able to satisfy the demands of their needs through a certain limit of resources being used so as to have an indefinite supply. In the world we live in, I can say that we are not gearing towards sustainable development. There are three major systems that are needed to be sustained in order to improve the quality of our lives. These are the economic, social and environmental systems. For instance, the economic system must be stable. Stable in the sense that we are exporting more than we are importing right now. Our economic status should be inclining instead of declining. For the social system, the population should not be controlled because I do not believe in overpopulation. For the environmental system, our natural resources should be capable of providing us for a long time and that is achieved through the proper use of them. These three systems must be sustained by the country. However, there is a catch. The economic, social and environmental systems of each country must be sustainable in order for the world to be gearing towards sustainable development. The first ones that should implement our trek to such wonderful development would be the government. Thats where power comes in. As the used and abused line from Spiderman goes, with great power comes great responsibility. We, in the Philippines are both blessed and cursed with a democratic ruling and a long line of corrupt politicians. We have the power to nominate and declare our choice persons in the seat while being lied to by their false promises. Power is the ability to influence people to act according to your ways. In some cases, there could be an abuse in power, causing a sort of coercion for people to rather act not according to their own wills,

which is greatly met with violent responses. Power comes in two forms. One is concrete manifestation wherein we strictly obey the laws imposed on a community. The other one is an abstract manifestation wherein it does not involve any physical force in order to influence rather, it is a memorandum, a piece of information, propaganda and any other means that will gradually influence a person. The keyword is gradually. I strongly believe in these principles of power. We are shaped by the influence of society to us. For instance, why do we feel a need to wear clothes? It is because when we strut around wearing nothing but our skin, we will be met by scorned, questioning stares from everyone around us which will then be registered in our minds that there is something wrong in what we are doing, thus influencing us to do what the society expects of us: to get dressed. Just like in politics. The president, congressmen, senate and all other officials influence us through the laws, bills, policies they make in order to keep the peace and order in the country. In another sense, they may also influence us to do things that will make their personal interests gain. For instance, imposing a 12% tax for basically everything that can be bought. Using these taxes the peoples money for mainly building and destroying and building roads just to say that the pork barrel is utilized properly. In my opinion, this is a very strong manifestation of power. When things go wrong in a community, there will be those rebels who will advocate the truth. These are called resistance, or anti-power. Their main purpose it to oppose those in power because they do not agree or want to submit. However, power is not only manifested by people. In relation to technology, there are those Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) that can monitor an area at any given time. These surveillance gadgets come in handy when keeping a close watch on precious jewels store or gadget shops. This can also be a handy burglar detector in homes and offices. However, such technology that has the power to oversee everything can actually violate the right to privacy of a person. Imagine being in a house full of

surveillance cameras that monitor each and every move that we make. This is an example of an exercise in power by technology.