If there’s one thing I abhor about sociologists (there are tons of things I hate about them, but I suppose this one takes the cake), it’s that they’ve assumed the role of apologist for the poor people of this world.
There is always an excuse for crime, for drug addiction, for unemployment, and it’s never poor people’s fault. They’re sort of just driven into things all the time, without any sort of control over their lives. They have no chance at education, are forced to partake of scraps, beg for a few coins or grow up into a life of crime. They need not take responsibility for their actions, because they’re poor.
The victim mentality, in particular, is prevalent. We are poor, ergo we cannot achieve anything. We are cursed to live this hand-to-mouth existence for life. We are victims of an unjust society that forces us into the pits of poverty.
Boohoo.
I suppose I need not tell you how a lot of the people who, at the very least, enjoy financially-stable lives started out with nothing. It is not education per se that makes a man successful. My father, for one, was born in a god-forsaken village and conscripted to work in the ill-conceived iron furnaces of the Great Leap Forward. No one had anything, especially not money. He never even finished high school. Instead he left his homeland, found a job, had three kids and pretty much sold his soul to a factory just to get us through college. [Note: just in case you were wondering, no we are still not rich. Otherwise I wouldn't have to work my butt cheeks off every single day.]
Unfortunately, televised interviews with people living in the slums remind us that they embrace this concept of victimization fully. They are, after all, doomed to exist in such a dire state for life. There is no need to excel, to exert any effort, because like Sisyphus they will be thwarted.
And what is this obsession with tackiness and uncouthness?
Perhaps we can blame it on all those Robin Padilla movies. They solidified the image of the brash and uncultured goon, tough but with a heart of gold. Poverty has rendered him quite the boor: uncivilized and barbaric but still an icon. Such romanticism has made the poor people of this country unwilling to go beyond the stereotype. I am poor, ergo I must have no manners. I speak like a fishwife (unless, of course, you really are a fishwife), I lack decency and discipline. However, I am a good person deep inside.
[Digression: this "deep inside" thing riles me. If you're not good "outside" then there's probably not so much difference "deep inside".]
I remember Wendy Valdez, that Big Brother contestant who chalked up her indecency and uncouth attitude to poverty. She was poor, she said, and so she had no manners and acted like a general bitch. She was, after all, just being “totoo”, or true to herself. An irate viewer sent in a message to one of the radio stations. Could Wendy please stop using poverty as an excuse, the viewer said. We are poor, but we are not cheap.
Which brings us back to the essence of this long-winded rant.
Everyday, we hear these people say, we are poor, we have nothing. We deserve the government’s support. Feed us. Clothe us. Give us jobs.
In the mean time, they push out gazillions of children they cannot afford to feed, or clothe, or educate. They sic these children on the world at large, leaving the rest of the Philippines to deal with them. The Catholic Church ignores the burgeoning population, encouraging people to go forth and multiply.
Resources are finite, in case you’ve forgotten your basic economics.
With this much people to feed, we can all drive ourselves to death with work and still our taxes will never be enough to support all those pro-poor programs. Taxes should, technically speaking, be used to fund the country’s development projects. Schools, science and technology projects, investments, etc. Our money should go into improving the country as a whole.
In reality, though, all this money from our income taxes and eVat go directly to projects for the poor. Livelihood programs, free clinics, housing — there’s nothing wrong with these projects per se. It’s the fact that they’re devoted solely to a sector of society that makes it completely nuts.
Now those working for minimum wage will be exempted from paying their income tax. The burden of feeding the majority of this country now falls to us — stupid middle class workers who are not poor enough to merit compassion, and yet not rich enough to just leave this country to the dogs. We get our paychecks and find a huge chunk gone, thanks to all the poor people we have to feed.
We have no excuse.
We are not poor enough to be uncouth. We must be humble, lest the poor find us insulting and murder us all. This murderous rampage will be excused, of course, as the inevitable result of the widening social gap. If the hatred boils over and the poor decide to kill us all, it’ll be our fault, because we are selfish elitists who never cared about their existence.
And yet how much of it is really their fault?
These families rely on one bread-winner, when there are obviously four other individuals capable of working, too. They refuse work. Please do not assume that there is no work available in this country. An eighty year old man (true story) scours the streets of Makati and Ortigas for bit jobs just to take care of his family, when his own twenty year old daughter is perfectly capable of finding a stable job. It’s just that these people find it too daunting to work for such meager pay that they’d rather stay home and wait for government assistance.
This country looks down on labor. Tell someone to find a job as a factory worker, and he’ll scoff at you. It’s demeaning. It’s insulting. They’d rather not work than do something so undignified.
But there is dignity in labor. You work, you earn, you feed your family.
Unfortunately, in this country, no one wants to be a “laborer”. If I can’t be in a cushy office working as a professional, then I’d rather not work at all.
You see how those reality shows cash in on poverty. I had champorado for Noche Buena, bawl. I should win this contest even if I have no brains because I’m the poorest contestant of all. I don’t have to lift a finger, I just have to dish out the most sordid details of my poor life.
Stop making excuses. Poverty does not give you the right to sit around on your ass all day. I admire the people who, though they come from the worst of circumstances, manage to find opportunities to improve their lot in life. These people, no matter how difficult their lives had been, manage to rise above it through sheer determination and hard work. Not all poor people remain poor all their lives. Some realize that they are not chained to poverty, and that determination (and a bit of family planning) can get them far from the slums they live in.
There are poor people who realize that they can rise above it, if they do something about it. It’s not just relying on the government. You have to get up and do something. Lying around shirtless all day will not help your family. You have to act. Stop this victim mentality and start thinking of yourself as someone with potential, not someone doomed. It’s not impossible.
The communists are wrong. Egalitarianism will not work. All it will do is reduce us all to rubble.
Now, the thing with the middle class is that we’re too sedate. We work like dogs, we live far from luxurious lives, and yet we’re made to feel as if we have the obligation to take care of all these poor people. As good Christians, we should be compassionate. It’s like you should be guilty because you can afford to eat at McDonald’s and they can’t.
But it takes two to tango. You can use a forklift to pull them out, but if they themselves won’t budge, it’s a futile exercise.
I have no pity for people who sit around all day pitying themselves. If that makes me a bad Christian, then, well, yay.
July 20th, 2008 at 9:01 am
Great post. I will read your posts frequently. Added you to the RSS reader.
July 20th, 2008 at 9:27 am
You have just said everything I wanted to say and been trying to tell some idiots over a local forum who has been lambasting the government for not doing anything for the poor because, well, they’re still poor! I have nothing against the gov’t, but I’m not totally supporting everything they do either (which is another topic altogether). However, I do believe that people should never use poverty or lack of money as an excuse. There are ways to rise above that, and waiting for a handout all the time isn’t one of them.
Poverty isn’t limited to the city. In my dad’s hometown, there’s plenty of families who can’t afford to buy three meals a day or clothe their kids decently. But they don’t beg. Rather, they ask for jobs to help their families survive. My grandparents, who aren’t by any means wealthy either, helped a few of these families years ago. I’m happy to say that their children are grown, have families and some even live well enough to travel abroad. Haha, talo pa ako.
July 20th, 2008 at 2:39 pm
someday, some crazy motherf***er is gonna blow a fuse because of these issues and go on a genocidal rampage, i just know it. for now, i can only lament about the sad state this country and its people is in.
to quote some (long) lines from a former professor:
“…I passionately believed that the government is the main duty bearer of the state, whose obligation it is to fulfill them. Thus, when I thought that the government was reneging on its obligations, I went out on the streets to vehemently protest its abandonment of its constitutionally mandated duties.”
“…But instead of protesting, I am looking for means to fend for myself when the government cannot be there to help me.
This could be perceived as apathy. But it is not wrong. Rather, it is in fact a sense of independence from the mercy of the government. I am apathetic because I have empowered myself. I have broken my self-imposed dependence on the government”
“The kind of politicians we have tells the kind of constituents we are. Thus, I refuse to grant politicians more powers by being as independent as possible from the government and by staying away from political rallies.”
July 21st, 2008 at 2:05 am
There is really no excuse for poverty.
For me… having no money is a situation, living poorly is a decision.
July 21st, 2008 at 7:48 am
@Kat - I know. Yes, we need programs that’ll improve the situation of the general populace, but they need to move their butts, too, if they want their situation to improve.
@Kairex3 - I like that! Who’s your professor?
@Lenggai - Correct. We’ve all been through hard times, some more than others, but you can see people who lived through total poverty yet managed to overcome it. As Joey Reyes puts it, being poor shouldn’t exempt you from working to achieve your dreams. I like how he snaps at reality show contestants who capitalize on their sob stories.
July 21st, 2008 at 10:56 pm
@miss choi
diego odchimar iii. i got those lines from the handouts in his class. sayang isa nalang nandito, nawala na yung iba.
July 22nd, 2008 at 6:54 am
@kairex3 - ah. wow. galing. madami talagang ok na prof sa uste, kaso dami ring may sayad.
July 22nd, 2008 at 7:32 pm
I get the general sentiment of the post. However, there are perceptions that I find quite unsettling. In actuality, you can’t find a more diligent group of people than the ‘poor’. It’s just unfortunate that their diligence does not always translate to acceptable social norms. There is no dependence on government, NGOs or charitable institutions either. Help from these establishments are neither dependable as clockwork nor are they forthcoming. Granted, levels of opportunism are innate in the community. If a resource becomes available, there are no qualms in grabbing as much of it as possible. If looking pathetic and helpless leads to more resources coming in, then so be it. After all, when the media frenzy is over, it’s back to getting busy with strategies on how to make it through the day.
Rags-to-riches stories captivate us because they are still the exception and not the rule. Sure, let’s celebrate those who managed to cross the threshold, but we shouldn’t quickly judge those who are left behind. It’s easy to say there are ways to rise above poverty—in principle you can’t fault that statement. It is, however, like telling the morbidly obese to exercise or the bulimic to stop binging and purging. Your arguments are valid, I just feel compelled to state that perhaps they are more parts conviction than understanding.
July 22nd, 2008 at 9:23 pm
My general beef is with people who accept the “victim” mentality. I’m not necessarily talking about emulating the “rags-to-riches” case studies; you’re right, they’re not the norm. However, you do have to realize that there are people here who would rather rely on one breadwinner rather find work for themselves. My only point is that people should put in their share of the hard work, too, rather than just sit around and wait for opportunities to come.
With regards to the analogy of the obese, well, that’s exactly my point. To a certain degree they are similar. The obese are compelled to eat for reasons hardwired into their brain. Same thing with people who accept that they are victims of fate. But this doesn’t mean that we should just let them continue on in that warped state of mind. If we really care about them enough, we should find ways to get them out of that mental rut. We can’t just say, well, they’re born that way, there’s no helping them. That’s the sort of resignation that’ll only worsen the status quo.
July 23rd, 2008 at 8:55 am
I won’t argue with the idea of getting people to rise above their resignation to fate. I’m “find your limit and exceed them” kind of guy. I’m just really defensive when it comes to ideas like “they are poor because their lazy”, that is just a toe-curling for me. I don’t think that is your position.
Although there are proportionate dispersion of lazy people across race, creed and station in life. It’s lethal to be lazy and poor. Natural-selection will take care of that. When your poor your either diligent or dead. Not saying the lazy-poor don’t exist but they are not the majority and they probably make the most noise.
I should know I’m a sociologist… just kidding
July 23rd, 2008 at 9:00 am
Excuse the poor grammar… my proofreader was busy hehe.
July 23rd, 2008 at 10:49 am
“they are poor because their lazy”
Aaah I get you. Yes, that mentality’s kind of wrong, because people are born into circumstances beyond their control. I think i just don’t like the fatalism we see in a lot of them. You’re correct about them making the most noise; they’re the ones busy rallying instead of working. Not to say that freedom of expression is wrong, but really, there are more productive ways to rise out of of whatever rut you’re in.
July 23rd, 2008 at 12:07 pm
ang problema kasi sa mahihirap, kailangan sila lagi ang pinapanigan at kinakaawaan, pero matatawa ka, sa lugar namin, walang trabaho ang mga tao, pero araw-araw na lang na ginawa ng Diyos, may drinking session sila, take note, ARAW-ARAW! wala na nga silang mapakain sa pamilya nila, may gana pang uminom.. saan ka pa.. kaya nga hindi ako naniniwalang dapat silang kaawaan, naiinggit pa nga ako sa kanila, kasi may pang-inom sila, akong nagtatrabaho, bibihirang uminom… at isa pa.. lahat sila naka cellphone.. astig!
July 23rd, 2008 at 5:47 pm
@potsquared - sobra ka naman porke ba mahirap eh ‘alang karapatang magka-cellphone :). Hindi ko pinagdududahan ang veracity ng iyong observation pero araw-araw na inuman… ang tanong eh, is it the same people? Kasi minsan me tendency tayo to lump them all together. Tipo bagang “they all look alike”. Atsaka how do we know na hindi muna nila pinakain yung kanilang pamilya bago nila sinimulan yung kanilang session. Kung nanggulo sila paglasing na, ibang usapan yon at alang kinalaman sa pagiging mahirap. Kahit hindi na natin sila kaawaan kasi karamihan naman eh maraming life skills at very adaptable. bawasan na lang natin ang mga snap judgement hane.
July 23rd, 2008 at 9:28 pm
@potsquared - may ganyan din sa min, papasok pa lang ako ng trabaho umiinom na. at ang mga squatter sa sta mesa, may aircon at cable. shempre hindi sila ang nagbabayad, salamat sa jumper.
@marman - siguro yung mga nagtatrabaho, dapat talaga hangaan. ang problema talaga, yung mga taong umaasa lang. yung tipong otsenta na yung tatay sya pa rin yung breadwinner. hindi naman porke hindi ka nakatapos di ka na magtatrabaho. At sa tingin ko, kung nagtatrabaho sila para buhayin ang pamilya nila, wala silang oras makipag-inuman ng tanghaling tapat. may mga masipag, pero sadly yung mga tamad hinihila lang sila pababa.
July 24th, 2008 at 10:43 am
@marman - hihihi pasensya na, dala lang siguro ng pagkainis.. kaya ko sinabing araw-araw kasi sila rin yung nag-aalok sa akin uminom bago ako pumasok.. at pag-uwi ko naman, nandun pa rin sila, kakilala ko sila kasi mga kalaro ko sila dati nung bata ako, kapag dumadaan nga ako, hinihingan pa nga ako ng 20 pesos para pandagdag, nung una nagbigay ako.. aba, inaaraw-araw nila ako.. ano ako.. charitable institution? hindi ko naman sinasabing wala silang karapatang magka cellfone.. yun nga lang.. nagrereklamo sila na wala silang trabaho.. pero nakikita mong hawak-hawak nila cellfone nila.. mas bagong modelo pa ata kesa sa akin.. sensya na po kung masyado po akong magsalita against sa kanila, galing din po kasi ako sa hirap, pero hindi ginawang reason ang kahirapan para di ako makatapos at magtrabaho, sila kasi, sinasabi nila na mahirap sila kaya dapat kaawan mo kami… speaking out loud lang po sir marman.
@ms. choi - naku! yung kuryente.. yan yung system loss na binabayan ng mga legal na may metro… tsk tsk tsk…
July 24th, 2008 at 1:49 pm
@potsquared haha pasencia rin kung masyadong akong defensive…force of habit:)
July 24th, 2008 at 1:51 pm
@miss choi - can’t argue with that:)
July 24th, 2008 at 2:13 pm
okie lang po sir marman… =) more power!