Why are so many Filipinos poor?

Tina Lim

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Born and partly raised in Manila. Updated May 24

Why are so many Filipinos poor?

I think there’s many reasons but the main reason is that it’s a HYPER CAPITALISTIC ECONOMY.

What does this word mean? In hyper capitalistic economies, there are no protections, PERIOD. There are no worker’s rights and there are no consumer protections. The god in this economy is only profit. As a worker, you are absolutely a dispensable commodity. Why? There are 100 million people in this country with an average age of 25. You don’t like your job? You’ll be replaced in a second. Next….

Which brings me to my next point another facet of hyper capitalism is that there is no respect for the individual. Your life is pretty much worthless as can be evidenced by daily life but wait… RELIGION says something else. Life is precious (abortion is illegal so is birth control in the Philippines) and children are a gift. Have as many children as you can, even if you cannot feed yourself, something will happen and it’ll be ok. Children are a gift from God and your life saving grace can come from one of your children — akin to winning the lottery or winning BIG at the casino tables or at the cockfighting pit.

This results in the perfect recipe for poverty. Lots of people, not enough resources — creating desperation which includes desperate acts such as stealing and corruption. On top of that, promote a consumerist lifestyle so everyone dreams of one day having a high lifestyle never noticing that your life is a treadmill.

But sure, it’s because Filipinos are lazy…. absolutely BS! They are among the most hardworking people you’ll ever meet. Not to mention, the kindest, warmest people in Asia.

It’s the system. The Philippines is designed to be poor. Because you cannot have the wealth disparity that you have in this country without poverty (this is true of any country).

Rich people NEED poor people. That’s exactly how they make money.

UPDATE:

To drive home my point — Here are some examples of Hyper Capitalism in the Philippines:

• I was chatting with a saleslady wondering why the store, located in a very high end mall, had reduced it’s square footage! She responded that the management of the mall had required it due to the fact that the store is not meeting it’s quota of sales. Maybe you don’t understand this —-> This means that in addition to the astronomical rent you must pay, the mall also receives a percentage of your gross revenue!
• I take swimming lessons. My teacher told me that they work 6 days a week. This is an example of how your humanity is not recognized. It’s possible my teacher loves swimming and is among the lucky ones who get to do what they love (not to mention the conditions — I mean you work in a swimming club usually with well to do kids and adults). But everyone knows that even doing something you love needs a break. If you work 6 days a week —- every hour of the day from 8AM until 5PM — your passion goes out the door!
• Over the years, one should see improvement in mass transportation like trains so that if you work, you can get to work faster and with greater ease thereby improving the quality of your life — shorter commutes, more pleasant journey and for the rest, less pollution. Solutions to power the working people. Have you seen the lines for the Metro Manila transit system during rush hour? Have you seen the Chinese Metro? Hong Kong Metro system? They come every 2 minutes and are well connected. The commute for the average working person in the Philippines has actually worsened over the years.
• Ever wonder about the infrastructure projects? Now, when I think of infrastructure, I think about it as a government project that aims to improve the lives of the common man — those that actually work and fuel the economy. Let’s talk about the roads. It’s the only country I know that has built a freeway that eases the traffic not for the working class so they can get to work faster, but for the CASINO! The tolls to use the roads if you do not want traffic are astronomical! It costs more to go to Laguna from Makati than it is to cross the Bay Bridge in San Francisco! No working person is going to ever benefit from the Skyway! This is for rich people.