Complaining About Inflation While Wasting Money on Firecrackers as a "Necessity"

As 2022 ends, today is Rizal Day (and I must admit, I took him as an inspiration back in high school), and tomorrow is New Year's Eve, I felt like writing this. I couldn't help but cringe over all the complaints about the reality that at one place in the Philippines--the cost of onions was already PHP 600.00. Some people were complaining that one kilo of lechon was already too expensive. That's why I wrote about it that is it possible such people are complaining about it because they feel the need for lavish festivities (read here)? I think it's true with my experience of having lived downtown and having neighbors who celebrate lavishly when they can't afford it. That's why I even love to bring up that after the Noche Buena (Christmas dinner) they may no longer have money for tomorrow's New Year's Eve dinner (read here).

Tomorrow is New Year and one of the things I hate about it is the heavy use of firecrackers. I remembered the cringy site of the news and the increased number of firecracker injuries. It's only good that rules against dangerous firecrackers got stricter. I believe people need permits to use firecrackers or that private households shouldn't use them for one reason. We don't want a similar case of excess smoke like what happened in New Delhi after Diwali, the festival of lights. Yet, some people are still too attached to the tradition of firecrackers like they're attached to having lechon on Noche Buena. I guess that's why they were whining that the cost of lechon is that expensive.

I just read from the Inquirer that prices of firecrackers soared in Bulacan. Should we be amazed? I guess it's all about supply and demand. If gatherings were really stopped during the first two years of the pandemic--do you think it'd make sense to make firecrackers? The prices went from PHP 350.00 to PHP 750.00 and were later sold at PHP 850 to PHP 1,000.00. Yet, some people were still buying firecrackers worth that much while whining that one kilo of onions is already PHP 600.00 or that PHP 500.00 wouldn't be enough for the "mandatory" lechon for Noche Buena.

I guess complaining about increasing costs here is linked with ignorance and financial responsibility. What do you expect from people who just love to splurge on whatever money is given? If one's living paycheck to paycheck when why splurge the salary on payday (read here)? These old habits are hard to kill because it seems to be a tradition for them. They would spend the money the moment they get it. Some may be working in call centers. Others may be getting remittances from their OFW loved ones. The moment they get it--they overlook their needs and focus on their wants. What happens is that bills are ignored. They end up adding debt to debt. The money that was supposedly spent on bills was spent on having the barkada (peer) blowout on payday. Even worse, they end up buying stuff that they aren't willing to pay extra for. It's like why buy a car if you don't have a garage and can't afford gas? Why buy an airconditioner if you can't afford to pay higher electricity?

Still, some will stubbornly say, "But it's tradition to have firecrackers as lechon is to Noche Buena! That's why we're complaining about inflation!" Then I could say, "Isn't it any wonder why your financial situation never improves? If it's inflation then shouldn't you save more money?" I guess their whining about inflation is because they wish the money could buy more. It's not because they want to save. It's because they still want to celebrate lavishly even if inflation is also caused by supply and demand. We have a supply chain analysis. We should really look at factors that led to inflation. Yet, when I talk about importing raw materials (read here), these people also whine, "But you'll kill the local farmers!" Wouldn't asking the local farmers to sell lower than their cost be killing local farmers more than importation ever will?

Even worse, firecracker injuries are very costly to treat. This reminds me of a Visayan song by Max Surban called "Rebentador Rock". Rebentador is a Visayan word for firecracker. I even wonder where their good financial sense is anyway? Should I expect any financial literacy from people who never budget their paychecks and splurge on it? These firecracker injuries usually lead to permanent disability like mutilated fingers and mutilated legs, and I definitely don't want to elaborate since the sight is very disturbing. They wasted their money from January to November, they borrowed tons of money for the Noche Buena, and for the New Year. They probably even didn't buy health insurance saying it's "costly" while wasting their money on having a good time.

This is really comparable to the cost of adding sugar whenever things are bitter (read here). The mantra tends to be, "Bitter? Just add sugar!" If you add sugar to almost everything then prepare for the consequences. These consequences can be extreme obesity, diabetes (and this can soon lead to severed limbs if it goes extreme), tooth decay, and other health problems related to excess sugar. The obsession with firecrackers can also lead to several health problems too. I guess some will be hospitalized by January 1 worrying about mounting bills.

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