A Happy New Year to My Fellow Countrymen Buried in SO MUCH DEBT

The Motley Fool

Well, it's past Season's Beatings and it's time to great people "Happy New Year!" right? I did remember not celebrating New Year on Odette because of the severity of the damage. This year, there was no Odette to ruin my holidays except for a short-term stomach upset and rainy weather. Right now, I'm glad I'm able to write this one. I'd like to write this post to bring a bit more awareness. Last year, I did write a couple of blog posts such as the Philippine holiday debt trap (read here), when a Merry Christmas can lead to an unhappy New Year (read here), running out of money after the Noche Buena (read here), and complaining about inflation because one feels the need to celebrate lavishly (read here). This makes me want to greet my fellow countrymen buried in so much debt "Happy New Year!"

January is here and I'm expecting some development. It's not just starting a new fiscal year. I'm also expecting those Indian five-six lenders to start roaming around asking for their money back (read here). I feel January is a very vindicating month. December can be the worst time of the year with heavy traffic. I blame the heavy traffic on people who waste their money from January to November so they end up having to wait for their December bonuses. It's unlike if people manage their money well and decide not to celebrate lavishly. It's not enough to waste money from January to November. December comes and they expect to have a lavish feast. The irony is that they complain about ongoing inflation while they don't seek to manage money. Year after year, some people still repeat the same mistake.

I wrote a post about the "If it's bitter then just add sugar" mentality (read here). Rather than face the bitterness and solve it--they choose to just add sugar. Tea and coffee are more beneficial when drunk without sugar than with sugar. Sure, some sugar can help but it seems it's the norm to "just add sugar" to everything in the Philippines, right? I could just imagine a conversation that could happen this January. I could think somebody will say in any Filipino language, "How bitter! I have my Noche Buena and New Year's dinner debts to pay!" A fellow Filipino might say, "Oh don't worry! Bitter? Just add sugar! There are still feasts this January to help you forget about your debts!" Instead of facing the debts, they will probably decide to keep adding debt to debt rather than paying the debt. That's just pretty insane but what do you expect from people who love to say, "Bitter? Just add sugar!"

Amazingly, some of these people will never learn. They can get a lot of eviction notices (and have been evicted maybe more than once), debt statements, and disconnection notices. They still persist in the mindset. There's even a saying in Tagalog that says, "Utang (debt) is life." They still think that their lives is all about splurging money no matter how small it is. If somebody is living paycheck to paycheck every 15th and final day of the month then why waste that money? Instead, why not focus on paying the more important things such as bills instead of going out with the barkada (peers)?" Instead, they will say something like, "But it's the tradition in the Philippines to be wasteful!" Then I reply, "Do you ever wonder why your finances don't improve." Some of them might even go as far as saying, "It's the fault of the rich that we're poor!" My backfire can be, "Did the rich tell you to waste your money?"

December can be frustrating. January can be very vindicating. I could just imagine somebody right now might be packing their things because creditors are on the way. I could imagine some angry lessor now is preparing an eviction notice because of unpaid rent. I could imagine as the present begins--there will be a reckoning for people who have bad debt habits. I guess I can just sarcastically greet them, "Happy new year! I hope you enjoy your debt problems!"

Venezuela as a Cautionary Tale on #SahodItaasPresyoIbaba, Nationalistic Pride, Welfare State Economics

The Sunday Guardian Years ago, I wrote about Venezuela's pride and protectionism , under a more "formal" style of writing compared to my latest posts. I decided to use an even "less formal" and "less academic" tone since I'm not writing a term paper. Instead, it's like how a professor and a student discuss the thesis using first person over third person, using contractions, etc., while the thesis doesn't use such tones. Back on track, I thought about the arrest of Venezuelan President Maduro can spark debate. Was it a violation of sovereignty? I'm no expert on international law. However, Venezuelans can be seen celebrating Maduro's arrest. Right now, I'm using Gemini AI and Google search to help me find some sources for this blog. It's because I don't want my blog to become another gossip central, but a place to discuss facts with my own personal opinions (making sure they don't derail the facts). I used Venezuela ...

Venezuela's Pride and Protectionism

The Telegraph Venezuela is an oil-rich country yet it's a very poor country. Somebody could go ahead and give every unthinkable reason such as "foreign investments caused it" (a blatant lie) and "It's because America had economic sanctions in Venezuela". Yet, the answer can be found in several causes such as corruption. Yet, China and Vietnam, which can be seen to still have a good amount of corruption, are far more successful. The answer also lies in one policy--economic protectionism . The very idea that a country that first world countries used "protectionism" to succeed is a lie as proven by Venezuela's ongoing crisis. A common-sense examination of one root cause of Venezuela's continuing crisis Forbes magazine mentions this in "What Do Investors Need To Understand About Venezuela's Economic Crisis?" by Nathaniel Parish Flannery on December 21, 2016: Venezuela is far and away the worst-managed economy in the Americas . Ad...

Davide vs. Mahathir: Which Lolo Should Filipinos Take Economic Advice From?

The real issue isn't that something is old or new. Instead, if something old or new still works, or doesn't work! Many modern laws are built on some ancient principles, while adjusting to the current times! The Constitution of Japan is actually older than the 1987 Constitution of the Philippines. However, it's more effective for the reasons that (1) their constitution is silent when it comes to regulating economic activities (ex., protectionist measures), and (2) it's a parliamentary system. Honestly, it's a pretty straightforward constitution compared to ours! As Mahatir Mohamad turned 100 today, I would like to raise up Atty. Hilario G. Davide Jr. once again. The problem isn't Davide's age but his unwillingness to embrace change when needed (read here ). This time, it's time to bring up a contrast between wise old people and unwise old people. A young person can be right where the old person is wrong. A young person can be wiser because he or she lea...

Filipino Manufacturing's Golden Age ENDED Because of the Filipino First Policy

Here's a picture from the Dose of Disbelief Page on Facebook. Here's something that it wrote: Filipinos once trusted locally made products more than imports. Before World War II, the label "Made in the Philippines" carried prestige, not stigma, reflecting a strong sense of national confidence in domestic production. Local products such as shoes, cigars, textiles, furniture, and food were often preferred over imports. This preference was rooted in the belief that local goods were better adapted to local conditions, tastes, and were often of comparable, if not superior, quality. This period showcases a strong historical era of consumer nationalism and thriving local industries. We need to look into the context of Filipino history If we look at the Philippine history timeline , we must account for 1935-1940, during which the Philippines was under the Commonwealth government. Independence was declared from Spain on June 12, 1898. However, there was a transition period w...

Confusing Foreign Direct Investment for Foreign Imperialism for the Bajillionth Time

I guess those fools of the Philippine Anti-Fascist League (and many of its deluded supporters) either refuse to get it or are blatantly lying. Almost every rally held by what many believe are CPP-NPA legal fronts also confuses foreign investors for foreign invasion or even foreign imperialism . Once again, do I need to say that 100% FDI ownership is all about the shares and not land ownership ? What makes it even more hypocritical is that they are actually recording these things on imported media . They're sharing their anti-FDI rants using imported devices, imported platforms, and imported social media (read here ). When I do ask them on Facebook, they say how can they take them seriously and that they're "simply forced to participate in capitalism". Did anybody (especially those they call "evil capitalists") force them to buy the expensive Apple equipment when they could've settled for Xiaomi or Huawei? A simple research on the dictionary will tell us...

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