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The Pinaskohan Mentality is Keeping Poor Filipinos, POOR

Philippine Star

Is it me or is the Christmas Season really that toxic in the Philippines? I wrote an article about the irony of early Christmas season with late Christmas shopping. I didn't think about writing this but is it me or do people like to ask for impunity during the Christmas season? Think about that toxic former friend or former romantic partner. You cut off that person because of the toxic behavior he or she shows. However, you meet at a public place during the -ber months. The person says, "Let's reconcile! It's Christmas!" I can be open to reconciliation with classmates with who I had a childish quarrel back in high school. So far, one of the people I had a childish grudge wasn't a toxic person. The reason why I feel I can reconcile with that person is because he's productive. The same can't be said for people who have a toxic attitude. 

What do several Filipinos look forward to during Christmas? Would it be just the spiritual significance considering most Filipinos are Catholics? When it's September--the countdown for Christmas begins. I feel many of my countrymen look forward to the following:
  1. Receiving gifts from anybody with an OFW relative. Never mind that OFW relative is making several sacrifices abroad!
  2. Receiving gifts during the annual exchange gift program.
  3. Children are thinking about getting more expensive than usual toys. I've been guilty of that myself as a child!
  4. For those working, people think of the 13th-month pay and the Christmas bonus. Some people justify their last-minute Christmas shopping because of that. However, why are they doing Christmas shopping on December 24 which is Christmas Eve?
  5. For lazy moochers, it's because they can get easy money singing Christmas carols. It's no wonder I tend to imitate Uncle Scrooge against carolers, even if I believe in giving to charity!
  6. Some people think Christmas is a time when "nothing should go wrong." Didn't history's list of Christmas Day disasters prove otherwise? Sure, there are disasters worse than Christmas-season disasters, but it's easy to sensationalize Christmas-season disasters!
  7. Who can forget the wantonly celebrated Noche Buena? Nothing is wrong with Noche Buena, but some people tend to celebrate it wantonly. I bet a lot of people suffer from high cholesterol during Christmas, too! 
It's normal to hear people who wish it were Christmas daily. Never mind that the Catholic liturgical calendar doesn't allow it! Economically speaking, Christmas every day is a terrible idea too (read here). Companies would go bankrupt giving bonuses and 13th-month pay, every month. Even if companies produce big monthly sales, they will exhaust their supplies, causing uncontrollable inflation. People may wish it were Christmas every day too because they want to keep having nice stuff with little effort. If the Santa Claus of lore were real (and I'm not talking about the real Santa Claus, Nicholas of Myra who was indeed real but too dead to deliver presents), he'd probably remind people that they had to promise him to be good citizens or all they get is coal! 

Unfortunately, Christmas can lead to an Unhappy New Year because of financial debt (read here). It's all because of how money was handled the entire year. No amount of Christmas bonuses, 13th-month pay, and salary increases will help spendthrift people if they don't stop being spendthrift! It's the usual problem of the one-day paycheck mentality (read here). Did you get the paycheck? Let's have a blowout! Shouldn't they focus on budgeting the paycheck so they don't have to wait until the next payday? Shouldn't they focus on paying bills and the like? Instead, they splurge the paycheck--something not advisable especially if one lives by a paycheck! I even suspect that when they do get their 13th month pay and bonuses--they splurge it and realize, "Oh my! I forgot I still need to spend money for the Noche Buena!" This is when borrowing money comes in. That may explain why many Indian illegal lenders roam around abundantly after December. I can only expect more motorcycles to line up in Indian restaurants this January! 

What's even worse people never learn from their mistakes. They still continue to live by those disasters. The financial disaster repeats itself. I blame it also on their toxic positivity mindset. The old Cebuano saying says, "Kung pait gani, butangi lang ug asukar." It means, "If it's bitter then just add sugar." Such a silly mentality keeps people poor (read here). Figuratively speaking, it can also be that after being confronted by Christmas debt, they want to forget about it by feasting and more feasting. The saddest part is they wonder why their lives never improve. 
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