Skip to main content

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. 
Labels:

Popular posts from this blog

The Irony the Philippines Starts the Christmas Season in September BUT Many Filipinos Love Last-Minute Christmas Shopping

  Uproxx As Christmas is just around the corner--I feel more stress coming in! It doesn't help when people try to use the late Andy Williams' "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" to try and skip the problem. It's already known that most Filipinos love to start Christmas in September . However, the irony is that Filipinos start Christmas early but do their Christmas shopping late. If they began the Christmas Season early, shouldn't they think about what to do before December strikes?  Two years ago, I wrote a post discussing last-minute Christmas shopping . Many Filipinos tend to do last-minute Christmas shopping. They had all of November (when the Christmas sale usually begins) but why do the Christmas shopping in December ? One of the things I blame is the one-day paycheck lifestyle (see here ). It can be observed that many Filipinos never learn to prioritize more important things . One can get their stars when they see their paychecks. However, the...
Read more

Christmas Toxic Positivity May Be Your Biggest Holiday Financial Killer

Christmas is just around the corner, isn't it? It's easy to tell me, "Stop being a Scrooge! Lighten up! It's Christmas!" Some people can't tell the difference between positivity and when positivity becomes toxic . If you think about it, toxic positivity is defined as: ...the belief that people should maintain a positive mindset no matter how dire or difficult a situation is. While there are benefits to being optimistic and engaging in positive thinking, toxic positivity rejects all difficult emotions in favor of a cheerful and often falsely positive façade . Every time I talk about Christmas foolishness (read here ), it's always pointed out that I love being negative. Honestly, there are times I'd rather be negative than to be overly positive. I always talk about mentioning the silly notions that my countrymen have like, "If the situation is bitter, just add sugar (read here )." In Cebuano, it's said, "Kung pait, butangi lang ug asu...
Read more

Is Christmas Toxic Positivity a Cause or an Effect of the Philippines' Lack of Progress?

Lessandra When it's Christmas, it's so easy to think of the song of the late Andy Williams, "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year". The music itself reeks of toxic positivity,  whether one likes it or not. It's a shame, really, because December 20 was also the anniversary of Asia's Titanic, the sinking of the Doña Paz ! We live in a society that somehow never learns from its mistakes, like a person who's stuck in gambling debt, is still hoping to get rich gambling . Despite all that, Christmas toxic positivity still abounds in the Philippines. We still have a lot of ongoing bad habits, such as starting Christmas in September and then doing last-minute Christmas shopping during the week of Christmas. That's why every time I drive on the road on Christmas, I tend to shout, "Isn't it any wonder why the Philippines never improves?" The term Noche Buena has evolved over time . For some, it's simply the Christmas dinner. However, so...
Read more

Can Anti-FDI Proponents Prove Their Claim That Economic Liberalization Will Just Benefit the Filipino Oligarchs?

The same old narration has been made over and over again . I'd dare say that the narration out the Facebook pages of the likes of Atty. Teddy Casiño, Atty. Neri Colmenares, Kabataan Partylist, League of Filipino Students, Migrante International, IBON Foundation, etc. are more or less the same. It's already a broken record based on the facts that they've been refuted. I've read the book From Third World to First . I guess Migrante International hates that book because Singapore is often associated with the execution of Flor Contemplacion, at least on their watch. What they're doing is nothing more than still hating Japan, Germany, and Italy because of the Second World War. I'm not surprised at another lie that's often repeated--economic liberalization (or 100% FDI shares ownership) will only  benefit the oligarchs . I guess it'll be easy to nail on me because I'm not a summa cum laude and Rep. Raoul Abellar Manuel is and he's a graduate of the Uni...
Read more

External Validations, like Masters and Doctorate, Mean NOTHING with a LOUSY Education System

I have the tendency to use my MBA as a license to avoid criticism. It's a real problem that some people use their credentials and/or academic achievements to try and win an argument. One incident I wrote about was Rep. Raoul Abellar Manuel flexing his "smarts" by using his cum laude degree to win the argument . It was all about how I would often say, "You're the moron because I have the MBA and you don't." There are times I felt like taking an MBA would make up for my "moral shortcomings" during high school when I was barely passing (and the passing rate was 80% , which is rather high), that I wasn't having honors, and that there was this saying, " Thou grades shalt determine thy future! " That, of course, has led to the reality where cheating is prevalent .  I wanted to make a review. I took my MBA in 2011 and graduated in 2014. I always felt that the MBA program was what I needed to become "invincible". It was also at ...
Read more