Where's One's Priorities in Complaining About Rising Prices?!

I found this meme on Facebook. For the sake of non-Tagalog speakers, it means:

For each one that costs PHP 75.00 no complaints.
PHP 50.00 per kilo, always complaining!

Last year, I wrote about what's dubbed as pera-normal activities. I would like to write about another cause behind these pera-normal activities. People tend to complain that the prices of goods and services have risen. However, they have no complaints about the rising prices of things they don't need. The meme on Facebook shows two things--the gin and the kilo of rice. I was skeptical about President Ferdinand "Bongbong" R. Marcos Jr.'s promise of PHP 20.00 per kilo of rice. The promise is ridiculous but he won anyway. We can thank the presidential system and the 1987 Constitution of the Philippines for that! Now, critics of Bongbong are demanding PHP 20.00 per kilo of rice. Shouldn't the critics show why it's impossible given the current circumstances?

This editorial cartoon from The Manila Times shows the lack of priority. What do you expect from people who drain their paychecks (read here)? They choose to splurge the paycheck instead of budgeting it. They think about the barkada blowout even when they've got mouths to feed. They would prefer gambling instead of investing (read here). There's more fun with gambling than slowly investing the money in stocks and bonds. Speaking of stocks, I hesitated to invest money in the stock market because of horror stories of people losing money in stocks. I never knew (at that time) that most horror stories come from day trading (read here). People want instant gratification. What do you expect from people who just want to have fun all the time? Even worse, they live with the toxic positivity mantra of, "Kung pait gani, butangi lang ug asukar." In English, it means, "If it's bitter, just add sugar!" (read here).

This may explain why people are still engaged in #SahodItaasPresyoIbaba economics. In English, that means raising salaries while lowering the prices of goods. These people ignore basic accounting and economics. What do you expect from people who confuse profits for revenues (read here)? They badmouth FDIs saying that 100% share ownership means no profits go to the Philippines. The Philippine government gets the taxes, not the profits! They're probably demanding higher salaries and lower prices of goods for this reason--so they can continue to have fun. Who wouldn't want to live in a society where salaries are high and the prices of goods are low? Production costs are the factor. If the costs of raw materials and transportation are lower, that might work. What must be accounted for is that salary rates will ultimately affect the end product or service!

The same can be true when the Christmas season arrives. It's no wonder many people have an unhappy new year because of holiday debt (read here). So much for playing the late Andy Williams' song "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year". I find that song to be full of toxic positivity. Never mind that Christmastime disasters do happen. The Doña Paz disaster aka the Titanic of Asia was a Christmastime disaster. During Christmas, it's effortless to say, "Good vibes only!" How inconsiderate can that be especially if a Christmastime disaster happened? Christmas in 2021 was anything but merry when Odette hit certain areas. Some people still want to celebrate anyway even in an emergency situation. People would complain about the rising prices of necessities but wouldn't hesitate to buy expensive gifts, have the band, etc. They may be availing of those under credit or under borrowed money.

It's only natural to complain when prices increase. However, one must ask, "Do I have the right to complain about the PHP 50.00 of kilo per rice when I'm not complaining about the gin that costs PHP 75.00 per bottle?"

The Problem with the Philippine Education System is That It Inadvertently Tends to Make One Stroke One's Ego

What happens is that the traditional Philippine education system focuses too much on monuments of fame rather than learning milestones . It reminds me of the incident where Rep. Raoul Abellar Manuel stressed out he was a cum laude, and that he's not stupid. I feel this is a microcosm of a much bigger problem that happens with the education system. I'm not going to deny that going to the University of the Philippines and graduating summa cum laude isn't an easy feat. However, I wrote an article on what's the use of being a summa cum laude when one opposes badly needed reforms . It's because whether we want to admit it or not, schools focus too much on the ability to memorize without also focusing on the ability to understand . Memory is also the least reliable tool. It would be time to continuously attack the problems of the education system. I felt shamed back then because students were often told, "Your grades will determine your future!" In college, I

What's the Use of Complaining About Jollibee Acquiring Companies BUT Not Accepting Open FDI to Bring in COMPETITION to the Philippines?

Anti-Snowflake Squad Facebook Page I was checking across Facebook and noticed some idiots complaining about Jollibee acquiring companies. The same idiots turned out to be anti-FDI--the same group that converses with Porky Madugo and Mukhang Adik. As usual, I will not directly link the idiots (or even reveal them directly, they will reveal themselves) to avoid giving them clout. Here's a statement by Porky that may make anyone wonder if (1) he knows he's lying (which I think he is for some self-serving reason ), or (2) he doesn't know what he's talking about: The monopolization of business ruins the business. It degrades the quality of the business of a product. If you think monopolization is good, that's stupidity. It kills the competition and it kills the business. Well, as old saying goes: "capitalists are the only one will destroy themselves." Since when did capitalism mean killing competition? Isn't Porky supposedly a die-hard Communist? In the

The Philippines' Decades-Long OUTDATED Education System

As a child born in the 1980s, I would say I was born during the Marcos Years and I was about a year old when the EDSA Revolution happened. That means I've passed through a lot of stuff rendered obsolete today such as dial-up Internet (which my parents refused to get due to how it interrupted the phone lines unlike the Digital Subscriber Line), cassette players, VHS players, and may I mention the education system . It might be fun to think of times when people of my age group watched The Flintstones or The Flintstone Kids (picture above) during the 1990s imagining school during the stone age. However, these photos today may make me cringe to think about how I grew up in an outdated education system. My recollection of the outdated education system in my eyes from the 1990s before K+12 got implemented My current readings through the book From Third World to First by the late Lee Kuan Yew made me want to write this. The recent chapters I'm in are "Deng Xiaoping's China&qu

The Insanity of Quoting the Late Lee Kuan Yew About the Marcoses While Ignorning the Rest of His Helpful Advice for the Philippines

It may not be Singapore day yet, it's still July and that event is in August. However, some people are now raising placards all over again because the 17th Philippine president is none other than Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. Som people tend to quote from the book From Third World to First . I did buy the book last year and started reading it slowly. I did get a slow read when it came to the late Lee Kuan Yew meeting the late Ferdinand E. Marcos Sr. The description of Marcos was anything but flattering. I read the book and LKY mentioned that he was not confident that Marcos Sr. could pay back the money. The Philippines wasn't in the "golden years" as some would like to make it out. Yet, it seems that the only time LKY is ever mentioned is whenenver it's about the Marcoses and tends to be ignored when it's about how the Philippines can improve. Parliamentary system is often viewed in the wrong way Whenever Singapore is mentioned, I tend to talk about the parliamenta

The Economic Ignorance of Saying Landlords and Stock Traders Contribute Nothing to Society

Finding anti-capitalist (or better said, anti-business) wokes on Facebook (of all places) is just plain funny. Maybe, the term socialist isn't so negative since the late Lee Kuan Yew considered himself a socialist, the late Deng Xiaoping is the author of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics, and Vietnam still considers itself as a socialist country. The picture above this paragraph says that landlords and stock traders allegedly "contribute absolutely nothing to society". I feel compelled to write a bit of a post since, as a business graduate, I do feel insulted. Then again even if I didn't get an MBA--I do still feel insulted myself! How good landlords contribute to society Landlords are often said to be a blight. Some say that it's the "easiest job in the world". However, managing real estate (especially rentals ) isn't as easy as some think. I wrote an essay as to why being a landowner isn't as easy as some people think . I would like to d

Pinoy Pride Economics' Filipino vs. Foreigner False Dichotomy

Two years ago, I wrote about the socio-economic cost of Pinoy Pride Economics . It might be better to call it Pinoy Fried Economics because such mentalities have caused the Philippines to fail. Pinoy Pride Economics has fried up any potential for the Philippines to improve. As it's August, the month is commonly called Buwan Ng Wika (month of the language), the celebrations tend to focus more on the celebration of Filipino Culture instead of Tagalog. I remember Buwan Ng Wika programs tend to showcase how cultural exchange evolved the Filipino Culture--such as showing the Chinese traders and Americans in their interaction with Filipinos. On this very first day of August, I'll discuss the problem of the Filipino vs. Foreigner dichotomy. Last I re-studied Filipino History, I never saw it as once free from foreign influence. The Chinese traded with the Philippines--way before the Chinese Communist of China (CCP) caused trouble because of their country's terrible leadership .

Talking Economics with an Overeating Glutton

Two years ago, I wrote an entry about why discussing economics with an overspender is frustrating . Now, I was looking at certain fat people who say really dumb things about economics. Just recently, I was looking at a certain fat idiot (fortunately, he only has 1K+ followers) who posted on Facebook that not only will the parliamentary system cause the Philippines to become a dictatorship, but he also says that changing economic provisions will cause the Philippines to collapse and the country to fall into the hands of foreigners. I won't name the person out to avoid getting personal. However, the person is apparently very fat and he blames capitalism day in and day out. The person even says that businessmen do nothing and it's the employers that do everything. Has that fat slob ever heard that businesses are run by bosses and that if the bosses do screw up, they're the ones who are the most answerable? The employees are the cogs and the boss runs the cogs. I was looking at

#ThrowbackThursdays: When Values Education Tend to Teach Children to Patronize Local Products First Because They're Local

High School Philippine History Movement I was afraid I would be running out of ideas. I wanted to recall some businesses that closed down such as Nova Fontana (my once favorite toy store), Alyssa Caramel (my favorite candy store), El Loco (which used to open at IT Park), etc. Now, I decided to focus on remembering my childhood and values education. Values education is supposed to teach proper manners and good conduct. However, values education tends to become a propaganda tool of the National Economic Protectionist Association (NEPA) to justify Carlos P. Garcia's erroneous Filipino First Policy. However, the whole policy really helped cause the Philippines to fail. Its very idea of Garcia is that majority of the economic participants had to be Filipinos. It might sound good in theory but it wouldn't work with how the late Lee Kuan Yew would put it. Apparently, Garcia has never learned the consequences of protectionism from history--whether it'd be the Stock Market Crash of

Trying to Discipline EVERY SINGLE FILIPINO Isn't a Sound Economic Plan

CoRRECT Movement It's the -ber months and it's only 90+ days before Christmas . I feel like every year, Christmas gets worse . Just Google "Christmas Day disasters" and let's stop thinking Christmas is some magical special time where the world is at peace with love. At this point, I feel like always complaining about last-minute Christmas shopping (read here ). It's been a leading cause of traffic. Some people even plan to do their shopping on December 24th. Some argue that some people are living paycheck-to-paycheck. Some are still waiting for their Christmas bonuses. However. one must question why they don't have money left. Think every dumb way possible to drain that paycheck (read here ). One can take a look at poor money habits such as putting your wants over needs. People living paycheck-to-paycheck should focus on their needs, maybe avoid payday blowouts as much as possible, and focus on trying to make ends meet first before anything. Yet, we know

Can Diehard 1987 Constitution Defenders Prove Their Claims to the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy?

It's not enough to say something. The question is, "Where's the substance or the empirical evidence?" When I start quoting from the late Lee Kuan Yew, these diehard 1987 Constitution of the Philippines defenders start diverting the topic by pointing out my errors to spite me than to correct me. They would ask if I know the Deming Theory of Management which talks about quality management in the company culture. Okay, that was something worth asking but as said, can these people really understand the problem of the Philippines has been more systemic (that is, within the system ) than just the people running the system? What allowed the legislative to be filled with people who know-nothing anyway? That's why I didn't want to vote for Senator Robin Padilla (who ironically understands the need for reforms, read here ). Unfortunately, so many Ad Hominem attacks have been done. A past article I wrote was Should you listen to either Davide Jr. or Kishore Mahbubani

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