I came up with my old college essay about why most of us Filipinos are poor. Its actually my ideas 8 years ago and now that Im a professional and struggling startup company founder, it still holds true most of them.
Here are the reasons I concluded before why most of us Filipinos are poor
1.)
Something to do with Climate. While Philippines enjoy a very temperate and mild weather all year round and almost anything that can be planted grows it has also some drawbacks.
Ever wonder why most physicists, chemists, mathematicians, intellectuals etc most came from the north? The common factor with them is the snow. In winter there is literally nothing can be done outside. So it is imperative the people who lives on cold places to prepare for 3 months long worth of food, fuel, place to live, clothing etc. Because there is nothing that can be planted during these months, so people have to find some ways to earn a living. Thats y those intellectuals kept on thinking how to improve their lives during cold, harsh winter. That y the Swiss are excellent watchmakers and chocolate makers so they can export them. The Russians are making weapons so they can export them. People in winter places are confined to their homes so they need to think something productive. The lazy people are long dead because they wont survive the winter is they dont prepare. In general winter makes people innovate something and be productive.
Ok back in the Philippines. We have a very good weather all year round so thats y most of us have laid back attitude. Swimming at sea, Enjoying karaoke, drinking, everything that can kill time like there is nothing to prepare for tomorrow.
Dont worry its not only Philippines have this attitude, the same is true with Thailand, Vietnam, some tropical Mediterranean countries, most of central American countries. Thats Y greece is the weakest link in European Union because they are not productive enough.
And to make matters complicated, at tropical climate it is ideal for breeding. we just need a small place under the bridge and we can do business. Thats y Philippines, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nigeria, Mexico shares common problem. Too many population.
Think of it the whole European Union has a population of less than 500 million. While Philippines is fast approaching 100M.
Conclusion: tropical climate induces people to get lazy and relax. colder places induces people to be productive.
2.)
Religion and culture. Some studies pointed out that most countries with majority Catholics and coincidentally Spanish-influenced cultures are relatively poor. Philippines, Central and South American countries suffers the same fate. The question is why? Ever heard our Grandmother tells us why should we build fortunes where we cannot bring it to heaven? Maybe its time to rethink this dogma after all. I dont think Jesus wants us to be poor to the point that we leave everything to fate. Or the thinking line that whatever will be, will be. Sa binisaya Bahala na (which literally means God only knows). In hi school we are taught that in every action there is always a reaction, a cause must precede before the effect. If we do nothing, nothing will happen to us!
3.)
Most Filipinos invest at non-value added endeavor. Ever wonder why Japan is very rich or Europe is rich or China is getting richer or why almost everyone in the Philippines wants migrate to somewhere else?
Those countries that we envied for material things invested heavily on technology. Samsung for example accounts 6 to 10% of the GDP of South Korea. A single automobile company supports a million jobs, thousands of supply lines etc. Even making a single bolt for car can make a company rich.
As an engineer by profession I am exposed with Japanese companies and have observed that Japanese companies help each other providing each other supply lines. For example a single OEM (original equipment manufacturer) can support, tooling companies, plastic companies, injection moulding companies, screws, nuts and bolts, electronics, electronic parts etc.
Sadly we dont have it here in the Philippines. Not even a single car company, computer company, cellphone company ventured by a Filipino.
Ok lets count what most Filipinos are investing.
a.) MLM - the legalized version of pyramid scheme. Because of the promise to get rich quickly and astronomical returns, people are flocking into MLM. Although I dont directly discourage networkers, but these things you should know. Commerce is supposed to be exchange of goods and services. In MLM all sorts of dummy products are introduce from wonderful whitening soap to hair rejuvinating creams. Lower level networkers are forced to pay and sometimes they call it purchase dummy products just to keep the upper pyramid flowing with money. Wats wrong with this? Binary growth cannot sustain indifinitely. Just like bacteria cell division cannot continue indifinitely, MLM lowest networker may find soon that he cant find downlines to pay him upwards and soon the pyramid crumbles. Bacterial growth are limited by food available and waste generated. The same is true with MLM. They cant force all people to buy their dummy products and clean their waste.
b.) food - 40,000 years ago, our african ancestors began an epic exodus to get out from Africa to look for better food. They cross continents maybe ride a raft to get to Philippines and after some 40,000 years we still invest in food. Can we invest into something other than food.
Ever heard of ARM company? Almost 80 percent of all handheld gadgets like cellphones MP3s, etc, contains ARM cores in the processors inside. ARM core processors are very effective because very low power consumption without sacrificing computing speed. The company is a fabless semiconductor company. They design only computer architecture. And let their customers pay for royalties per chip and IP cores sales. So ARM has few cents of each of those 80% gadget worldwide. Why cant we build business models like this? It only needs a computer and some imagination.
4.)
Most of us are addicted with Buy and Sell model. Look around us everywhere we see Malls, Grocery stores, sari-sari stores, kanto stores in all forms.
While there is a necessity to sell products, prices are inflating due too many middle men, handling the products without adding any value to it other than increasing the price. Too much middle men is just equivalent to parasitism.
Hey its making money whats wrong with that? There is nothing wrong with it. But we dont add value to the product. We only add inflation.
If you happen to go Shenzhen, China the city just accross Hong Kong, There are probaly 50,000 factories in there making everything from toys, cellphones etc. The PRD region, which comprises with Shenzhen, Guangzhou, ZhongShan near the Pearl River Delta in China produces as much as 5% of total world output.
Pearl River Delta - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
5.)
Most of us simply dont help each other,
we are just concerned for ourselves. While this something to do with personal choice and moral background, this has a tremendous advantage if we think for the greater good for everybody. I am a bit biased to this because I came from a Jesuit school - Ateneo.
I meet a Japanese man and he once said that he frequently disposes his television set every two or three years. I asked him why are you throwing your good TV set? His answer was simple: "If I dont buy another TV, those TV manufacturers will shut down and all those people will lose jobs." While we dont necessary throw our TV sets and buy another one like the Japanese man, the moral of the story is that if we just help each other we will succeed. How many times did we hear that sisters and brothers fight to the last centavo, fighting on gadgets up to properties.
Ok too much talk already. What can we do?
1.) We need to invest that something that can add value to the system. Something that can bring money from John to Juan and not only from Juan to Pedro.
2.) We need to invest into something that simulate cooperation in the community. We will only succeed if we help each other and not pull each other.
3.) We need to invest into productivity. The rootword of productivity is produce. If we dont produce we are not productive.
4.) We need to invest sooner. Time is Gold. The end is near. Remember December 2012.
5.) We need to help each other. One man cannot do it alone. We need to think something good. And it has to start with us.
Pangkabuhayan portion:
Kaya if you like my thinking invest at Cortex Ads.
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Goodluck to us all and cheers!
Why most of us Filipinos are poor?
boww
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