Yep, I lost my crown. Technically it’s not lost, I have it in a plastic baggie. I’ll see if my dentist can reinsert it in my tooth, but I’m not hopeful. Probably will have to have the tooth pulled and create yet another hole in my head. Ah, the joys of aging.
Speaking of aging, my Palm Tree post this morning was the four thousandth time I’ve written something on the blog since LTG was created nearly seventeen years ago. How many of those were worth reading is an entirely different matter.
I had a little trouble on Quora this morning. Several months ago I answered the question: “Am I lucky living in the Philippines?” I gave a positive response because I do feel lucky to live here. It’s gotten a lot more views than it warrants, but over 1,600 people have given it an upvote. I’ve also gotten quite a few comments, the vast majority being positive. Anyway, yesterday some dickhead took me to task for being a privileged white American living among the poverty-stricken Filipino people who are still suffering from past American and Spanish colonialism. On and on about how oppressed the people here are and implying I’m contributing to their misery. He then took me to task for asking and answering my own question. Well, that’s not how Quora works–someone else asked and I answered. Anyway, this is how I responded:
Sorry for you and your comprehension issues. I don’t think there are any meds for that. You see, I didn’t POSE the question, I answered it. That’s the way Quora works. Good luck to you, though. I know you must be a happy guy—ignorance being bliss and all.
Well, I was very surprised when Quora deleted my comment as a violation of their rules. It was mild compared to what the loser had said about me. I appealed the ruling and before long I got a message that my comment had been restored. Then an hour later, it was deleted again. I told them to make up their mind one way or the other. Then the dickhead got the final word by leaving this gem:
Glad you deleted your comment. Your insults aren’t clever nor offensive just shows what you’re insecure about. You use a photo from maybe 50 years ago and spend most your time online because you don’t get enough attention in the real world. You moved to the Philippines because you were poor in America even with your government pension. You are just like every other loser from America that comes here because the 100s of years of colonization has brainwashed Filipinos into thinking anyone white is special, but you are not. Go back to America and you will find out in 1 day you are not special. You are a loser. You need to know at least that all the Filipinos that are nice to you, only care about your money nothing else. They gossip and talk shit on you behind your back. If you knew anything about the culture you would know that.
Maybe he’s right. Racist pricks sometimes are. Just like a stopped clock. Oh well, that’s the internet for you.
Moving on to happier topics about my life here in the Philippines. Like beer drinking for example. After I left Palm Tree last night I went next door to Mango’s. Took up my regular seat on the patio, started downing San Miguel Zero beers, and watched people on the crowded beach enjoying the late Sunday afternoon.
Once the sun went down there was nothing left to see so I decided to move on. Wasn’t sure where to go next, but once I was out on the highway I decided It Doesn’t Matter. So that’s where I went. Had a nice chat with owner Cliff and of course Roan joined me so she could enjoy my wit and witticisms the commissions from the lady drinks I purchased. She asked me what I planned to do for dinner and I said I hadn’t made up my mind yet. She pointed at the Daily Special sign featuring chicken parmigiana with pasta for only 280 pesos. I told Roan I wasn’t big on pasta, then I saw the hunger in her eyes and asked if she wanted to share one with me. I got an “I thought you’d never ask” look and the order was placed.
Home early and up early again this morning. Walked the dogs, then walked myself to Baloy Beach.
Hash is coming up, but I did the trail work yesterday. Will help send the group on their way from VFW and then will meet them later at the Blue Butterfly On-Home.
On-On!
Sorry to hear about the Quora asshole, and to hear that Quora keeps deleting your replies while leaving worse responses up.
Are you somehow contributing to the continued misery of Filipinos? It’s a complicated question, but the short answer is: I doubt it. I do know this, though: throwing money at a widespread endemic problem might salve the conscience, but it does nothing to solve the problem.
I used to work extensively with the homeless in the DC area, especially along the Route 1 corridor in northern Virginia. The homeless deal with all sorts of issues, chief among them being mental illness. Years later, I moved away, but one thing I know is that the homeless problem remains, despite the constant actions of hundreds, maybe thousands, of people who have tried (and still try) to help these folks. Poverty can be thought of as a bell-curve phenomenon: it affects real people, but statistically speaking, there will always be poor folks, and there will always be folks flush with money, and we normies occupy the fat part of the bell curve. For every person I might help, there are a hundred more needing help, and this will always be the case. “The poor you will always have with you,” Jesus famously said. It’s a line in the Bible that makes liberal Christians uncomfortable because they think, in Marxist terms, that we can eventually reach a point of egalitarian bliss (through revolution), and Jesus is specifically denying that possibility. Because he understood human nature.
That said, it’s possible that your presence in the Philippines feeds an ongoing dynamic, a post-colonial cycle of poverty. But people who think in this aggrieved way (“You owe me!”) are engaged in systems-thinking, not individuals-thinking. Any individual can, even with the odds stacked against him, rise above his station. It takes time, effort, focus, and force of character, but it’s possible. This is certainly the American ideal, not the idea that we are all trapped where we are (which is the leftist message of movies like “Parasite”—try as you might, you’ll never leave your socioeconomic stratum, not without violence).
Your nasty critic is obviously a systems-thinker who can’t see past post-colonialism to the idea that an individual Filipino/a might work hard and make something of him/herself. And your acquaintance Maris fits the schema I’m talking about as well, giving up too easily and too early. She obviously lacks the will, and the character, to truly succeed, and in her case, it’s doubly a shame because her little restaurant seemed to be on a positive track. I’d been rooting for her. Now, I have little sympathy.
And that’s why I made my “walking ATM” comment on your other post. You might think of yourself as helping the poor, and maybe you are, but the help is only momentary, and ultimately, those good folks need to help themselves. As for helping the one woman with surgery, I’d call that an unequivocally good deed: real help leading to real results. Her hospital sucked, for sure, but she got treated. Hopefully, she’s doing better.
Kevin, thanks for this thoughtful comment. I do agree with what you say. I’m certainly not part of the problem but I recognize that what little I do to help the unfortunates is not going to make more than a momentary difference. And yes, I’ve acknowledged that those acts of kindness are selfish in the sense that they serve to alleviate my guilt about living large in a poor country. I’m always open to a life-changing project–would love to send someone worthy to college for example. Something like that is how you make a real difference.
As to the root causes of poverty here, I can’t really say definitively. There is a lot of government corruption that contributes to the problem. Also, it seems to me that the wealthy and privileged Filipinos prefer to keep the poor in their place. Why have a robust middle class when you can get cheap labor from the downtrodden?
Some Filipinos do escape the cycle, and as you say, it comes from individual initiative. One of the biggest revenue generators in this country is the OFW industry–Overseas Filipino Workers. Yep, this country exports a workforce worldwide. So, these Filipinos leave their homes and families to make a decent living and send the money back to support those they left behind. But they are willing to do what they need to do and I respect and admire that.
Some people are beyond help in a meaningful way. Homeless “mama” prefers the street life to having a roof over her head. Maris doesn’t want to do the work it takes to run a successful business. I don’t regret the effort in either case, but the outcome was disappointing.
I admire your work with the homeless back in the states. But you are right, those efforts won’t achieve lasting results for the majority of those unfortunates. You’ve got to want to change your life to make that happen. Maybe it is just a coincidence, but when they started closing the mental institutions last century, the homeless problem emerged. I’m not in favor of involuntary institutionalization, but some people are not capable of caring for themselves either. Put them in the mental hospital or leave them on the street? Tough choice.