A hobby of the impoverished mind

Beyond his comment on yet another (ho hum) image of Pinoy poverty that such is…

[...] heart-rending, and gut-wrenching [...]

… I’m not exactly clear on what further point Ding is trying to make in his recent blog entry.

Yes, it is (to varying degrees across different people), “heart-rending, and gut-wrenching”.

And so…….

[Ding, please complete the above sentence for the benefit of some of us here, plez.]

I on the other hand make a clear point here. And it is not an appeal to emotion.

That kind of poverty has (and it is becoming increasingly apparent to me that many here may be surprised by this brainwave) been around for DECADES.

Clearly Ding’s intention is to induce some kind of emotional reaction. In fact he spoon-feeds us with the “heart-rending, and gut-wrenching” part for good measure. How thoughtful of him to take into account Da Pinoy’s world-renowned need for guidance on what to think. Group hug everyone! Let’s all assure ourselves that we’ve paid our way with a bit of an emotional toll through another day of in-your-face Pinoy-style poverty!

I don’t know about everyone else here, but having spent the better part of my years growing up in Manila, I don’t think I need to be told by anyone how I should feel about poverty — particularly the kind of Pinoy-style poverty that has been in my face, up my nose, seeping into my shoes and socks, and squirming under my skin for most of my life.

Many of us apparently prefer the comfort of an occassional reminder to rend our hearts and wrench our guts about the occassional token thought of poverty. The reminder can come in the form of a fiery but largely undifferentiated homily or scripture reading dished out on our usual Sunday dose of religion or, yes, in the quaint form of a YouTube video. Either way, same banana. Poverty afflicts da Pinas like the stubborn rash that it is. And as with most rashes, scratching its itch doesn’t cure it and in most cases merely makes it worse.

Sorry folks, I am pretty clear about how I feel. One does not need to have experienced being poor to be really annoyed with poverty.

As such, my regard for Pinoy-style poverty has since evolved. In terms of regard for poverty, the law-abiding sector of Pinoy society (rapidly shrinking for the last 100 years as it may be) can pretty much be exhaustively grouped into three types:

:D Those who are primarily apathetic to it;

:D Those who regard it with a bit of an occassional effort to rend their hearts and wrench their guts; and,

:D Those who make it their business to serve that proverbial soup to the proverbial bum.

Viewed from the cold standards of results, all of the above three are effectively THE SAME, more so if we regard poverty as a system that begs systemic solutions.

When an entire society is in denial of the systemic poverty of mind, spirit, and intellect that is woven into the very fabric of Pinoy society and is the root of the bigger loser mentality that afflicts it, it fails to see the sort of poverty that Ding highlights for what it is — a mere symptom indicative of our underlying character (or lack of it) as a people.

Indeed, as Juan Mercado thought out loud:

Are Filipinos content with being a one-stop mall for surgeons, pilots, geologists and “super maids”?

“If we are, how do we stretch the limits of our human capital industry?” Pernia asks. Four out of 10 students drop out before finishing primary grades. “If we’re not, what’s the alternative?”

Suffice to say, wondering why we are poor and making occassional token gestures to show we are “aware” of it is a hobby of the impoverished mind at best.

So while we may take a pill to suppress the occassional symptom, curing an underlying rot may require radical surgery (maybe even a transplant or two). To be fair, a bit of rending of the heart and wrenching of the gut may be the solution after all. Literally.

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