While watching TV on our cable channels, one of the topics on the show was how the poor people live in America. So of course I was fascinated by it. Hey, vast majority of the people in the Philippines live below the poverty line. So the host of the show was saying that they will tell how the people lived there in the USA after the commercial.
So I was so intrigued and hooked to the TV. The guest host said that he is sick of the poor people in America, they are whining that they are really poor. But if you go see their houses they will have a pretty descent house, flat screen TV, microwave oven, stove, washer & dryer, dishwasher, cable TV, Xbox 360 or the new one, Wii, fridge and car and many others. The guest host were saying that growing up back in the day, most of the household just had the basic stuff. No whining though that they don’t have this and that.
Quite honestly there is not even a comparison there with the way of living here and the way of living in the West. The poor people here really live difficultly. The West should be ashamed of the whining and complaining. They live the good life compared to any poor places in the third world countries. For the people from the West that never been to any third world countries, they would think that every country in the world lives the way they did.
But if they are watching TV, they will know. I know it’s always shown on TV, like the famine and hunger in Africa. People in the West saw also the people in South America lived, other Asian nations really lives. I know a lot of them watch that movie Slumdog Millionaire. It really features the poor area of India. You know those people carrying some baskets on top of their heads. Never seen those on the developed countries. And it reminds us of how some of the people lived here. It is sad but its the truth though. With the cable TV and the internet now, you can pretty much see how other country lives.
Just see the food of the poor people in the West. When we used to live in the States. A few times we were behind somebody at the grocery store. They’re supposed to be poor because they were using the food stamps. It would have been fine until all the grocery items they had in their cart were all frozen and with name brand. You all know that frozen food are expensive. Here we are behind them helped pay the grocery they had in their cart. We are trying to budget what we can get for our money. We tried to get as much as possible on the sale items. But the people ahead of us just don’t care, they had the food stamp anyway. As if sky is the limit for them. They know how to play the system. Those are the kind of people also that would complained and whined about the hard life they have there. Here most of the families that lives below the poverty line might just eat once a day and only rice with no other food. Some might just have bananas or like a snack thing to fill up their tummy. Just can’t afford to buy some main dish with the rice. If the poor people here experience just a fraction of what the poor people in the West experience, I think the poor Filipinos thinks they are in heaven. Don’t you think? I bet they do.
All in all, you can never compare the life of the poor people here to the life of the poor people in the in the West. But just a reminder to us all that even though most of the people here don’t have the fraction of what the West have, but they still had a big smile in their faces and thankful to God of the life that was given to them. They just don’t have the time to whine about the hard life they had everyday.
The whiners here are the one that have family abroad working and even they are getting some money and boxes of goodies, they still complained that its not enough. They are learning from somewhere that they want more…more…more… Even the family sent a whole airplane full of goodies still it’s NOT ENOUGH though… But still that’s just small percentage of complainers here compared to the West.
To some it up, really no comparison of the poor people there in the West to the poor people here in the Philippines. Here the government will not give out food stamp or other stuff to the poor. The poor here have to strive hard to feed the family members they have. As you all know big family consist of 6 or more children in the family. Schools for the grade school and high school here are not free. Even the public schools here the parents have to pay the tuition fees. No free healthcare here too.
You guys probably wonder why we still want to live here with all the poor surroundings and stuff. Well, we still live pretty good here. Plus we want to help out a little bit to the needy ones here anyway we can. We are not wealthy but once in awhile we make some poor kids and family smiles by giving them some food and other stuff. I think that’s pretty good enough already.
During holiday season you guys from LIP family help us out to buy some foods and groceries to give to the poor people here. It was really a good feeling to give out to them. The smiles and the tears of joy from from the needy ones are enough already to be thankful to God of the blessings that we received everyday.
Have a great day everyone!
Cheers!
that show did not show the real poor. the real poor live in tent’s in cars and under bridges. The media shows only what they want and pretend that is the real poor that the ones living in cars,tent ect.ect dont exist.
Hi Larry Myers – If Filipinos were given tents for them to live on that, I bet you they will be a happy camper. It would be hard for the Filipinos to lived in a car, so many people to be jammed inside. No room for it. Still better living environment than what the poor Filipinos have.
Thank you for your comment!
Mrs Feyma,
Very good article. You are totally correct with what you are saying. The problem with the US is there is too much of a sense of entitlement. People getting things that they don’t deserve and that they did not pay into. That gives them no incentive to want to work. In the Philippines nothing is given to you. You have to work and pay for everything you need. Have a nice day!
It is indeed hard to compare “the poor” in different countries. For the U.S., this recent essay by Barbara Ehrenreich (author of “Nickel and Dimed”) is relevant and enlightening:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/barbara-ehrenreich/nickel-and-dimed-2011-ver_b_922330.html
My 2 cents: one big difference is that in the Philippines, the poor are represented in the mass media (e.g., radio and TV soaps) and in fact presented as the “good guys” (saints/heroes). In the U.S., you would think there are no poor people by looking at the mass media (Hollywood movies, network TV shows predominantly feature middle-class, not to mention, white, characters) when in reality, almost a third of the population are now poor. I leave for the reader to judge which is the lesser evil– I do not know anymore.
Hi Reina – Thank you for the link. I will read it more later.
With what happened to the economy nowadays, we now see lots of homeless people in the West. I think only actors and politicians were the one making good money nowadays.
Thank you so much for stopping by.
Take care!
filipinos are not poor they have huge knowlegde,,and can afford to get xbox even me i have one
Hi Jhena Ward – Are you serious? Have you been to the poor area of the Philippines? I doubt it though. I’ve been to the mountains here in Mindanao. To go there just by walking, no paved road. When I went to the houses in the mountains they had no electricity, which means they didn’t have xbox 360 of course. They just have the basic stuff. I’ve seen too many poverty here. It breaks my heart seeing them. I don’t deny that too many people lives below the poverty line here in the Philippines. We will try our very best to help them anyway we can. We can’t change that.
Let’s just open our eyes and accept that too many Filipinos lives below the poverty line.
Take care!
Well Feyma, You hit a sour topic in your article today for me. I, also stand behind the poor here, (so-called poor) that get food stamps and I see them buying expensive foods, junk foods, candy, ice cream and etc. I can’t afford to buy everything they have in their cart. It makes me sick to see this happen here. You are so right about how the people of the west complain. But, I guess since they haven’t really experience the poverty in the 3 world countries, they just don’t understand even though I am sure they have seen it on tv. It just doesn’t sink into them how bad it really is there.
Good article.
Art
Art,
It also makes me sick when i see people get arrested for dealing in drugs and other felonies and they come into jail with a pocket full of money and a EBT Card. Another abuse of an entitlement. Take care.
You are correct with the food stamps. As someone who is not “entitled” to food stamps, I find it appalling that those who pay with food stamp card seem to just get whatever they want to get at grocery or Costco while, we, who are not entitled to welfare, “calculate” what are needed for the month.
I think the problem here in the US is that, welfare policies are so lax. There are people who will willingly not work just to be able to avail of welfare (they go around the rules like being divorced in papers but still living together!), while people who work hard hardly even get some incentive and we get the blame of the “poor” people. It’s even hard to get mortgage readjustment for us “working class”, let alone some incentives,
I think the secret here is “do not work”. While in many developing countries, poor people want to work, it’s just that there isn’t much work available.
What I meant by lax welfare policies, by the way, is that the “determinants” aren’t strong enough to identify who really needs help and who are merely ass-lazy. Social welfare is a noble idea, however, it should really go to those who are deserving, not those lazy people who have EBT and just place whatever food they like on their carts. Hardly any conditions except that you should have a “low income” which is easy to attain by not working!
Surprisingly, Subway (fastfood) does accept EBT. >_>
It’s a funny thing. Poor people in developing countries want a decent paying job; many poor from developed country do not want to work, or want to work for the minimum pay for the sake of collecting welfare
Feyma
You are so right on everything you wrote here!!
What it seems like that whatever some people have they are not satisfied and think they are entitled to more more more.
Feyma you are 100% correct the poor in the USA have no idea what ‘poor’ is. In the USA there are no poor only ‘entitled people’ is the mentality. Why work when you can have a kid and get an avg. of $763 in welfare PER child??? The scam now is daughter reliquishes parental rights to mother, mother becomes ‘foster care’, daughter still lives with children and mother, now the cost PER child climbs to over $1,100 The family structure does not change, just the lega;l description of it. Nice eh??!!! Being in the rental business I have for decades seen the abuse, IMHO its around 80% of abuse. I get very angry !!!
Hi Feyma,
When Marie first came to America she made a shocking discovery. The poor are often very fat in the US whereas the poor in the Philippines are usually very skinny. This is by no means a personal attack on anyone. It was an observation. I explained to Marie that when you are poor in America you can recieve assistance for food, medical, and housing. After you recieve the handouts you will be freed from the desire to work hard and get ahead in life. Here in the Philippines if you are poor you are just starving unless someone helps you. Sometimes weight gain is a side effect as you are receiving calories but not expending effort. I actually experienced the same effect when I switched jobs from being a machinist to an office job. It was really hard to keep my weight down because my physical activity was reduced.
no filipinos poor live in america
But there sure are millions of them in the Philippines.
Of course, it would be hard to find “poor” Filipinos in the US. Most who immigrate are the upper working class or the rich. A one way ticket cost nearly $1000 alone! Do you think poor Filipinos can afford that LUXURY?
Hi Feyma
good topic. I find the poor in Australia are those that work in badly paid jobs. The goverment in my opinion makes it more attractive not to work and just sit home and receive hand outs. But i do agree poor people in Philippines have it much tougher then in Australia , exception being street kids, because if you are a street kid in Australia survival in the winter months is harder and im afraid most of the street kids over there do not look for help from the welfare because for different reasons they want to stay anonymous.
Great article Feyma,there are many poor people here in the PI,i get a kick out of the people here well some who dont like american food and wont try it,they just want sardines and dried fish.Most are happy with what they have.I invited a family member to my house for a month it was a real experience for her especially when i made cookies she loved them ,but that was the first time she ever had any also,she was a mountain girl,talk about poor all the people should go there from the states and see first hand how they live.Its to me like 50 years behind.As far as poor people in the states a family of five with little income get about 600 in free food not bad of course many wont take a low pay job,and yes many well educated folks live under a bridge,but there is reasons also,some personal.ALso people who have kids in the states get free medical ,and assistance with utilites. Come here to the Philippines you will see..poor…
Wow, I see alot of comments already … an interesting subject. Indeed the concept of ‘poor’ in America is so distorted people really have lost the entire concpet.
I wrote recently about the common saying about being poor in the US exemplified by poor people eating cat food. Ha. You have to be rich to buy cat food in the Philippines, and darn few cats get fed.
My wife and I watched a TV show about a lady in Georgia who operated a free clinic for the poor. Funding cuts had forced her to close two days a week. She noted you could tell when the clinic was closed because the parking lot looked so deserted and sad since it was empty.
That’s ‘poor’ in America. Not having a later model car, I guess.
Food Stamps? Don’t have them here.
Free Clinics? Medical care is cash and carry. Have money or be carried out.
Poor People with a Car? Surely you are joking
You know the vast majority of Americans don’t even have a passport. They’ve never traveled and have very little concept of how the rest of the world lives.
Even for those who are sure they never want to live in another country, if you’re reading this and haven’t visited the Philippines, I suggest you make the effort and broaden your mind. I guarantee when you get back to the USA you’ll never look at the food section in a CostCo the same way again …
Yep. Travelling to Manila for the first time in 2009 was a real education for me and it really changed my opinion of wealth and poverty here in the US.
There are poor people in American for sure, but the mass media and society in general pretty much ignores it unless it somehow touches them personally. Still, putting it all in perspective, comparing thee poor in America to the poor in the Philippines is almost laughable — there is no comparison.
In America there are program like food stamps, which by the way, was originally a noble mission to feed the poor but quickly lazy people learned to play the system. Some families simply started breeding like rats, popping out as many babies as they can, so they can qualify for even more food stamps and learning to live very comfortably, all things considered, without any thought of getting a real job.
On a scale of 1-to-10, 10 being the better off, American poor would get an 11 or more and the Philippines truly poor would get a minus 1. Meanwhile, some places like the Horn of Africa, especially Somalia, are experiencing a famine and millions of people are simply starving to death.
My opinion only, in the Philippines I think the Catholic Church is just as responsible, if not more responsible, for the massive poverty (i.e., more people to feed produces such a catastrophic strain on the economy the infrastructure of the country simply can’t keep up). You can see the same thing all over the face of the earth — the countries with the highest birth rate (the Philippines is one such country) also experience the deepest poverty.
Have to agree with you Richard on the Catholic church, the Bishop condeming contraceptives is almost criminal IMHO.
I would add the sickening politicians who, in order to get the support of the church and other secs, do not pass the RH bill. After all, it’s the lawmakers who pass the laws, not the church. Politicians just want to please the church and secs to be able to get votes!
Feyma
yes u are very right if u are poor in manila who will help u no one but ur self just like here in australia we all get hand out or if u like a hand up and yet there are ppl living on the street why i may ask as my self i do not work at his time as i have u very bad back and at time i canot walk but every 4night i get $940.00 in my bank and with that i feed my wife and kids and take some for my self as i am a smoker and we allways need alittle more some time as two off the kids are still in school there in the phill but i dont call my self poor mate as ia hve alovley home there in the phill and a flat tv andall we need but here what do i have very little and yet we are very happy and in love so why canot ppl here make a go off it for me i dont under stand as there is a job out there for every one if thay wont to work and some are to lazy to do but that life………………..peter martin tassie
hi Peterjoy
A lot of the streetkids in Australia are there because they have run away from abusive parents or have a drug addiction. Those that are underage will not go to welfare for assistance because they are scared of being returned to the place they have run away from or being placed in a goverment /church home which also has a bad reputation for abuse of minors. They mainly exist by robbing or selling their bodies to low-lifes. I have seen a lot of these kids in the Hindly street area of Adelaide and feel desperately sorry for them like i do for the genuine street kids in Philippines. I will always give a few peso even though my wife trys to discourage me as she tells me some of the begger kids are being run by adults to feed their drug problems, she will give them food that we didnt consume at the restaurent or malls so i know she is being kind in her own way and probably helping them more then i am.
david
i am not here to put down street kids as like u i have a heart and yes i have been to that very street u talk about and know well what it is like mate but why sit on the street and say thay are what thay are and say thay cannot eat as most as u say are on drugs and there is always away out and first that is to help them self be for some one can help them ok or in 10 years time it will be them that are the low life mate i have live in australia all my life and are married to a lovely sweet filipina mom off 3 kids and i thank god every day of meeting her and if it was not for her i would now be on the street my self so know wahti am talking about ……god bless………..peterjoy…tassie
Feyma…
One of my favorite sayings is…”Everything is relative”…..being poor here in the Philippines would obviously be different than being poor in the states because you are comparing against the rich in 2 different countries.
It seems so odd to me to hear pinoys call me “rich”. I have never felt rich in the sense of monetary gain, and my usual response is to tell them that they are “richer” in so many more ways than the people where I come from.
To me, being happy will never be based on the amount of money in my wallet, but on the richness of life. One does not have to have money to be happy, and in fact some of the wealthiest people I knew in the states were the MOST unhappy people I knew.
I am not downplaying the poverty I see here everyday, but if you compared the Philippines with some parts of Africa they may see life here much better. “Everything is Relative”.
Feyma:
This topic is something that I always struggle to wrap my mind around.
Part of the reason for this way of thinking is that the overall state of the American people has experienced very little in the way of truly serious deprivation: Not since the Great Depression, nearly 80 years ago, and those few who remember those times are quickly dying off. You are correct in that you really cannot compare the two countries in this regard.
Much of the perception in the US is directly related to conspicuous consumption… Success in life is related to how much material wealth you possess. Thus, in the States, there are large segments of the population deemed the “working poor”: Those who are employed, but struggling to make ends meet in obtaining “necessities”. Well, in much of the US, for example, a car could be considered a necessity in order to get to work. How many US cities, aside from a handful, have decent public transportation? How many people in the States do not have electricity? Or a telephone? Or access to health care, even of “poor” standard?
The current recession was caused, in large part, by greed… And I’m not only talking about the banks and large corporations. Someone had to feed the ridiculous housing boom. About ten years ago, I was branded an “idiot” by some colleagues because I refused to buy a small apartment in Los Angeles, spending over half a million dollars for less than 800 square feet. I was told, not by a bank or mortgage broker but by people who supposedly “knew”, that the only true way to wealth was through real estate. How many are eating those words now?
Sometime in the last 100 years, the American psyche has evolved into home ownership and material wealth being some form of human right. It is an entitlement. Gone are the days of thinking “Work hard and you might even be President someday”. In the Philippines, the attitude of “Bahala Na” seems to predominate: You are born into your lot in life, and only God can change it. Unfortunately, many of the poor in America do bnot take advantage of what is available to better themselves and their own lot.
My point is this: In the West, it is a rude awakening as to real poverty. That awakening may or may not come true. When I first started travelling the world for work, on my first trip to India, I felt an overriding sense of guilt staying in a hotel where $250 per night was the fee. I justified it, in my mind, by thinking, “Well, my staying here gives ten people a job for the day”. That thinking was misguided… True poverty is related to wealth distribution. Whether, India, the Philippines, or the United States, when 2% of the population control over 90% of the nation’s wealth, distinctions between the “haves” and the “have nots” become drastic. Those with the wealth control the power, be it police, military, the courts, or the bureaucracy. They do not give up that power easily. Extreme wealth becomes an impossible hurdle to overcome, and the wealth inequity becomes dangerous. When we moved here, we were walking through Greenhills Mall… Rebecca made the comment, “Who says the Philippines is poor? Look at all this!” In one sense, she was correct… There is enormous wealth here. The problem is that it is controlled by a tiny percentage of the population… And they are not going to give it up. How is that so different from the United States? Those with money control the politicians, and therefore the law, the court, the police, the military, and… the handouts. The difference is the level of overall prosperity from whence that control begins.
Hi Feyma – I think personally that people in another continent or country for that matter cannot compare poverty like for like. Standards of what poverty is in real terms differ greatly from society to society.
Poverty for me is about doing without, making do with what you have and trying to get out of your situation with your own efforts. Having a house and all the mod cons as you have described from the TV documentary with state hand outs is not poverty at worst it can be considered hardship by some.
Real poverty is about people with rags for clothes, sunken cheeks, little to eat and nothing to call their own with no hope of life getting any better soon.
Poverty is an ill used word at times and TV documentaries will present it to their best advantage not always to the benefit of those most needy.
Well said, Jim!
Broadcast Television is a ” Business ” so a majority of the time they are going to show ” What Sells “, what brings in the ” Ratings ” which will contribute to selling more add time for a higher price.
I have not looked yet, but I wonder if there might be some video on Youtube, put up by individauls and not commercial enterprises that may better reveal poverty in many parts of the world, including the USA.
John great comments and Feyma great post here…….My take is probably most poor or have nots here in the USA… really do not have a clue on what is going on in the Philippines let alone about the poor there and how they live…Both countries have what they call the poor class..and probably the poor in the Philippines would love to have what the poor here in the USA have…..I think no mater what country you go to..there are the have’s (the ones with the money) and the have nots ( the ones with no money or very little )…as far as the USA goes……I think most of the entitlement programs are in place to pacifi the have nots per say. The have’s know that there are way to many have nots and they out number the have’s by huge numbers…….so the have’s way of thinking is we will have many entitlements to pacifi the have nots and keep them content per say so that we the have’s can continue on with our grand life style…Look at what has been going on in England the last few days……that is a good exmaple of what could go on here in the USA if the have’s did not pacifi the have nots with all the entitlements that they have gave them for so many years and made them dependent on the system. My self I have wondered..what would it be like here in the USA if all the entitlements ended! I am sure the have nots sure would not have a big smile on their face like most of the poor people there in the Philippines have, and I am sure that when all the have nots here got hungry they would not be like the hungry in the Philippines…( I would dare say it would be something no one here wants to see )…even when the poor there have nothing there they still have the big smile..maybe not all the time, but more so than one would ever see here…..so…some will say the entitlements are good others will say they are bad….my self I can only say that here in the USA we live in a country that is on thin ice and any thing could happen in the next few years……time will tell……
Hi feyma you are dead right about the west ,we have homeless people here and they get buisness leaders to spend a night under a tent to show how living it rough is ,its a joke juat another reason for a booze up for the powerfull , when i returned home after seeing what i did there i said to my parents this is the lucky country , we have philippino workers at where i work and people say why are they here ,bloody asians ,refos ,i have become tired of trying to make these block heads try to understand why these people are here and the poverty that exsists in there country to the extent that i sit by myself at lunchtime as i am sick of the racist and derogotory remarks that are made from these ignorant d……heads ,i would challenge any of them to go to any asian country and try to survive without there fat wallets most have never been outside the state let alone over, seas ,i listen to people who go to bali “oh they treat me like a kingor queen” why because they need there job to survive you fool truth be known they probably think you are just a big fat foreighn pig but they have to treat you like the king to provide for there families ,the west has become soft we dont know what hard times are like anymore ,your people are nearly always dressed neat and clean and they smile even if they have nothing ,i wish i was there when the lip christmas drive was on i dont think i would have dry eyes i can tell you thats why i give like you and bob and all the rest to try to bring some sunshine into someone else who is less fortunates life ,you and bob are the messengers for the rest of us who cant be there ,and at the end when you stand at the gates i dont think that there will be any need for a key i think the gates will open automatically for you both !
chris
My visits to The Philippines and other places in the world have revealed to me many things, including poverty situations. Yes, we really do have poverty in some situations here in the USA such as people living in cardboard boxes on the streets on top of subway vents ( for warmth in the winter ) . In major cities there are ” Homeless Shelters ” but many of the homless will not make use of them out of fear of being robbed of what ever little they may have, rape, or otherwise being attacked by others living in the shelters. Even places like Las Vegas, New York City, Chicago etc. have a darker side to them seldom seen or mentioned in the commercial press or on TV.
A comparison between USA and Philippine poor and poverty situations I think it is a major difference in the proportion of those in poverty in Ph. Some of the people I have met in The Philippines who there could be considered as average wage earners in The Philippines, if they moved their house and belongings etc. here to the USA they might be considered poor by USA standards.
When I visited the Iligan City Jail ( as a tourist / visitor of course LOL )
http://liveinthephilippines.com/2010/12/my-donation-to-iligan-city/
A comment was made to me that ” many of the inmates here have life much better than they did from where they came from ” which I assume is from living in the streets, squatter places, etc. To me, that comment really said something to me and sunk in to my brain.
Hi Feyma,
Were you watching Fox News again?….(tongue in cheek)..
Jon
Hi Feyma: After teaching 24 years at the college/university system, I am now seeing a new trend in the U.S. I am seeing female students getting pregnant before graduation to qualify for food stamps, scholarships, housing, healthcare, and other aid. They are living with their boyfriends instead of getting married to qualify for these entitlements. The boyfriends’ paycheck can buy a lot of things: flat-screen tv, cell phones, cars, and other things. I have to verify their enrollment to qualify for these entitlements as an academic advisor. It saddens me a great deal as these young students have great potential, but would rather settle for handouts. After my long days of work, about 12 hours on the average, I am less and less sympathetic to the plight of the so called “poor” in the U.S.
Roselyn,
Couldn’t have said it better. Have a nice day.
Feyma a good article resulting in a good discussion. I agree that to compare the poor of different countries is something that does not work. America for decades has been seen as the richest country in the world. With that label you would have to assume that our poor would be somewhat better off than others. The label poor is relative. Somalia is poor compared to the Philippines and of course those comparisons can be made over and over. During the depression in the United States we had many poor. What changed government policies, job creation, social welfare programs and improved access to education. With that in mind why are we comparing the poor between the U.S. and the Philippines. I think if people want to help the poor in the Philippines they need to pressure the government to do what is needed. I will give you an example of my thought process. In my opinion there really isn’t any consequences for a man in the Philippines that does not take care of his children. There for sure are not consequences for men that leave their wives to fend for themselves. In my opinion there needs to be laws that hold a man responsible for the children he creates. Legalized divorce would be a good step forward in solving that issue. There are no consequences for parents that chose to not educate their children. Why not? I think we all get my feelings on some changes that could help. In reality in all countries of the world there are too many children being born and that over population is going to create more and more poor regardless of country. An argument here is should those that worked hard to become successful give more to those that have little to nothing? In my opinion yes-but then again I don’t really have that much myself so my perspective is biased. I can see both side of that argument. Mother Earth has a way of taking care of these problems. Famine, War, Natural Diasters, Disease, etc… This is also not a new problem. There have always been a majority of have nots in the world. So please don’t try to make America look bad because our poor have an over all better life style than the poor of other nations. Poor are poor and governments are responsible for th welfare of its people. I will give it a rest but thank you for the conversation. Ron
I still believe the U.S. is the “Land of Opportunity”, if you are willing to put forth an effort. If not, you vote Democrat.
Ok, ok, stop the hate! Stop the hate! Just kiiiding!!
You got this right.
i see that most poor people are litter bugs…in usa or the phils…why do poor people keep having kids,blows my mind..i see here in the phils the people dont clean the little kids teeth rotten , wow breaks my heart to see..there is a village in back of my house..trash everywhere..the nipa huts look bad..i see places they could have garden they dont ..they could make it all look nice its there choice, i see they have cigs red horse..not to many barking dogs..hehehe
Feyma,
I still think that education and population control are necessary to fight poverty in our country, no matter how rich one country is if it was over populated, it’s still not considered a developed countries, China for instance will become a super power someday but you can’t denied that there’s still millions of their people there lived in poverty .
Rebecca;
I have to agree with your comment.
Unfortunately Feyma I don’t honestly think you have the first idea what you are talking about. I have spent enough time in both the USA and the Philippines to have seen the comparison first hand.
The genuinely poor people in the USA have less than nothing. Please remember that all the basic items in the USA such as food, clean water and clothing cost more than they do in the Philippines, and house prices are astronomical in comparison. There are also far less opportunities for people to gain low paid manual jobs in the USA, to get anything like a decent salary a high level of education is required. To get a job at all requires much more stringent bureaucracy to be met, one must have a permanent address amongst other things.
So please, don’t accuse those in the West of whining when you have no first hand experience and have seen one biased documentary.
Oh, and think about this – homeless people in many parts of the USA have to endure temperatures that are well below freezing point, into minus 10 degrees or minus 20 degrees Celsius for many months of the year. Take the homeless people from the Philippines into those sorts of temperatures and see how long they last.
I’m not saying that the poor in the USA have it harder or vice versa – I’m not that poor so I really don’t know, but your attitude based on one documentary is sickening and frankly shows your lack of world experience.
Frankly, Tom, you are an ass. Why would Feyma’s opinion be less worthy than yours? Feyma has lived in both countries and is just as entitled to her opinion as you are. Feyma’s views are just as “first hand” as yours are.
Oh dear, another keyboard warrior happy to name-call on an internet site… pathetic
What do you expect when you are trolling?
I was wrong, Tom… you’re not an ass.. well, I should say you are not only an ass, you are also pathetic. Thanks for reminding me of the word I was looking for.
Bob,
Couldn’t have said it better. Way to go!
Hi Feyma,
I didn’t see the program but I completely agree with your perspective. My wife has made some of the same comments after returning from grocery shopping here in Minnesota… Coke, Doritos, M&Ms, Snickers, Ho-Hos, Ding Dongs and out comes the ebt card! while my wife shops for the best deal on fruits and vegetables to keep her family healthy and save us some money in doctor’s visits.
(I’m the one sneaking the Doritos into the cart) .
My wife grew up in the Philippines and I’ve been there a couple of times. There is no doubt that there’s a world of difference between being poor in the west and the RP. I also remember news reports about people who went down to New Orleans to help with hurricane relief being complained to by the recipients of donated goods because they weren’t the right brand. Appreciation does not often go along with the entitlement mentality.
Bob,
Way to go! I appreciate and identify with you in coming to the defense of your wife.
You called it as you saw it and had no choice in my book.
My Dad always told us… “There are more horses asses in this world than there are horses.” obviously still very true.
Bob S.
Ha ha… thank you, Bob S.
go bob go
stand up for ur wife mate and there would not be one on here that would not do the same as u i know i would never stand by and have some one run there wife down on here or on the street and i know from time to time i dont like what is writen here but i do not rip u apart for it i have my say and leave it at that bob so keep the good news coming mate and god bless to u and ur wife for doing some think most off us dream about and have no idear how do go about it like u matei dream off living my days out in the phill and i know soon the dreaming for me will b over i have just got back from there just last week had a lovley time too………peter martin tassie
Thanks Peter. Glad to hear that you had a good trip to the Philippines.
Wow, Tom. Are you a true misogynist, or simply another ugly American who hangs out on Philippine-related sites just to bad mouth Filipinos?
I find your words, your attitude and your distinct lack of knowledge distinctly representative of the type of loud-mouthed, closed-minded Americans who have basically driven me out of my own country. (That and paying extra on my phone bill to insure phone service for deadbeats who won’t pay their own bills, etc.)
Frankly, Feyma needs no defense from me, but she’ll get it anyway, since I know her well, I’ve met her several times, been a guest in her home and am proud to consider her a friend.
As Bob already pointed out, Feyma is an America citizen who lived, worked, kept a home and raised a family in the USA.
It is not only her right to voice her opinion, but I also find that her article is extremely representative of my own views as a “natural born” American.
My personal advice to you is, grow up and learn to treat those around you with some greater respect. You might just learn a thing or two.
I am not American. Your entire reply is therefore null and void.
Oh, and to be completely honest Dave, I am really not looking to take personal advice from somebody who needs to generate income from advertising space on an internet blog about the Philippines…. I mean, really? Scraping the barrel hardly comes close to describing it…. Pathetic.
Tom:
Speaking as one who most likely has a hell of a lot more world experience than you, I can say that there is no comparison between being poor in the United States and being poor in the Philippines.
In the US and much of the West, there are safety measures and fallbacks for the poor. A list of things that exist in the US that do NOT exist here:
1. Welfare
2. Unemployment Insurance
3. Medicare / Medicaid (Phil health pays, maybe, 20% if you are lucky… Don’t or can’t pay your bill here? You die. Plain and simple to understand.
4. Food Stamps
5. Pell Grants for tuition / job training
6. Soup kitchens
7. Meals on Wheels
8. Free legal assistance (In EVERY US county)
9. Reduced utilities rates (for most utilities)
10. Free school lunches
11. Section 8 housing
12. Anti-discrimination laws in employment and housing
13. Protection against slumlords
14. Rent subsidies in many cities.
Add in a whole slew of programs that vary from state to state and municipality to municipality.
Yes, there are homeless, inner city poor, Appalachia, and MS / AL, but the state of the common poor person in the West is far better than the utter hopelessness experienced here. Those pictures of the slums in Manila, Sao Paulo, Dhaka, Mumbai, Kolkata, Ciudad Juarez, Jakarta are all very real… I have been to all of those places and seen it with my own eyes.
For someone who has so much world experience, you really haven’t a clue.
I find the way you guys close ranks around each other to be extremely comical. Gang mentality at it’s finest.
Perhaps this discussion could continue between myself and the OP without the need for her cronies to weigh in at the first opportunity? Although having said that, I would be interested, John, as to why you feel that you have’almost certainly have more world experience than I do’ when you know nothing about me.
Fortunately me for me I no longer reside in the dump that is the Philippines, although I do feel for the poor there.
Feyma:
I simply took exception to the way in which you accused the West of being so self centred. I quote:
“The West should be ashamed of the whining and complaining. They live the good life compared to any poor places in the third world countries. For the people from the West that never been to any third world countries, they would think that every country in the world lives the way they did.”
I find this offensive, unqualified and certainly demonstrative of a lack of western world experience. Perhaps you should stop and think about the BILLIONS of dollars of aid that the West pours into 3rd world countries every year before you sound off like that.
To the rest of you ‘protectors of the OP’, any further comments of yours will be ignored, your knee jerk reactions are irrelevant to me.
Tom:
First off, I wrote “most likely”, not “certainly”… big difference.
Secondly, why, if you think that the Philippines is a “dump” — Your exact words there — are you reading a blog targeting expats living in the Philippines? Trolling 101… you gave in too early.
Finally, I have met both Bob and Feyma, and both of them show, through their actions, not words, a genuine concern for the poor in this country and a love for the people of the Philippines.
Your words ring with true, elitist garbage. Concern over the BILLIONS spent by western governments… Who are all sending such aid from the kindness of their hearts and the hearts of their own people… Correct? These governments contributing such generous financial aid are doing it purely through altruism and have no spurious, political, or ulterior motives? You honestly think that you can compare some welfare mama in the US with someone who picks through garbage dumps in order to eat?
I also refer to Dave Starr’s response to you… About Americans (or others in your case), retiring here and bitching about an increase in the price of their beer, or a 1 peso lowering of the exchange rate. So many of those SOBs claim poverty, even living here among the truly poor, oblivious to what is around them.
John M.
Just to add to your list there is also WIC and food banks. Your right he doesn’t have a clue. Take care.
Hi Guy’s I’m sorry to see this post becoming personal. Each person is entitled to their opinion albeit against some one elses. Tom right or wrong was expressing his opinion on the post to the writer no one else. Until the writer responds personally no one else should otherwise it just leads to the situation that now exists.
Lets not spoil a good platform to express individual opinion, otherwise you will only ever get one side of the story.
Regards.
Jim.
Jim – It is not really your place to tell me or others what we can or cannot write about. I mean, I own the site after all. I am not going to have somebody come here and badmouth my wife without any response. Tom is free to express his opinion, but when it comes to bad mouthing my wife on my site… that is where his freedom stops.
Hi Bob – I was only expressing my view on the situation nothing more nothing less.
Regards.
Jim.
Jim – People can certainly express their views on the topics of discussion, but it not acceptable for anybody to make personal attacks. People make personal attacks against me regularly,and I put up with it to an extent. But, when somebody makes a personal attack against my wife, I will not stand for it. That’s not only my view, but my policy for this site.
Hi Bob
There seems to be a few personal attacks on both sides here. I thought this forum was about everybody having the right to an opinion without flames and personal attacks. I think Toms post could have been worded better without the need to insult, but really i find the retaliation posts to be twice as flaming, just my opinion, and Tom i dont disagree with all you have said but if you read the rules of this forum it does state that all opinions are welcome except flames and personal attacks.
David – All can express their opinions, as long as they don’t do it through personal attacks. But, I will not have somebody come here and make personal insults against my wife, nor will I have people tell me what I can or cannot say in response. Provided they follow the rules of the site, anybody can share an opinion.
I think you get what you pay for.
If you pay for people not to work, you get people sitting home waiting for “That perfect job”
If you pay women to stay home to breed, you get an explosion of unwed mothers.
If you make a law that requires no proof of income to purchase a house…
Hudson;
Your comment rings true.
You may not realise that in the UK you can stop working at 60yrs age, 5yrs before the current official retirement age of 65, and receive a modest ammount of SS income.
This is probably the equivelant to Americans taking a reduced pension at 62yrs of age.
Recent statistics showed that a far higher percentage of 60+ Brits are actively seeking work, compared to the 18 to 24 yr old group,(excluding those in full time education, college etc).
The expectations and attitudes of some in the younger generation apall me.
Very often, poor Americans will have possessions that were purchased in better times, or were given by family members. Its like when a poor Filipino owns a cell phone. It does not take away from their condition. Yes, the Philippines poor have it worse; much worse at times. However, the American poor often face a staggering level of violence, which is hard for them to escape from.
I have to make a comment on what Larry Myers said at the beginning of comments. Are you saying that being poor in the United States is the same as being poor in the filipines? If so you are way off base.
Sure, there are people that are poor in America and have it rough…it is a small small percentage of Americans though that have it REALLY rough. In the filipines there is a HUGE percentage of filipinos that are extremely poor.
Most poor people in America have it GREAT compared to even the average filipino. If you have been in the filipines you would know that.
Cheryl;
I agree with your comment.
Last figures i saw, it was estimated that around 30% of the Philippine population live below the poverty line of 2USD a day.
What these posts have not discussed is the “root” of America not having any true idea of poverty compared to the PHL: government welfare, entitlements, hand-outs, whatever rhetorical word best fits your slat on the subject. Should this discussion also be turned to whether or not the American government is doing their citizens a “service” in providing help to the “poor” and is the PHL government totally dropping the ball by not having even the most basic of services for their citizenry to ensure they at least don’t starve? I don’t have the answer, just lots of questions.
Tom knows all about the plight of the poor in america but he is not from america. He says “I am not American. Your entire reply is therefore null and void”. He also says “Unfortunately Feyma I don’t honestly think you have the first idea what you are talking about. I have spent enough time in both the USA and the Philippines to have seen the comparison first hand. And He no longer resides in the dump that is the Philippines.”
Not an american, so how does he have vastly more knowlege than Fema who has worked, contributed tothe system, and lived in the USA for ten years? Maybe his experiance was from the receiving side.
Some say america is the greatest place in the world to live. I would agree whole hartadly with this especially if you cant find employment or don’t want to work and still want a basic life.
On the other hand when Tom refers to leaving the dump that is the Philippines I guess one mans dump is another mans garden. I love the Philippins but have great sorrow for the hardships that the poor have to endure there. On the other hand I have very little sympathy for the majority of the poor in the USA as they have better medical oppertunities than I do, they have shelter and food and educational opertunities provided to them, and want more from my earnings. Everything they get comes from the working people.
Any way Feyma, I thought, and believe you had a good post and a good subject. And Bob I am happy that you came to the defense of your wife. Others that jumped in and defended her were most likely as insulted as you were as many of us have experienced people being derogatory to our Filipino wives not for their knowledge of subjects but for the superiority feelings it gives them trying to put down an intelligent Filipino woman whos culture restrains her from putting them in their place.
Thanks for letting me vent.
Thank you for your kind words, Loren.
Feyma, I see where I spelled you name wrong in the above rant. I apologize, I should have checked before posting.
Feyma,
You called it right. I’ve been saying this for years. Americans don’t know what real poverty is. There is no comparison whatsoever. Here is one thing I would like to share with you. The vast majority of people considered to be “poor” in America are “poor” because of bad lifestyle choices. I’m talking about things such as lack of motivation, drug abuse, alcohol abuse, promiscuity, unwillingness to live by the parents rules, reckless spending priorities and etc. Most are not “poor” because they lost work or fell victim to discriminatory employment practices and corrupt government such as in the Philippines. It is not even due to high unemployment. It is simply because they choose to live a lifestyle that leads them down the path of being “poor”. These same people then suck up my tax dollars which does nothing more than enable them to continue their destructive behavior. This is one of the reasons America has a huge budget problem right now. Too many handouts. I have no sympathy for the vast majority of what America considers to be “poor”.
Feyma,
Poverty all over the 3rd world is a sad fact of life, which each better off individual should remember when they waste food.
According to some past research, British families waste enough food in a year, that in monetary terms would feed a poor family in a 3rd world country for 1yr.
Interestingly i recently read that there are approx 526 slum dwelling areas in Metro Manila alone. It was estimated that it would take a third of Gov’t budget to relocate and re-house them all into modest housing. Its huge problem.
Regards,
Chas.
Great article. The subject of “absolute poverty” versus “relative poverty” was covered in my Sociology textbook last year, and I made sure to spend much time on this point. (I am a teacher in an urban district, and like Brian, I have witnessed first hand gross abuse of the welfare system designed to protect people from absolute poverty.) Since most of my students (75%) are classified as “poor” in America, but 100% of them have better cell phone than mine, I thought they should learn a little something about what poverty means in the third world. They were really moved by the presentation and understood clearly the difference between real life-or-death poverty and the relative poverty that most (not all) of America’s poor face. I have made it a mission to teach this subject every year, no matter what subject I am teaching, as most of my students have not travelled beyond their home state and have no idea what the poor in the rest of the world faces on a daily basis. Having lived in China for several years, I got to experience life without a social net to catch the poor. Even when I had a good job in China, I could not afford the type of life I was used to while being a memeber of the working poor in America. Items (besides basic vegetables from farmers’ markets) were much more expensive in China and salary got eaten up much more quickly than it does here in the US. Despite what one poster said, we are actually lucky in the US to have the cheapest consumer goods around. The reason why they are so cheap is that international companies exploit third world laborers around the world and take advantage of the strong US dollar to sell us cheap good while still making killer profits. In the US, I can easily find baby formula for $10 and t-shirts for $3-5. I don’t buy shoes or clothing over $20. Given the same income in China, I had to pay $30 for poison formula and $180 for a US brand. Despite my bargain hunting, I couldn’t find t-shirts for under $20-30 and shoes under $80 could be expected to break within a week. There is no comparison, and I feel very lucky to have such a good quality of life now that I am back in the U.S., where I have hot, running water available 24/7, a nice sit-down flush toilet, indoor heat, and a clothes washer and dryer (should I chose to use it)…all items I could not count on being able to access in China. There is some real suffering in America, especially on N.A. reservations, but for the majority of America’s “poor,” we are living well by world-wide standards.
There are tons and tons of poor people in the US and beggars on street corners, or poor people sleeping rough. Regardless of what kind of state benefits they get from the government, it is certainly a fact that many poor people live in sub-human conditions there, too. The subways will tell you that they are there, like ragtag armies, sleeping in filth and squalor. To deny that there are no poor people living in absolute squalor compared to India or the Philippines in the US would be looking the other way, too.
I know that if I had to be poor, and had my choice of countries to be poor in, I would pick the US.
i worked around a lot of illegal mexicans while living in california. they didn’t have much and most live 2-3 familys in one small home. I asked one my friends why did he want to live his life like that? Was there a better solution for him in Mexico? And his reply was “Mejor que ser pobre en America que Pobre en Mexico” (It is better to be poor in America than to be poor in Mexico.)
I grew up in the Philippines and yes I was homeless, I have chosen to run away from my well off family and found out how the poor people live. Now I am in America married to a wonderful American lady, I cherished the life here, even though I was unemployed for 6 months and only my wife working I feel like Bill Gates. I always remind my wife the hardship other poor families in the Philippines are experiencing and that makes us feel a sense of contentment. Here in America just work hard you will succeed, in the Philippines you work hard collecting food in trash and your success is being able to eat leftover food from the trash. Google “pagpag food” and you will see what I mean I experience this once and now I appreciate life here in America…God Bless America.