Rich Shaming Will NEVER Help The Poor Nor Would It Help The Philippines Progress

The COVID-19 pandemic has made me revisit the moments in my life. Back then, I remembered how I met people in college who had this economically ignorant "typical Pinoy" mindset. One of the worst examples I met was a working scholar I got into a quarrel with because of her attitude. Another one was a guy who kept whining about how he was poor yet he was also wasteful. There was also the writer of the now-deleted Fliptards Blog who kept having his rich shaming mentality. The encounter I had with that working scholar, that wasteful poor guy, and that teleserye addict were just a few. I could think about how somebody even said, "Kasalanan naman niyo mga mayayaman na mahirap kami!" The list can go on and on. These people have this mentality of rich shaming or shaming people because they are rich. 

Back then, I had no idea that Paco Larranaga (along with the six others) was actually INNOCENT of the death of the Chiong Sisters (since he was in Manila) or that Hubert Webb was actually in the U.S. when the Vizconde Massacre happened. Much rich shaming was done by the crowd towards people who should've been assumed innocent. I don't deny that there are rich people who abuse their power. However, there are also good rich people too. What I didn't realize was that both Paco and Hubert were rich-shamed and assumed to be guilty because they were rich. What happened next was that both the late Judge Martin Ocampo and Judge Amelita Tolentino (that witch in court) both decided to rush things. Many involved in the Chiong case got promotions (and I guess that's why they were eager to get it over and done with) and Amelita from what I heard was eyeing a position.Yet, what was forgotten was that the real criminals are still out there - presumably paying corrupt officials for illegal protection or may be in some other country. I even think whoever the drug lord (not named in Give Up Tomorrow) that the late Dionisio Chiong (father of the two slain sisters) worked for (and was supposed to testify against, got fired, and his daughters eventually went missing) may be in some other country by now. 

Years later, I decided to get involved with the idea of constitutional reform. It's hardly tackled in school about 60-40 or how nations rose from third world to first. However, I did at least have a subject on International Marketing and how imports and exports are part of business. The world is a global village. Yet, there are people who still hate having foreign direct investments (FDI). They have all their flimsy accuses such as "foreign invasion" or "But only FDIs will get rich!" big blatant lie. Then again, I'm also reminded of such an idiotic statement like, "It's the fault of our richer ASEAN neighbors that the Philippines is poor." Hmmm I wonder if these people that Switzerland was once poor and that the Marcos ill-gotten wealth made it rich? Please, Switzerland was already rich even before the Marcoses deposited some of their ill-gotten wealth there! I wonder (REALLY) how is it the fault of the richer ASEAN countries or first-world countries that the Philippines is poor? 

These rich shamers tend to be just plain lazy. I was thinking of how I got into a heated argument with a working scholar who blames the rich for her plight. She then dared to mention that her parents don't care how long it takes her to get her degree. Now, isn't it any wonder why she and her family are poor? It's their attitude towards money. The lazy wasteful guy was also blaming the rich for his plight. What was last seen he was always wasting money by not attending his classes,getting drunk, and making excuses not to do his work. These guys just want biglang yaman just like the pasaways in the Netflix series Squid Game. It's also one of the many reasons why these rich shamers end up working for drug syndicates because they want biglang yaman.

The idea of rich shaming to help the poor is counterproductive for one reason - some of the richest used to be the poorest. If you do research on some big-time rich people - think about how they used to be poor. The late Henry Sy used to be a poor migrant from China. Sy's fortunes were built on selling shoes hence why SM is called SM. Lucio Tan used to work as a janitor in a tobacco factory to pay off his tuition fees. Tony Tancaktiong was also from a poor family before he created Jollibee and became known as Tancaktiong. John Gokongwei once lost their fortunes during the war before Robinsons arrived. The culture of rich-shaming would also ridicule poor people who work hard to get out of poverty. In return, rich shaming only ENCOURAGES poverty than helping the poor get out of poverty. The rich guys who were once poor not only worked hard but also worked smart. 

Besides, some of the richest countries today used to be very poor. China was once devastated way harder by Mao Zedong than the Philippines was after the post-Marcos Years. Singapore used to be poorer than the Philippines. Taiwan was once a poor country after it split away from Maoist China. Germany was once left in rags because of Adolf Hitler's protectionist policies. The late Lee Kuan Yew later wrote a book called From Third World to First where he described Singapore's rise from rags to riches - hence the symbol of the Merlion. Hitler kept his campaign of rich-shaming, especially the Jews and where did it take Germany? True, Hitler grabbed a considerable amount of wealth but it was a one-shot deal. Hitler wasted the money on warfare and his protectionist policies caused Germany to crumble. Mao's rich-shaming policies (while he hypocritically lived in a palace) caused China to be poor. Both Lee and the late Deng Xiaoping both adopted free-market policies. Deng, though a communist, saw the beauty of a free market system and said poverty wasn't communism and to be rich is glorious. 

Perhaps one reason why some rich shamers go against FDIs (while hypocritically loving imported luxury products) is that they think it's the fault of first-world countries as why the Philippines is poor. Just imagine what if Lee and Deng had that mind of mindset. Just imagine if Deng told his fellow communists and say, "It's the fault of Taiwan we are poor!". Just imagine if Lee told his fellow Singaporeans, "It's Malaysia's fault that we are poor!" Instead, they decided to provide people opportunities to GET OUT OF POVERTY - something rich-shaming is incapable of doing. It's because rich-shaming only seeks to get rich quick without working. Give a man a fish and he will have a meal only for a day. However, teach a man how to fish and he will have a meal for a lifetime. That's what Lee and Deng had in mind when they made their countries progressive.

This is why the Philippines really needs to open up its economy. No, Vietnam is not restrictive in the sense it has the stupid 60-40 policies as Teddy "Dancing Boy" Baguilat may think. Vietnam may not allow foreigners to own land but you're not required to have a Vietnamese partner to do business there. That's why Vietnam, though a communist country, is now progressive. If FDIs will start to invest they think there will be opportunities for growth for both employment and the local business field. Any businessperson scared of competition has NO RIGHT to be in business like an athlete who doesn't want to compete. The world of business is like sports - you NEED competition and good sportsmanship. A good businessperson doesn't see only threats but also OPPORTUNITIES. Every single supplier to a businessperson is a COMPETITOR. Every single customer of a businessperson is a COMPETITOR. Competition expands the network of customers, suppliers, and service providers. It would mean that there are options IF one service provider fails to provide good services.

This is a call to STOP rich shaming. Rich shamers should be ashamed of themselves. If they hate the rich so much then why are they loving luxury items or dreaming of eating expensive food? Why would they complain that somebody is eating steak (not necessarily an expensive one) while they are eating bolinao? Should they not take pride in their bolinao as a mark of their pride? If they want their steak then they should work hard for it. If not, they can ask for their steaks from Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela who eats first-class steaks while his people starve. The rich shamers should remain consistent by STAYING POOR. Meanwhile, all the poor who are seeking to get out of poverty are now more than welcome to leave their idiotic rich shaming poor peers behind.