In review and in prospect
The core thesis of Mark Manson's book The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck (SANGAF) should be put up as the Philippines' national philosophical aspiration. The Wikipedia article of the book summarises its thesis…
[Manson] argues that individuals should seek to find meaning through what they find to be important and only engage in values that they can control. Values (such as popularity) that are not under a person's control are, according to the book, 'bad values'. Furthermore, individuals should strive to replace these uncontrollable values with things they have the capability to change, such as punctuality, honesty, or kindness. Manson further cautions against claiming certainty about knowledge that is out of one's grasp, especially in the case of attempting to leave a legacy. Meaning can be found, Manson claims, when one seeks to create joy in the moment for one's self and those around as opposed to being concerned with building a body of work as a legacy.
All up a good heads-up on an important message but the key takeaway here lies in these words: only engage in values that [one] can control. In this lies the key insight in what at first sounds like a nonsensical statement; the solution to poverty is to not be poor. Poverty, after all, is an outcome of making bad values the foundation of one's life.
Step back a bit and revisit our trademark definition of poverty:
Poverty is a habitual entering into commitments one is inherently unable to honour.
This definition is in perfect alignment with SANGAF. Habit is a manifestation of bad values applied and inherent inability is a domain beyond one's control. A paraphrasing of this definition of poverty can be made from this perspective:
Poverty is the outcome of bad values put into action.
One really need not go into much detail to appreciate that the Philippines as a whole is, indeed, the result of actions driven by bad values. One just needs to look around at his or her's immediate surroundings. One of the core values that accounts for the piles of shit that constitutes most people's surroundings is “concern for the poor”. Time and again, it's been made evident that there is no helping the poor. We end up losing an arm when extending a helping hand to them. What the poor do with resources doled out to them is beyond our control.
In a truly free market, capital gets invested in where there is potential. Finding where that potential lies is a productive endeavour well within one's control.
Last week's blog posts
Patricia Evangelista’s bullshit published on The @NewYorker
October 22, 2023 by Ramon Ortoll
"Bullshit. Evangelista’s mother is the sister of a good friend of mine. Their ancestral home is in Heroes Hills QC. No journalists, who were staunch critics of former President Rodrigo Duterte, were killed during his six-year term."
October 18, 2023 by benign0
"Chi chi location: Check. Venue within a chi chi institution: Check. Becredentialed honcho of the 'investigative journalism' cadre: Check. Nobel 'Peace Prize' laureate. Check. National Book Award–winning author endorsement: Check."
Why is Philippine politics so full of drama?
October 17, 2023 by benign0
"To be fair, all this makes Philippine politics fertile ground for the sorts of 'influencers' we see today — baduy and malaswa and all mukhang pera. There are no principles at stake, only personal brands and access to power."
VP Sara, a Toothless Dog without Confidential Funds; Go, Bato to lose re-election bid
October 16, 2023 by Oman
"Her approval numbers have slid and will continue to slide in the coming days. Moreover, we predict that she will eventually lose her appointment as Secretary of the Department of Education and even lose her position as the Co-Vice Chair of NTF ELCAC."