‘Too many Filipinos should be living better livestoday if not for deadweights that hold them backand keep them from reaching greater heights.’
WHY can’t the majority of Filipinos extricate themselves from their not-so-pleasant conditions slowly – but surely – improve their lot year after year?
My politically incorrect answer is this: because too many Filipinos act as deadweight to their family members who aspire for a better life. As a result, like drowning people clinging desperately for dear life onto a floating log, too many latch onto the log that it splinters into little pieces, sending everyone to the bottom.
It’s this deadweight culture that turns a family member’s ability to do better in life into a curse – because he then becomes the default go-to for everyone who needs assistance, be it a medical bill, an unpaid tuition fee, rent, utility bills, even money for a birthday bash or a debut.
Do you have a deadweight in your family? I’d say put them in a sack and dump them overboard!
The deadweight, to be clear, is not an aging parent. Or a sibling in grade school or younger. It’s more (in my book, that is) an able-bodied relative who has all the excuses for not finding a job or at least finishing school in the first place. And who relies on the goodness of the heart of that parent or sibling who is doing good anyway and is thus obliged to “share.” The Lord will bless you, they always gleefully tell you in gratitude for your generosity.
Some of the deadweight excuses for not getting a job include the complaint that the salary is too low. So they prefer to have no salary at all. Or that the job is too far, so they prefer to stay home and shoot the breeze while you work from 9 to 5. Or that they’re still looking for a “backer” or a “padrino” so they could have a chance of being accepted.
As they say in the vernacular, “Kung ayaw, may dahilan.”
But the most irritating justification the deadweights throw around is that whoever is doing better in life shouldn’t be selfish or arrogant, because being selfish and arrogant is what those who are better off are when they refuse to “share.”
Our society tolerates deadweights far too much; what it needs to learn to do is to say no to these types of folks who use Filipino culture in a warped way to evade responsibilities.
Too many Filipinos should be living better lives today if not for deadweights that hold them back and keep them from reaching greater heights.
Believe me – if you who are reading this have one or two deadweights in your family that you feel obligated to provide for, think again.
Drop them deadweights and reach for the stars!
