Bluntly, like a sledgehammer

Imagine this situation: a woman around 40 years of age who looks like your average cigarette vendor gets on the bus you are currently in and when the conductor goes around collecting the fare, the woman then looks straight into the conductor’s face and flatly tells him that she has no money. Upon hearing this, the conductor threatens the woman that she get off the bus already (the bus is currently humming along the SLEX) but this turns out to be an empty threat as the woman is left alone. A kind hearted office woman gives cigarette vendor woman money for the fare but she merely pocketed it and did not pay.

If you really took the time to imagine this scene then you would’ve gotten a rough idea on what I have seen a few days ago. Now that we’ve taken up this topic, what problem do we see here guys?

The problem here is that the poor, oh sorry gotta be politically correct here, the marginalized, seem to think that their situation, poverty, grants them special privileges. They seem to think they can get away with everything just because they are poor. They appeal to the people’s pity and do illegal things, saying that it was brought upon by inescapable circumstances and should have been done.

Ok, so you’ve proven your point. You are poor. You have no money. You have to be pitied. But do you have to wear this on your sleeve and do nothing about it? Are you contented with your situation and think that because of this situation you are in, you have the right to live on other people’s money? Yes, you could receive help from more fortunate persons but it’s only for alleviation of your suffering. Holding out your hand and begging for alms is not enough. You have to do something for yourself and get out of poverty. Poverty does not grant you special privileges but special responsibilities.

You might think that I’ve no pity for them at all but let’s use our cold, hard logic. Make a list (or if you want it could be a mental list) of the nuisances you would have to put up with because of them. Think of all the news reports about the marginalized (make sure to include here pollution, thievery, riots and vote buying). I did this and putting it bluntly, I concluded that they’re an eyesore and they do all sorts of things that we would have to put up with. A good example is the system loss charge that MERALCO charges, included here are stolen electricity by jumper wires all over the country. And who uses jumper wires? The marginalized people.

But please, don’t interpret my message in any other way that I want you to interpret it. I don’t hate the poor. Sure, they’re an eyesore but some of them are really struggling for their lives and deserve to be commended at the highest pedestals but think about those rotten poor, those people who don’t care and think they can do anything just because they are poor. They have always lived with the idea that they should be pitied and this must change. They are not to be looked down upon and be looked as persons of equal footing with everybody. They must be given the same opportunities and benefits as everybody, and with the same punishments that everybody gets when they commit illegal acts.

But hey, something just hit me on the head; think about it, if there are rotten poor there are also the rotten rich. And they are worse for they have the money and occupy the highest seats in the land, not only in the government but in the business sectors too. Either end of the spectrum you are on, rich or poor, your status must not grant you special privileges but special responsibilities.

(When the author wrote this he was in a terrible mood. He did not wish to show this to anybody because this would make him seem heartless and cold but he really is an affectionate person. Actually he loves coffee, photographs and his mother very much. That piece of useless information aside, he posted this only because he wanted you to read this. He just felt like playing the devil’s advocate today. But don’t get him wrong, he thinks highly of these people. It’s rotten rich people he hates. Haha.)