The Global Economic Recession Tomorrow
I don't know when the global recession started. What I am definite about is that everyone is affected up to the most lowly citizen of the world. According to Maslow, a person has several needs. The most basic of man's need is food, water, shelter and sex, although not necessarily in this order. Some people have it the other way around. Not unless one still lives in a primitive civilization, food, water and shelter are no longer free. However, if one plants vegetables and crops or grows animals and hunts the wild, food can still be freely obtained. If he is equally resourceful as he is hard working, potable water can be made available from even a murky river. Shelter can still be free if one so desires to live in simple abode. Sex has always been for free not unless one's taste borders on exotic, wild and deviant. After securing his basic needs, man now needs security. Security needs are complex interplay of mind and relationship. It is for free, but to some security comes with a high price tag. A person cannot move up the ladder of needs not unless the previous ones are satisfied. It is clear, therefore, for one to live in satisfaction one must have the capacity (i.e. money) to buy his basic needs and acquire security.
This morning I asked my mom to go to the market to buy some of our needs - food mostly. I gave her Php400 (roughly US$8). She asked if she has to buy some fish. I said no. Fish just cost so much locally. What I asked her to buy, if possible, are the following: a kilo of ground pork, some vegetables (bitter gourd and aubergine), my favorite dried fish, season fruit and fish (her choice protein source) if there would still be left of the money. I consented to her desire to buy fish. After all, she's still my mother. About 30 minutes after, she came home and right away told me there wasn't any good dried fish available. A new supply will arrive tomorrow, so I still have to take three more meals before I get to eat my favorite dried fish. Besides the dried fish, which was really a bad news, she came home with the following: a kilo of ground pork, some vegetables (bitter gourd, aubergine, squash, green onions, and potatoes), a kilo of fish, two feet of bananas and a dozen anthuriums. At first look, it may not be too bad at all. The Php400 I gave her seemed to go a long way.
There are only my mom and I to eat three square meals a day. What she brought home today from the market may last for five days or even a week. Not bad really for just US$8. What about a family of five mouths to feed? How long will Php400 last? Three days? Even a couple only. This is thinking that the family is earning something in a month's time or even in a day, which sadly most Filipino families are. Remember that my mom was still able to bring home bananas and anthuriums. She loves flowers - fresh flowers in the living room, dining room and even in the kitchen. We can still afford this luxury, but most poor families would rather buy food instead of flowers. What my mom was able to buy would have been much more several years ago when there was still no global economic crisis. They said the prices of basic commodities are dictated by how much each barrel of crude oil costs in the global market. Since there is global recession, obviously, the price of almost everything skyrocketed. When prices of basic commodities go up, this may mean tightening the budget to some, but hunger to most families. We are luckier because there are only two of us to feed plus two dogs and a lazy cat.
Man to be able to satisfy his social and esteem needs, he must satisfy first his basic and security needs. When he can barely eat two decent meals in a day, he doesn't care anymore how secure he is. He may even risks his life just to earn that precious money to buy food which his hungry stomach is grumbling for. Good judgment may elude him and he may even steal from others just to be able to buy food. In the act of stealing, he may hurt others and jeopardize his future. He forgets anymore to secure not merely his physical self but his future, his life. Assuming he does not steal but exist on a survival level, he cannot even come to think of making deep and productive relationships with people around him. He shies himself away from the crowd. He feels he does not belong, and because of this, he has a very poor self image. There are so many who are stuck in the survival level. Only a few of us really are self-reliant. No wonder there are so many Filipinos that are less competitive, less assertive and less optimistic. This has what global recession brought us. The ever increasing prices of basic commodities is just the tip of the problem. The bigger dilemma is yet to come.
When my mom left for the market this morning, I was in the middle of my exercise. I worked out at home. I have come to a better perspective about myself that I need to exercise to trim down and be healthy because I would like to believe that I have both my basic and security needs all satisfied. It would not even be presumptuous if I say that I have my social needs secured too. I am all able to think of wasting time sweating it out because I do not have to think anymore of what to eat next (except for the dried fish of course). I am physically secure at home with my ever reliable Doberman. Because of what I have done and what I am doing, I have a circle of friends I can always rely on. I am quite good with teaching and the affirmation I get speaks of this. What I am more worried though is not myself but how have others been affected by this economic downtrend. If my premise is correct, I cannot imagine how much impact will this crisis have on the younger generation of Filipinos. We have always been known to be timid, less assertive, non-competitive and pessimistic. Although education and a lot of NGOs are working hand in hand to correct not just the image but this sad reality, still I am very pessimistic of the whole thing - talking about being Filipino. When my mother this morning brought home a lot out of US$8 except my favorite bulad, I did not forget that a lot has already been fed up with the lowly and smelly dried fish.
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