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Monday, January 30, 2012

Welfarism 14: Hard Work vs. Dependence, the Pacquiao Experience

I saw this photo of Manny Pacquiao in one of my friends' facebook status today, I shared it in my wall and wrote this,
I like this. Hard work, high ambition, sturdy heart, focused mind. Leave the bondying, the cry babies always asking for protection, to mediocrity and poverty.

Some comments from friends:


  • Tata Very true 'noy! Thanks for spreading the inspiration.
    "Our life, our future, is NOT somebody else's decision."


  • Nonoy Oplas Thanks to all who like. I think there is strong recognition that people taking responsibility of their own lives and that of their household is more important, more sustainable than govt nannying and over-taxing other people to "fight poverty".
  • Elizabeth Oh wow! That photo speaks for itself. Take responsibility. Take charge of one's own destiny. Of course, we need helpful people and opportunities along the way, but we have to be ready and claim our victory. :)
  • Vanni Aduentes Fortuna Juvat = Fortune favors the brave, ancient Roman saying.


    • Roy  
      Hindi naman lahat ng tao ay may angking talino sa boksing kagaya ni Manny.

      Meron din diyang boksingero na nag sakripisyo at naghirap kagaya ni Manny pero dahil sa hindi sila kasing galing ni Manny, hindi sila naging kampeon at naka-ahon sa hirap.

      Isang hakbang sa isang maginhawa at mabuting buhay ang pagsisikap, pero hindi porket nagsikap at nagsakripisyo ka ibig sabihin garantisadong magiging maginhawa at matagumpay ang buhay mo.
    • Nonoy Oplas 
      Tama Roy. Kung sa simula nag boksing ka at palagi kang talo, ibig sabihin, hindi boksing ang para sayo. Siguro soccer, or cycling, or chess. Kung di pa rin akma ang sports, siguro sa pagtatayo ng barbeque stand, or barber shop, or bake shop. Pag di pa rin akma, siguro sa construction, or farming, or tramspo (say taxi driver). Pag di pa rin akma, siguro sa pagiging seaman or work abroad.

      Ibig sabihin, walang limit ang potential ng isang tao, basta may ambisyon at masipag. Ngayon pag sinabi mong "kahit anong sipag mo, baka di rin uunlad buhay mo", aba ang solusyon dyan pwedeng pabandying-bandying, painom-inom gabi-gabi, total may educ for the poor, healthcare for the poor, housing for the poor, agrarian reform and tractors for the poor, cash transfer for the poor, etc. O kaya, maging pulisman, o kaya right hand ni Mayor or congressman at tumulong manloko at magnakaw, quick money, konting hirap pa.

Yes, we need friends and honest supporters, but we also need to show them our sincerity and hard work in pursuing our dreams. And external factors like the government, should not unnecessarily intervene too much. Manny Pacquiao is actually among the rare exceptions. Many good Filipino athletes are ruined by too much politics in Philippine sports -- in athletics, cycling, ballgames, etc. One clear proof is that a country of now almost 100 million people has not produced a single gold medalist yet in any Olympics, would rank low in terms of medal standing even in the Asian Games (dominated by China and S. Korea), or the South East Asian (SEA) Games.

And yes, there is no guarantee that hard work and non-dependence will produce economic miracles to one's life. There are always misfortunes coming from different directions. But the absence of 100 percent guarantee, the presence of possible misfortunes, are no excuse for one to stop being ambitious and do hard work, and shift to dependence. Because the probability of becoming poor by being lazy and dependent is much higher than the probability of becoming economically well-off by being industrious and self-reliant.

Here are more photos of the young Pacquiao, taken from the web.


Last week, I posted in facebook my paper, Decentralization 10: Devolution, Federalism and Subsidiarity, here's the latter exchange with a friend, Star:

  • Nonoy Oplas I said govt, national and local, should focus on that very important job of stamping out criminality, then get out of endless regulations, like running after smokers, people who put up a carinderia or ambulant vendors, etc. Entrepreneurship is a productive activity, govt should step back.
  • Star while that is an important job to do, i believe that would be difficult to do until the issue of poverty is addressed.

  • Nonoy Oplas But poverty is mostly self inflicted. People who don't want to work, or work little and complain a lot then resign afterwards, or people who work 6 days a week and drink and party 7 nights a week and have zero savings, and so on. There will be no successful govt programs to fight poverty. But there can be successful govt programs to fight criminality, especially if the criminals or protector of criminals are within its ranks like the police, military and the judges.
  • Star then we should work on values as well. while it is true that offenders should really be punished, i think punishment itself is not a deterrent to hard line criminals
    January 19 at 10:42pm · 

  • Nonoy Oplas For hardened criminals, I wish the government to simply shoot them down. Values are often shaped by government policies. When govt rewards laziness and dependence, many people will become lazy and dependent. Why work hard when govt will provide you unemployment allowance, govt will provide you free educ, free healthcare, free or subsidized housing, etc. That is why I argued that govt, national or local, should step back on its non-core function of promulgating the rule of law, of protecting private property rights and people against criminals like thieves, rapists and killers.

I failed to add here that there are dozens of reasons to be poor. People who may or may not work hard but drink and party harder. When emergencies strike, they have very little or zero savings, they sell off some assets or be indebted deeply. Or lose face and self-respect and become dependent forever on some family members.

Too often, welfarism and protectionism (trade, business) creates more weaklings and dependency among the citizens than sturdy people.
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See also:
Weekend fun 1: Pac U, November 21, 2010
Roger Federer, Manny Pacquiao and the free market, June 19, 2011
Boxing and Politics (Or Pacquiao as a Boxer and as a Congressman), November 13, 2011
Political Ideology 8: Diskurso sa Kapitalismo, Sosyalismo at Gobyerno, November 15, 2011

Welfarism 9: Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT), November 12, 2010Welfarism 11: Bureaucratizing Entrepreneurs, April 12, 2011
Welfarism 13: Decriminalize Prostitution, January 20, 2012

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