Facebook Suggestion Post #3

Even though we are not currently in the Philippines, I planned on writing a culture post and what better way to do that than to go all the way back to my facebook question from April of 2017 when I asked for questions that American may have about the culture that I, from my vast storehouse of experience with the country and culture, am able to answer with ease in roughly 500-700 words.

This suggestion comes from a certain Robbie Waller, who would like me to write about the need for Walmart in the Philippines. 

In some sense, the Philippines would benefit greatly from Walmart. People would be able to get everything they need (and a bunch that they don't need) in a convenient one-stop-shop. People would have everything they need for fixing things and not have to jerry-rig the things that are broken. But in other ways the Philippines does not need Walmart. I think that while yeah, of course, obviously, it would make shopping easier, it would also do something horrible to the culture of the Philippines. The way I see it,  Filipino people are some pretty resourceful men and women. They have lived through multiple centuries of being subjects to other countries, influenced by still others, and now they are (from what I can tell) in transition still. In some ways the vast majority of people are still trying to figure out what it means to be Filipino, and what exactly being Filipino entails. This transition and influence has caused Filipinos to be very resourceful and to look at problems and challenges from a very different perspective.

Their resourcefulness comes through in a myriad of ways, but it is most easily on display when you are in the market area. There you have the convergence of the two big aspects of the culture: the farm and the city. You see farmers who live in simple wooden houses in a village with a dirt path for a road who get up ridiculously early to catch a jeepney (with all their produce) into the city so they can get to the market to their stall. You see the pedicab driver who is sweating profusely under his shirt that he has wrapped around his head to keep the sun off with some knock-off Ray-bans to keep the sun out of his eyes riding around on his rig (decorated with colorfully recycled items) looking for passengers. All over the market area you see this resourcefulness and for an American who is "fresh off the boat" it may seem almost sad and disconcerting, seeing as quite a bit of the need for this type of resourcefulness is due to poverty, simply having to recycle and reuse items because they can't always afford new things. Down the street, near a school, classes have taken to recycling soda bottles for gardening, and ingeniously saved space with the planting of flowers and herbs. 

Now, here is why I think that having Walmart would be horrible for the Philippines: If we as Americans move to a small town and for some reason unknown to mankind, there is no Walmart, then we may seriously wonder how in the world we will survive. We may wonder how in the world we are supposed to buy groceries or car parts or movies or furniture or home repair supplies or any number of other goods and services. The Philippines has a few malls that have their own department stores and grocery stores inside that do function in some ways as a one-stop-shop, but these are out of the budget for quite a bit of the country. But even middle class families (and I'm sure upper class folks too) have a vein of resourcefulness inside, and they often don't seem feel lost and adrift in the world when stuff breaks or they need a quick fix for x,y, or z. Americans tend to, sans Walmart. Filipinos, in some sense, are free from the reliance on big stores like Walmart to provide all they need or want. They are able to get things done without the need to run to the big chain stores to make sure they have exactly the right tools or supplies. Don't get me wrong, there are specialty shops for bike parts, hardware stores, etc. and people will go and get what they need from these establishments if they need to. But it seems like if, in a pinch, something needs to get fixed and you are in the jungle on a dirt path and your bike breaks down, well...you simply deal with it how you can. More often than not, it works out. If it holds together long enough, you can indeed go to the bike parts shop to get the parts you need to make the needed repairs. But the resourcefulness of the average Filipino is quite impressive, and it is because of their attitude towards recycling and reusing items that I think that Walmart would actually take something away from the culture.