I mean, If things dropped into place with them - do they become a bit selfish and take on an 'Im alright Jack attitude' ???? mmmm.....
It's absolutely down to the individual. I have however observed a lot of one-upmanship and competition between people. Again - not too dissimilar to European society.
I am going to venture a slightly different answer: I agree with what has been written above. I have a circle of middle class Filipino and Filipina friends who are really no different to me, and my wife's parents ("the outlaws!") are not materialistic, BUT... Filipino society today is much like British society in the high Victorian era - a lot of people have "made it" out of being peasants, scrabbling a living in the mud and throwing nothing away, and a whole lot more people dream of being able to do so. Very often, middle class Filipinos can seem obsessed with money and status. The poor, who are very much more numerous, can only dream of the good things in life and if an opportunity to get some comes along, they will grab it with both hands. This is a society in which the middle classes have just managed to haul themselves out of the mass of the poor, and they will do almost anything to stay that way, most definitely including pulling the ladder up after them! You can very often see middle class Filipinos treating their servants extremely badly.
I am curious as to why you are asking such newbie questions - I thought you are already married to a Filipina. Did you not do "due diligence" before signing on the dotted line?
Im just asking to see if my observations and gut feeling matches up to anyone here. Methersgate confirmed it.
The same goes for most of Asia. Not perhaps in Japan, which industrialised long ago, but almost everywhere else - this is the first generation who have had access to a life that does not revolve around the backbreaking, hot, sweaty, filthy work of growing rice in order not to starve. Life in air conditioning with hot and cold running housemaids, drivers, cooks, mistresses and "sidelines" is... better! The late Freddie Clemo, the doyen of Manila's English community, used to say "The Filipino's moral compass points reliably to the Dollar" - and he was a very successful businessman who numbered Cabinet ministers amongst his personal friends (but who lived in fear of his next door neighbour, Jack Enrile, son of JP Enrile, taking a shine to one of his three very pretty daughters - if you know your history you will know why...)
A lot is driven by massive commercialization I think. Endless adverts everywhere promoting a better life if you buy this crappy condo or overpriced SUV on finance. Its human nature (generally) to want a better life than say, your parents, neighbours etc. Strangely when we where over there we offered a couple of the wife's nephews the opportunity to go back to school and finish their education so that they'd have a better chance of meaningful more stable employment prospects. They wheren't interested. We tried explaining it to them but they are happy to carry on doing unskilled labour type work and eventually go back to the province and farm and / or fish. Some people do just want a life that their parents had, even if it means scratching round week to week for the next few peso's.
I have to agree with what @Methersgate said. However, this is just one side of the coin. There are a lot of people who came from very poor families, worked their butts off, and are enjoying the fruits of their labors now without being overly materialistic. I didn't come from a very poor family but when my dad decided that he'd rather spend his hard earned money from working in Saudi Arabia in casinos and other women, we hit rock bottom. Mom had to do odd jobs just so my sister and I who were both in college are able to graduate. And when we did, we had to work equally hard to send our two younger siblings to school. Things are different now though as we all have our own careers. But we learned never to take for granted what happened and what we learned in the past. That I guess includes humility and spending within our means. Well of course I'd spoil myself rotten whenever I get the chance or my mom. I mean who doesn't enjoy shopping Ok enough of my sob story haha!
Me. I hate shopping. It's an activity designed to part you with your money. I would rather save money, and to be honest, that is one of the things wrong with the Philippines today. Most people have no concept of saving. The difference between a rich man and a poor man is that a rich man decides what to save, and spends the rest. The poor man decides what to spend, and saves the rest.
I would save first and anything extra I would use for shopping, nothing wrong with that. I live within my means. Besides, I work hard to also enjoy my hard earned money. It's only fair to do that.
sure, that's up to the individual to decide. However there is quite a lot of evidence that spare money is actually better spent on experiences than material goods. Hence, a walking holiday, a ski trip, a snorkelling holiday or whatever brings greater and more lasting pleasure both before and after the purchase than the equivalent in material goods. http://www.fastcoexist.com/3043858/...uld-spend-your-money-on-experiences-not-thing As a person who has "been there and done that" with material things, l would tend to agree with that viewpoint. There is nothing in material goods that I personally need or want anymore and indeed, to be honest, I've been throwing away and selling possessions for years. They become burdensome. Once you have all the material goods you ever wanted, you realise it was a waste of time. I spent ten years of my life working, amassing money and material things, but never going on holidays for example. If I could turn back the clock, I would have done it differently. I recall reading in several places that most people at the end of their life had regrets such as 'I wish I laughed more' or ' I wish I worked less'. 'I wish I spent more time with my family'. 'I wish I had lived the life I wanted and not what people expected'. Not one person ever says 'I wish I went shopping more often' or 'I wish I had a bigger house'. http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2012/feb/01/top-five-regrets-of-the-dying Shopping isn't a great pastime or a gateway to enjoyment long term.
Here are the top five regrets of the dying, as witnessed by Ware: 1. I wish I'd had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me. "This was the most common regret of all. When people realize that their life is almost over and look back clearly on it, it is easy to see how many dreams have gone unfulfilled. Most people had not honored even a half of their dreams and had to die knowing that it was due to choices they had made, or not made. Health brings a freedom very few realize, until they no longer have it." 2. I wish I hadn't worked so hard. "This came from every male patient that I nursed. They missed their children's youth and their partner's companionship. Women also spoke of this regret, but as most were from an older generation, many of the female patients had not been breadwinners. All of the men I nursed deeply regretted spending so much of their lives on the treadmill of a work existence." 3. I wish I'd had the courage to express my feelings. "Many people suppressed their feelings in order to keep peace with others. As a result, they settled for a mediocre existence and never became who they were truly capable of becoming. Many developed illnesses relating to the bitterness and resentment they carried as a result." 4. I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends. "Often they would not truly realise the full benefits of old friends until their dying weeks and it was not always possible to track them down. Many had become so caught up in their own lives that they had let golden friendships slip by over the years. There were many deep regrets about not giving friendships the time and effort that they deserved. Everyone misses their friends when they are dying." 5. I wish that I had let myself be happier. "This is a surprisingly common one. Many did not realize until the end that happiness is a choice. They had stayed stuck in old patterns and habits. The so-called 'comfort' of familiarity overflowed into their emotions, as well as their physical lives. Fear of change had them pretending to others, and to their selves, that they were content, when deep within, they longed to laugh properly and have silliness in their life again." What's your greatest regret so far, and what will you set out to achieve or change before you die?
