Slave labor

Some of the most valuable lessons are in that first job stocking shelves or doing similar mindless work. Lessons such as getting out the door in time for being at work when you are suppose to start. Getting to work even when you don't feel like it. Having to focus on a task for more than 5 minutes so that you can get something done. Having to deep focus on a task which might take a little brains. Having to sell (your services to your employer, your employer's services to customers.)

The world of work is so different from that world where people don't need to do much to get by, even if they have to go hungry occasionally. They can live off support from their family. Maybe pick up the odd job at their convenience for a little bit of money. Maybe the family hits the OFW or foreigner support lotto. If they don't feel like doing something, it's so easy to stay home and do nothing.

Maybe the actual farms are different. Maybe these people know how to hustle, but probably not in an urban jungle.

A job which pays nothing would be good for a lot of people who would otherwise have nothing else to do. Get the basics down if you have never worked (in the U.S. this would typically be a minimum wage summer job) and then look for something else when you hit your learning plateau. If nothing else, for better or for worse, a job might shift your tempo in life (AKA - entering the rat race.)

Unfortunately, the job world is complex to navigate and some people just don't have it. That's why the U.S. is so competitive, we know how to hustle. We know how to create something out of nothing. When I couldn't find a job doing something I loved in my local area, I created my own job by striking out on my own.

As a region, Asia seems to have difficulty in it's people learning to navigate between black, white and gray. They seem to get stuck on the solids and don't realize that really, everything is gray. For every rule, there is a work-around. A rule which provides information in writing hides much more information in what it doesn't say. They get intimidated, but don't realize that nobody really knows what they are doing (just be a good actor, show confidence, bust @ss and get lucky.) They're afraid of failure and rejection, but don't realize that every great achievement of our time on this planet was met with 90++% failure rate.

I don't know how to teach this stuff. For starters, I'm an alien, and a crazy looking one at that. It seems the kids here only listen to people who have badges of authority handed down from above. You want to make a potential employee feel safe and successful? Hand out ID cards attached to lanyards. Every step of life here from elementary school to college and job comes with a different badge. If you don't have one, then you must have gone off-track somewhere.

People just need to realize that everyone's sh*t stinks. We all do our thinking with a mass of meat so disgusting looking that we would probably pass out if the were to see it on the kitchen counter next to the keys. It's amazing anything works in this world, and in the Philippines, it just BARELY works. Nobody here is special. People who look special are just more effective bullshit artists.

Keep in mind, the global economy basically tracks back to the U.S. creating money out of thin air and hoping everyone just sort of goes along with the illusion. It sort of works. We have made a lot of "progress" in the past 50 years. But it starts with bullshit and ends with bullshit.

Tell the fam to quit taking no for an answer (and don't take yes for an answer either) and just start making stuff happen. Put in the work, but bring plenty of bullshit as well, it's what makes the world go round.

 

Don't get involved with local politics, local politicians / businessmen or their way of life. They are not interested in our point of view, you will only make enemies of the locals and you will not change a thing.

 

What does this ridiculous amount entail?

 

I think it is a good idea to advocate for this change, but try to find a Pinoy to sponsor, otherwise you may get a backlash against foreigners interfering in things that are none of their business, especially when those that exploit slave labor have something to lose. It is a bad practice that should be abolished, but it should be a campaign led by Filipinos. Ask any of those who would support such a program to be the sponsors, so it is their names that appear before city councils, etc. I realize the thrust of this campaign is to shame the businesses that practice it, but you will find that they are impervious to shame. Unfortunately that is the reality in this country.

 

This must be an HRM program. What a great idea for an educational program.

List all jobs that we can think of, choose industries which are generally the lowest margin and as such, the lowest paying (Hotels and Restaurants sounds good here.)

Of course, this is a valid strategy for selection because the Philippines exports cheap labor.

Also great is that HRM doesn't even require good instructors. We don't have to find someone skilled in teaching Math or Physics. Anyone can teach a HRM course.

We can then market these courses like crazy and fill them with thousands of college students. We make lots of money without ever really training anyone. We just provide the paper which makes the whole thing appear legit.

After they graduate, middlemen can hit both sides for placement fees and internship programs.

Then the graduates can work crazy hours as a low pay cog, making someone else rich.

 

Excellent idea. I am very keen to find ways that the ExPat community could use its expertise / experience / cash to help the local people. I would like to see half a dozen initiatives like this in action. I look forward to hearing how this one progresses.