To Business or Not to Business Part II

Finally, some time alone to update my blog. I am going to update my entry only. I'll update my blogroll later on. When I write I usually want to inject snippets of reality. And for that, I am going to introduce you to someone.

I recently talked to someone who worked the minimum wage (the person is a department store attendant). It offers a new perspective into my view on how business works, and more than that, how people shape their lives. In the Philippines, there are many economic microcosms - the underground economy (fishballs, isaw) , the shopping mall economy, the carinderia/sari-sari store economy, etc etc. In each of these economies, there are further segregations.

For example, in the shopping mall economy, you can break it down further into what social strata the mall shopper belongs to. The Rockwell crowd, the Serendra crowd, the Tutuban crowd, the SM crowd, the Robinson's crowd. Some people I know don't like watching movies in SM because of the 'crowd' it attracts. There's marketing for you.

Going back to this minimum wager, let's call the person Cosmo. Cosmo belongs to a family of 5. Cosmo's father is not working and live off Cosmo's salary, which is to my view, a paltry sum. It is admirable that Cosmo is able to have some for personal use. It should also be noted that Cosmo's father lives in the province.

It is a typical story, and the word typical should give you a sense of disappointment. I say this because the word evokes a sense of "nothing new". Cosmo's case has been the norm for more than a decade. Throughout the boom and bust of the 90s to the current year, where GDP was up, down or flat, people such as Cosmo have never felt a single economic benefit.

I ask Cosmo to try applying for a different job. And the reply I got gives me an insight into how people like Cosmo think and feel about life. They don't give a **** about politics nor the economy. They're busy bottom fishing, scraping by and trying to survive to care about how many zeros there are in government bribes.

I feel a sense of ambivalence.

On the one hand, if they didn't care about what happened to the greater economy or politics in general, how would change happen at the grassroots level? On the other, you can't blame them because these people have to have access to capital to go up the economic ladder, thus allowing them a chance to live a better life. This is the universal theme of Hernando de Soto and Muhammad Yunus.

The answer I got was simple.

"I did not finish college."

Another typical answer from a typical story you hear in the news, read in the papers - an overplayed record that will bleed not only your ears, but also your heart.

So what recourse did Cosmo have?

"I am saving up to find a job overseas."

And there's the punchline.

I wanted to ask Cosmo about trying a hand at business, but I resisted. I thought of the four siblings Cosmo had, and the jobless father. Business entails a lot of time and effort. Business is not just about an investment of money, it is also about an investment of sweat and tears, and most of all, time.

When one goes into business, and succeeds, it is not only a triumph of capital, but also a personal triumph in life.