It's funny to think that with all the so-called "financial meltdowns" being experienced by many countries worldwide, the Philippines seemed to be relatively unaffected--judging by what you see in this picture. But this photo is misleading: not everyone here is shopping---many are just passers-by, hangers-on, pedestrians, and window shoppers.
For those who have money to spend this Christmas, many just buy things of superficial value and hardly necessary. Those who have credit cards tend to spend much more than they earn, and in the end suffer by paying endless mortgages. The higher the credit limit can actually boost more credit shopping, giving momentarily material satisfaction and living a life of worries and misery in the end. This is precisely the reason why I don't have credit cards. I have been approached several times by bank agents into getting one. Many lure me by offering freebies like watches, cellphones, etc., but I refused, since I only want to spend what is inside my pocket or bank.
As it happened, many credit card holders cannot pay back, and the banks, to protect their interests, declare bankruptcy. The government--fearing "financial meltdown" then helps by "bail-out" giving these banks financial help--literally billions from the taxpayers' money. In the end, it is us, the taxpayers, who have to pay the credits, while the bank executives still live in royal luxury with all their mansions and limousines.
Advance Merry and "credit-free" Christmas!
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Poscript: You may have noticed that I am currently experimenting with htmls/xmls, skins, and templates of my blog. For the time-being, this look will be okay for now. All the sidebar links and archives are already placed at the bottom of this page. I guess I am not a fan of sidebars...so for the moment, they will be at the bottom, until such time that I can definitely decide which part of the page they should be placed. Again, sorry for this inconvenience!
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