From a theoretical position, strictly behavioral to be sure, your
argument may hold a grain of truth in a controlled environment. If
all other variables are held constant, natural consequences, i.e.,
negative reinforcement has some influence on behavior.
In a laboratory setting for example, if we allow the 15 or so
children born into a squatter family to starve, eventually there may
be movement on a learning curve for the multiple parents. But, in
this instance one uncontrolled variable is the church who tells them
they can't have birth control or they will be excommunicated.
Cultural variables such as the willingness of any even partially
related adult to take on the parenting role also influences the
population growth. There are hundreds of such uncontrolled variables
here.
On the other side, foreigners from 1st world countries find
themselves with excess finances and just can't walk away from their
consciences. Not a behavioral term but accurate. If you should
visit or live here, and you find yourself able to pass through some
of the most miserable conditions without a twinge, it will tell you
more about yourself than about managing the behaviors of a third
world country.
Combining the concepts of starvation and foreign charity does not
lead one to a panacea for problems here, it almost always leads to
value confrontation, dillemas and a wide range of placements on the
satified - dissatisfied scale. It certainly doesn't lead to a
simplistic behavioral solution.
Mike M.
--- In LivingInThePhilippi
<andre_westbrook@
>
>
> Hello
>
> I am writing to question once again the assumption that charity is
a
> panacea for the problems of the Philippines.
>
> It is often supposed by liberals and do gooders that giving money
to
> people without asking anything in return can only be a good thing.
> And yet, in London recently soup kitchens that were once open
during
> the cold winter months of December and January have been closed -
not
> by a penny pinching government but because charities themselves
> recognised that having access to food and drink was exacerbating
the
> problem of homelessness not curing it. If you think about it they
> were right to do so. After all, once the qualms of living as a
> vagrant have been overcome it is not too bad a life if one
receives
> food, clothing and overnight accommodation with, of course, the
> chance to beg and hustle on the streets of a rich city.
>
> One of the complaints most often levelled at Filipinos and
Filipinas
> on this forum by so called kanos is that they are perceived as
> walking ATM's. Who is to blame for this mindset? The Filipinos or
the
> kanos - it may surprise you to know that I happen to think the
kano
> is more to blame than the Filipino. To give anyone money without
> expecting something in return is not in the highest good of all
> concerned. If you think about it long enough - and few on this
site
> will - charity undermines notions of self-respect and thrift. It
> creates a something for nothing culture which means that kanos
have
> become pressurised into parting with money they can ill afford to
> lose simply because weak minded men from the Western world have
given
> in when the guilt buttons have been pushed in the past.
>
> This does not mean that one should not donate money to deserving
> individuals who for reasons of bad luck or ill health require
> tenporary assistance. But can we really have any sympathy for
those
> who just shrug their shoulders and reach inside their pockets
> whenever a Filipino requests financial assistance. I think the
answer
> is we should not and we should have the courgae to deny the moral
> high ground to those who would allow this miliking to continue.
>
> By all means employ and reward the Filipino for his hard work but
do
> not give him money for nothing.
>
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