A young mother who lost her job and was struggling asked for donations of school milk from those who had leftovers or whose children did not drink it in a community Facebook group, hoping to bring it to her young child. Ultimately, this mother’s child might “get more expensive milk than my child or your child!?”
Let me tell you first that this is not a scam on social media. The background is still there…
Since it is a community group, some people want to help. Until a kind-hearted person asked, checked, and went to meet this mother in person with some school milk. So he brought information and photos to help share that this mother is struggling.
When the information became more apparent, people in the group were more interested in helping. And someone noticed that this mother’s child was too young and unsuitable for school milk. She thought she should drink infant formula so the child would have it immediately. This kind-hearted person asked to transfer money to buy it, but it was not convenient to go in person. So, the first person who met this mother volunteered to go and buy it because her house was near the struggling mother. After that, kindness followed. It is another good story in the community where people help each other.
But the point is…
When I first volunteered to handle the matter of buying powdered milk, I explained the receipt for my honesty by buying it at a convenience store because it was quick. I chose the most economical brand. Let’s say it was brand B, which is considered inexpensive, about 300 baht per bag, and is a standard formula*
… We can buy other brands of milk that (seem) more popular, are usually more expensive than brand B, and have a unique formula for less than 300 baht, but we have to buy more.
If we buy a large box of powdered milk at about 1,500 – 2,000 baht, the average per bag is 10-20% cheaper compared to the retail price of 1 bag. Those who can afford it usually choose this way because the child needs to drink milk for several months, which saves thousands of baht. I said the mother’s child might drink more expensive milk…
(*For those who have never had a child or may not know, there are many powdered milk brands for children, and the prices are different, but each brand usually has a standard and unique formula. That is, it contains more additional nutrients. Brand B also has a unique formula; if you buy more, it is cheaper.)
Not wrong, but I can't choose
This may be just one small source and the starting point that makes us reflect on the characteristics of "capitalists" in some aspects. There can continue to be an imbalance or what is called "inequality."
Of course, buying things in convenience stores is more expensive but convenient. Buying fewer items is more expensive. It's normal. There is no right or wrong. It's up to you to "choose."
But if we look a little further, sometimes we "can't choose," and it turns out that people who don't have much already end up having to pay more and get lower quality. How can that be? If they spend all their money on milk, where will they get other expenses?
If we assume (I emphasize that I assume) that special formula milk is really better, that means that children of people without capital will have a disadvantage in development, resulting in less physical capital in the future, whether it's body shape, face, skin, or intelligence, and they will continue to be disadvantaged.
If we can choose, it takes work.
Even if it's just an assumption that good-quality milk affects growth, if you think about it, you will find that the disadvantages in many aspects do not only affect at that time but will continue to be passed on to the future because inequality will only increase, not just in the distance but in many dimensions as well.
For example, people with little capital may breastfeed their children or regular formula milk and try in many ways to grow up to have good knowledge and abilities. During that time, they will have to struggle to support themselves and their families day by day. They will be in a situation with work, children, and many other details. Their mind and spirit must be intense and positive. However, if they try hard until their children grow up to be good at it… until one day they pass the exam for a good faculty, the career that they graduate from should be a career that generates good income. But… the tuition fee for this field of study is also expensive (when they grow up to be good and wise, they still have to rely on scholarships). It becomes a heavier burden, not easier…
When it is like this, for us who have limited capital, we have to decide whether to invest in ourselves to build our status to continue or cut ourselves off and invest in our children. And of course, if we cannot send our children to study, our children may end up having the same capital as ourselves again, in a cycle…
Someone might suddenly think that, well, taking the scholarship exam… seems like a good choice. But sometimes it's funny that let's say, they give three scholarships, and our child gets 4th place, while the 1-3 who get them are children of a wealthy family. (Don't forget that I'm making an assumption, but it's in a real society.)
Thinking positively about inequality is getting harder and harder.
As mentioned, it's just an assumption and it's just one perspective. If you're in the middle to lower class, there might be people who try to inspire you or point out that you have to struggle, be diligent, or be creative to get out of it. It's true and not wrong.
However, escaping from a certain level is like a ladder. In the past, you might have just tried to go up five steps, and it was easier, but now it's ten steps. People must make mistakes and develop to grow, no matter how many steps they take. But it's not everyone who doesn't try.
When it gets more complex every day, there will only be people who are tired, discouraged, give up, or choose to live without struggling, seeking easy happiness, until they may end up in debt or not develop because of their weak mental state. Even though you can't blame anyone, it's not like you want anyone to be stigmatized because they don't want to develop themselves. This may not always be the case.
We often take five steps instead of decreasing; sometimes, those steps increase due to a distorted system. It is becoming harder to think positively about inequality.
We can't help anyone except From…
In the end, we have to help ourselves… It may be the right conclusion, but we can always help ourselves. Are you sure?
One clear example is that humans tend to survive with only essential physical factors, no matter how much the world develops. No one would disagree.
“Hospitals” are also related to the physical factors of all of us, no matter how rich or poor or how much capital we have, because it is difficult to treat ourselves when we become seriously ill. For those who were born at that time or try looking back at old movies, about 30 years ago, the image of a (government) hospital was peaceful, airy, and not crowded. When we cut to the current image, even expensive private hospitals are still crowded with people…
While government hospitals are getting more crowded, private hospitals are getting more expensive. The strange thing is that, in reality, they are so expensive that few people can afford them. Try not having insurance… and see that there is no sign that the price will decrease, which is their right in the capitalist world…
Whether people are rich or poor, when they are sick, it is a loss because they cannot work, and it becomes a matter of spending money. However, the chances of getting better, getting better, and getting better quickly are different.
Our choices when we are sick are: Difficult to treat due to crowdedness in government hospitals or “buy insurance” unless you can’t buy it or can’t afford it, and that’s it.
But paying for insurance alone may have to endure it, and don’t forget that long-term commitments you can’t pay for along the way will result in huge losses. Plus, health insurance, if there are three people in a family—a father, a mother, and children—and it covers enough to be treated in private hospitals, it will definitely be almost 100,000 baht per year. It is considered a large amount of money, and many health insurance companies do not give refunds because it is not a deposit…
The last option is to take a chance. When you get sick, you have to pay for private treatment yourself…
This is the only example related to inequality today. Looking to the future, no matter how you look at it, government hospitals will have a hard time growing. The problem will gradually worsen unless there are new policies that can be implemented in many ways and must be implemented in the long term, which is something that “we can’t do ourselves” and can’t help anyone. It’s also challenging to allow ourselves…
Is capitalism wrong?
This article may seem long, but it is very short compared to the origin or actual results from today to the future. It is also not well written because it still needs many dimensions. In part, am I attacking “capitalism”? The answer is no because this is just a story, a tale, and a perspective.
Capitalism is no different from many things. It is just a system, a process with advantages, no different from many things that are “good, but it depends on how you use it” and “can you control its disadvantages?” The important thing is that “we cannot do it ourselves,” but it significantly impacts our lives.
For example, the previous example from the hospital reflects more clearly that during this severe COVID period, there is a shortage of beds. Still, if you can pay or have private insurance, there will be plenty of beds. The question is, are the hospitals at fault? Are people with insurance at fault? The answer is no because they do business honestly. However, as long as we have a system, but those who should use it do not use it or do not know how to use it, they can only look and think to themselves…
Or, in the case of the “convenience store barbecue sauce drama,” this story sometimes just happens to be news because the other party is not just a small retailer. The question is, are the (larger) ones at fault? If we talk about the existing standards and criteria, it's not illegal; it can be done. Free capitalism...
Sometimes, the words "full cycle" and "monopoly" are a bit shady, or "doing from the upstream, downstream" and "I will control the river" are hard to interpret because the issue of "monopoly" in the world still has many unsolvable problems. That is another aspect of economics, business.
From the beginning, what I have written started from something close to us and expanded to us. In the end, it means organizations. The big ones will be bigger and have more channels, and the small ones will be smaller. There are more obstacles, and the channels are narrower. The difficulties will come back to us and ourselves.
Finally, I don't know how the unemployed mother is, but I will tell you more information about the story of the mother, which happened shortly before the COVID crisis. The people who used to help the mother may have a more challenging time today...
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