If there is only one doctor in one place, anytime he could charge more for his services, raise prices of medicines, and be arrogant to his patients. But if another physician also sets up a clinic at the same place, he will then be cautious, for the patients might go to the one giving them due respect, better services, lower service charges, and lower prices of medicines.
If one or more persons imitate the enterprise of others, it is competition, and the people are the ones who benefit from it, for they have more choices for products, markets, and services.
If there is no competition, it will result in monopolies, and the people will surely suffer, like the sad experience with PLDT and PAL in the past.
American competitors have been invading for decades our minds, stomachs, bodies, homes, streets, and institutions: Columbia Pictures, Universal Studios, Paramount Films, Warner Brothers (films and television programs); Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Popeye (cartoon superheroes); Pepsi, Coca Cola (soft drinks); McDonald’s, Wendy’s, Burger King, KFC (restaurants); CFC, Kraft (processed foods); Colgate-Palmolive, Procter & Gamble (soaps, shampoo, hair conditioners, toothpaste, toothbrush, deodorant, napkin, cleansers, etc.); Levi’s, Jockey, Calvin Klein, Sara Lee (outer and innerwear); Panasonic, General Electric (household appliances); Kodak, Canon (camera and photo-film); Ford, General Motors (cars and trucks); Goodyear, Goodrich (tires and rubber); IBM, Microsoft, Macintosh, Compact (computer products); and more.
In Japan, if there is Mitsubishi in the automobile industry, there are also Toyota and Nissan. If there is Sony in the consumer and industrial products, there come also Sanyo, Hitachi, Toshiba, Hanabishi, and JVC. In photo-film, there is Fuji, as well as Fiji.
The rivalry of goods, stores, industries, professions, and services is not gaya-gaya, puto-maya, but competition. Only the capitalists who don’t like competitors will say it is copycat because of greed (they want only themselves to profit), and the narrow-minded, for their narrow minds cannot think of the productive benefits all of us get from competitions.
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About Jon E. Royeca
So Filipinos really are copy copycats and that they thrive from the ensuing competition. right?
I think this is only looked at on an economic perspective. but what of other aspects of Filipino culture, Filipinos copy almost everything from other countries especially on entertainment and music! Every time I tune in to a noontime program on ABS-CBN or GMA7 They always have to do their own lame versions of foreign songs which is never as good as the original.
And so much of Filipino television is based on series that were originally thought-up abroad.
I’m sorry to be so blunt, but Filipinos are such Ripe-offs when it comes to expressing themselves.
I think that the impulse to imitate has to do with the Filipino’s self expression of a status. They do what other people in other countries are doing because that gives them a sense of entitlement in their minds of what their way of life should be, or aspire to be.
@ Mark Edward
Imitating others is an attitude that happens not only in the economic sector, but in all aspects of life, because it is a universal attitude.
Children imitate their parents. Neighbors imitate their neighbors. Fans imitate their idols. Consumers imitate ad models. Professionals imitate their fellow professionals. Businessmen imitate their rivals.
It is only natural for the human being to seek models that he could imitate (but not always ape).
If you think that imitating others is done by one race and in one country only, that’s your way of thinking. Others can’t help you with that. They can only disagree with you.
The point of this article is that we Filipinos don’t just ape others. We compete.
If some of our entertainers imitate the foreign ones, well, not all Filipino entertainers are like them. Many do original. Listen to OPM, and watch Filipino film classics.
Thank you for reading and for the comment.