The Endless Cycle of Poverty (Part 3)

Poverty can be cultural. I know that might sound strange and it might even seem preposterous in a place like the Philippines, but it’s true. The caste system not only exists in places like India, but also in the Philippines. For instance, where I work in Mindanao there seems to be a tribal caste system within the 14 Muslim tribes. The Tausug, Maranao and Maguindanao are at the top of the heap, the Yakan and others sit in the middle somewhere and the Sama are at the bottom of the heap. In language the Tausug would never learn Yakan or Sama because that is generally beneath them to do so. The Yakan would learn Tausug but not Sama and the Sama would learn Yakan and Tausug. And as with caste systems one is stuck within it. If you’re Tausug you are more likely to succeed but if you’re a Sama you are stuck in poverty. I haven’t been able to research this much yet, but it does intrigue me that poverty can often be related to culture rather than just the perception of bad luck, bad mistakes, bad government or a bad economy.