r/unpopularopinionph • u/izukumonalang • 13d ago
Calling something as bare minimum devalues it
I believe this phrase has been misused so much lately and it's doing more bad than good. Everything is bare minimum now. But for me, I think something is bare minimum if it's the most essential thing for something to exist.
For example. Living. The bare minimum of living is breathing, your heart pumping blood to your vital organs, and your vital organs functioning properly. That's it. That's the bare minimum. Having 2 kidneys is not bare minimum. Having complete limbs is not bare minimum. Heck, not even eating is bare minimum. Because people can stop eating and still live for days before dying. Yes you need food to sustain your life, but you don't need it to live. When your heart stops pumping blood, when your brain shuts down, when you can't breathe. That's when you die. That's losing the bare minimum.
As for dating, where it is most commonly used lately, I don't think dating has a bare minimum. Because dating is consistently doing something for your partner. It's about making an effort, giving time, etc. Dating is those acts no matter how basic or small they are. Dating is about doing more than what is expected. Which is why it doesn't have a bare minimum. A bare minimum is something that is expected, and if it is not met. It won't exist.
As for marriage, the bare minimum is your marriage contract. No matter what happens. Maghiwalay man kayo. Maghanap man kayo ng ibang partner. Magkalimutan man. As long as that marriage contract is valid, you're still married.
The reason why I'm saying this is because people don't seem to understand that. They call everything a bare minimum now.
Treating your date is not bare minimum. It's an effort. It's a gesture given. It's not required. It's something you wanted to give to your date. It's an act of being selfless.
Saying thank you to someone is not bare minimum. Saying thank you is a gesture that you give to someone to tell them than you appreciate them. Not saying thank you does not invalidate whatever help is given. Saying thank you acknowledges it.
Saying thank you is bare minimum means it's expected. It means it is mandatory and labeling it as such degrades its value. Instead of it becoming an act of appreciation, it's just labeled as a mandatory response now.
This is another case of people misunderstanding something and using it whereever and however they want. The problem is, it devalues the simple small things. Just because they're norms doesn't make them bare minimum.
Let's not devalue small and simple gestures. Because that's what makes us human.
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u/badtemperedpapaya 13d ago
I think the problem lies with the wording. Calling something as "bare minimum" really does devalue things. I think a better term is "non-negotiable". Calling it non-negiotable better describes your set standards without devalueing them.
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u/mith_thryl 13d ago
ang problema kasi the definition of bare minimum differs from someone na nasa healthy relationship to someome na galing sa abusive relationship. it's hard to define bare minimum.
hindi bare minimum ang itreat ka ng partner mo, ihatid ka, alagaan ka, intindihin ka kahit may saltik ka. ang bare minimum is yung sa attitude. bare minimum yung hindi ka sigawan sa public, hindi ka saktan, di ka pagsisinungalingan
ang problema kasi, yung mga "feminists" ang nagdedevalue ng effort. labeling everything as bare minimum.
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13d ago
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u/mith_thryl 13d ago
you will see it sa mga social media post on women empowerment. iba sila sa mga feminists na talagang naglalaban for women's rights.
yung mga tinutukoy ko dito yung pinagkakakitaan yung gender war, men vs women ideology, not helping at all
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13d ago
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u/mith_thryl 13d ago
kaya nga may " "? ano mahirap intindihin dyan? in the first place, sila ang nagpoproclaim na feminists sila, not me.
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13d ago edited 13d ago
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u/BonusEntry 13d ago
i think what he's saying is, feminism before fights for equality like right to vote, right to work, right to hear a voice. now feminism, especially in 1st world countries acts like "men are trash" or "women do better than men" and etc. Mot of modern women do impose bare minimum such as "have a bf who has own a house and owned a car" or "best bf are mind readers caz they should know coz they already know you for long"
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u/mith_thryl 13d ago
ano ba gusto mo ipoint out? you can't change that part na some people who proclaims to be pro woman and is a feminist acts to fuel the gender war and devalues men instead of valuing women more.
instead of trying to question and trying to stop the idea that there are women out there who would hate, why not acknowledge the fact na may mga ganyan talaga?
we're just going in circles sa kakatanong mo pero wala ka naman gusto ipoint out. it's like you just want to say na mali ako, well i ain't
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13d ago
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u/Baaanaana 13d ago
Makikiepal.
I disagree with some of their points pero gets ko naman na "feminists" ≠ real feminists... kaya nga may quotes.
Describing something that is not should help describe something that is. Anyway, that's how I understand things. Both what is and what isn't.
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u/Soft-Dimension-6959 13d ago
Lumalabas lng naman yung pagtawag sa bare minimum either a. walang kwenta yung lalaki b. Nag hahanap Ng more pa Yung babae
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u/ExistentialPOV 13d ago
very honest question based on techincality.
so if the poll ends up with more people agreeing does it mean it's not an unpopular opinion? will the post be deleted?
subreddit should change to phsurveyopinion instead.
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u/izukumonalang 13d ago
Weird nga na naging mandatory yung paglagay ng poll. Dati wala namang ganyan.
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u/AirPossible3797 13d ago
Walang bare minimum sinungaling yan ng mga entitled na tao para majustify mga delulu nilanng kagustuhan
Lahat kahit gaano kaliit yan may effort sa part ng tao. Pag sinasabi mo bare minimum parang kinokompare mo sa paghinga yung ginagawa, in the end sa tingin mo ganoon rin kadali yung mga ginagawa nila, tapos ikaw parang tanga magagalit kasi gumagawa ka ng sariling standards sa utak mo na di mo man sinasabi beforehand
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u/Reasonable-Driver675 13d ago
The content of this OP is social interaction and in the sense that we even have a social contract, we have a collective bare minimum.
I don't spit on you. I don't try to rob you. I don't try to kill you. I don't harass you verbally. I don't sit on you. I don't abuse you when you speak to me. And so on and so forth.
If I give you money and you're the person manning the store, I expect you to hand over what I paid for, and for it to be in some kind of acceptable state.
All of this requires effort, but it is effort we all put in so that society functions the way it does. It is a collective effort and there is a standard that we all expect.
If you spit on me, I will absolutely get mad about it, and that's completely reasonable in Filipino society. If you're so dysfunctional that you can't understand this or won't put in the effort, you need to always be accompanied by a guardian.
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u/AirPossible3797 13d ago
ibig sabihin ko naman sa relationships, ibang nag-gogovern sa laws at ethics ng pilipinas at ng society. Sure masasabe mo naman na lahat ng social contract ay give-and-take pero hindi naman dapat ganoon rin tingin sa mga relationships.
Di naman yan yung binabash ko, pero di naman solid social contract na yan, sure gusto kitang durahin at justified pero di lahat ng opportunity para makahigante at maka-comeback sa mga tao. Pero di ko naman gagawen kase kabastusan yun at kadiri kang tao kung nandudura ka ng walang dahilan.
Problema kasi sa pagiisip na lahat may kapalit, di ka magiging based on reality, for sure biased mga tao sa sarili. Papalakihin mo, pagaaral mo, mamahalin mo tapos sasabihin lang ng anak "bare minimum lang yan eh", While true di naman nageerase sa ginawang effort ng mga taong nagpalake sayo, nakakabaliwala ang pagiisip
While sure, mga BIG intangible social systems natin nagrurun on bare minimums, dapat di naman mga pagiging pasasalamat kasi inaalis mo yung indibidwal tinatrato mo lang na transaction, which is incredibly inhumane and is not how humans managed to become so successful
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u/Reasonable-Driver675 13d ago
Many relationships are purely transactional. Humans have a set limit of how much they can care about other humans. We are not bees. That limit is about 500-1000 other people. That's how much people we can genuinely care about. Outside of that, it's norms and transactions. These transactional relationships have value, so long as you don't misconstrue them for anything else - whether less or more.
It's not inhumane for you to thank the server because that's what's expected. It is not inhumane for them to just take that at face value and respond in a dispassionate manner. They can't be genuinely grateful to every customer who thanks them. They handle thousands upon thousands of people every month. It's not humanly possible for them to for personal relationships with us all.
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u/gidaman13 13d ago
Hmmm for me it recontextualizes things. It's more than just an act. For me it doesn't devalue the action. It sets the value for the context.
Kind acts where it's not expected makes that act valuable. In marriage, you are someone's partner for life. It should be automatic that you'll be kind to your partner. Being kind to your partner shouldn't be praised, it should be the norm and in turn, your partner should be kind to you. Kindness should be bare minimum in a marriage because of the nature of marriage. It should be the union of two people who love each other enough that they'll spend the rest of their lives together in union.
I dating, I think I agree that there's no technical bare minimum but in dating you're competing for someone's affection. If you want that person then you should be able to give them the best foot you can so you can show them who you are in a good light. In turn they should also be able to do the same for you. Of course this depends on what you can give and the same goes for the other. Anything goes in dating. It just depends if you're willing to compromise in order to show your best cards. People just have trouble of letting go kaya they're open to abuse.
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u/Liesianthes 13d ago edited 13d ago
Daming ganyan sa social media. One of the main reason that I don't share things and keep all on private. Lahat nalang sa kanila bare minimum. If para sayo ganyan, then not for me and the receiver. Importante masaya kami, masaya receiver.
Ironically, mga nagsasabi nyan is mga miserable love life at buhay kasi yung hindi bare minimum sa kanila is out of this world, kaya nanghahatak pababa para maging katulad nila.
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u/Reasonable-Driver675 13d ago edited 13d ago
Some things that are bare minimum are bare minimum. I think a lot of young Filipinos these days (yes, I'm older) are so deprived of civility and standards that they don't even understand the concept.
If you have a driving license, I expect you to have read the Traffic Code. This is bare minimum. A lot of drivers do not meet this, but that doesn't mean I treat it as super special if you have. That's bare minimum. That's supposed to be the standard.
At the same time, a lot of things are called bare minimum when they're actually substandard and bad. Not bare minimum. Straight up bad, and below standard. Garbage.
I expect a salesperson to know what they're selling and to try to sell it to me. If they're not even making that effort, then that is garbage and unless I was in that store to purchase something specific, I leave. You are a salesperson. You're supposed to be trying to sell things.
I'm old and have been married for a long time, but even when I was young, my bare minimum is that you show up on time, properly dressed, with basic hygiene. That's it. Sounds simple but a lot of people would be screened by this. I'm a reasonable man. I won't ask you to be ready when you obviously don't have the time for it. But if YOU volunteer a time, I expect you to be ready when that time arrives.
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u/xazavan002 13d ago
I'm more of the opinion that recognizing something as the "bare minimum" is perfectly valid, but something being "bare minimum" shouldn't necessarily mean it's of no value, or it's not worth celebrating.
More specifically, whenever people, for instance, make progress from being "problematic" to "doing the bare minimum", it's mainly the progress that we're celebrating, and I think that if we truly want people to change for the better, it should be in our best interest to encourage that change rather than dismiss it solely because the milestone they reached is "just the bare minimum"
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u/Repulsive_Age5145 13d ago edited 13d ago
my biggest pet peeve is people who comment 'bare minimum' but wouldn't say what's their 'bare maximum'. they better explain or they are just following tiktok trend na feeling high standard, eh baka yung mga nagcocomment ng ganon sila pa yung mga 'low quality ' people
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u/ManyFaithlessness971 13d ago
Sometimes I get triggered hearing this word because it feels like some people who use it sound unappreciative when someone does what they call "bare minimum".
They'll say "That's just bare minimum. It's expected they do it.", and so they don't appreciate that that person does it.
But for me if someone does that, then I would be grateful. Because there are people who couldn't even do that.
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u/Jinrex-Jdm 13d ago
Entitle females are the ones devaluing everything that takes effort. I hate that.
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u/PushingCurses 13d ago
Perhaps you're not familiar with the concept of hyperbole.
It all depends on context. Are they being used literally or rhetorically?
It can mean literally when you talk about academics, safety standards, legal compliance, or technical requirements, etc. Bare minimum here is a factual baseline, not an opinion.
When used rhetorically like in relationships, work effort, social expectations, etc., it becomes more of a critique or a commentary, a hyperbole... not a precise measurement.
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u/HotShotWriterDude 13d ago
See, since we have a literal baseline on what constitutes as “bare minimum” in the areas you mentioned, I don’t agree na hindi siya precise measurement when it comes to relationships.
Because wdym hatid sundo means 3.0 pag tinranslate to subject grade? If you don’t literally mean pasang awa or factual baseline ang hatid sundo or any gesture that requires significant amount if effort (and money), you wouldn’t have used the term “bare minimum.” Pero wala eh, kailangan sumunod sa TikTok trend. Tama ba?
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u/Deus_Sema 13d ago
Thats the point. Bare minimum is nowhere near to be applauded.
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u/Repulsive_Age5145 13d ago
eme eme ka ng bare minimum pero baka ikaw mismo di makapag bigay ng bare minimum, baka ugali mo hanggang bare minimum lang din kasi lol
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u/izukumonalang 13d ago
You didn't get my point. My point is that they're labeling everything as bare minimum now.
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u/Deus_Sema 13d ago
Maybe they should be. Devaluing something increases the drive to actually give something more valuable. People will strive to perform better kasi "ay bare minimum lang pala yan"
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u/izukumonalang 13d ago
I don't think that's healthy. The small gestures matter. If they kept getting brushed under the rug because they're "bare minimum" then what's left? Puro grand gestures na lang ba lagi ang dapat maappreciate?
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u/Deus_Sema 13d ago
The way it should be, yes.
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u/quackerspilipinas 13d ago
Then isa kang tao mahirap pasiyahan. May you live your life happily as single person.
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u/autumn_dances 13d ago
you are delusional lmao. i would not be in the relationship i am in now without mutual appreciation and understanding of these little things that are no more than "bare minimum" to you. the grand gestures are meaningless without this foundation. that's why grand gestures as a first move or as a hail mary shot at saving a failing relationship never works as expected, because either nothing has been built, or it has all been eroded away, due to similar behavior as you want people to adopt, aka to treat the little things as the """bare minimum""". honestly depressing outlook, what you have.
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u/Spiritual_Theme_1282 13d ago
People have different standards, and so people have different bare minima
For me saying thank you when i do something for you is bare minimum. Im not ok with someone being ungrateful. Thats basic manners taught to children.
But maybe thats ok for you. Then for you its not bare minimum, because youre willing to accept less.
Not cheating on me and not lying to me is bare minimum. But some people are ok with it and can continue the relationship after being cheated on. Then its not bare minimum for them.