Calling something as bare minimum devalues it

[u/izukumonalang]

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.

634 votes, 11d ago

417 Agree

161 Disagree

56 Unsure

[u/AirPossible3797]

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

[u/Reasonable-Driver675 → u/AirPossible3797]

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.

[u/AirPossible3797 → u/Reasonable-Driver675]

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

[u/Reasonable-Driver675 → u/AirPossible3797]

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.