Working to gain money or profit in order to live is a tough thing to do.

There are a
lot of difficulties, struggles, pain, or pretty much a lot of things to endure that needs a lot
of patience. We have our own capabilities and dreams that we are passionate in to and
to where we are best. But not everyone has that motivation or perseverance to work
hard to be able to achieve their dreams. Some people are lucky enough to live with
parents who are rich but then there are some unfortunate ones who are born with pure
nothing. And with that, we always believe that if everyone can do it, so do we. But then
again, even though we already tried our best, sometimes it is not enough to cover all
our expenses and pursue what we aspire because not all people have the capacity to
do what others can do.

I think one of the issues nowadays that still needs to focus on is the power of a
human to bring down people because of their judgements. In my perception, Society
looks down upon to those people who are unfortunate and in the state of miserableness
because they see them as a group of people living to the lowest part of their lives. Many
people are affected and slowly devastated due to the stereotypical standards that
people had come up with. Even though it is hard to conceal or set aside what other
people will say, people will still be affected and are broken emotionally and mentally and
it is because the public always see the smaller picture and not on what should be seen
on in the inside. Therefore I’ve thought of what is really significant is that the mind-set of
the people is the need to be changed.

In relation to that, I’ve also read a lot of books similarly to this kind of matter/issue. I’ve
always empathize people who thinks they're never enough just because that is what
always people thought of. It is unending and to all those people who learned to
overcome this kind of situation, they learned how to fight and escape to prejudice.

Moreover, the dignity of a human person is hurtfully trampled just because to what
others say and perceive about them. If so, this is an important matter to fix because it
somewhat moulds our mind-set. In contrast, we should feed our minds with positivity
and stop being a pessimist who thinks his or her life doesn’t even matter. That we have
to start first in ourselves by valuing what we have to offer and not wasting our
capabilities until it is gone.

Talking about these relevant issues that has been mentioned: "labor and
industrial relations", "unbridled capitalism and globalization", "workers and families who
are struggling to make ends meet", many of these three main key points are mostly
needed of attention.

For the first issue, labor and industrial relations, Labor is necessary for us
people to survive and live, but the bad thing about labor is the fact that some employees
often overwork and reward them terribly. In this circumstance, it gives people a lot of
hardships and couldn’t do anything about it since it is not easy to find a job. In this
modern world, one of the trending issues today is about the “Angkas” drivers who are
being deployed due to that the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board
(LTFRB) didn’t allowed them to have more employees and with that news, many
employees huddled together to protest because there are a lot of families that have jobs
will perish despite of their difficulties just to serve the public and run through tough
traffics. Moreover, it is already a decent job to take and they also have the advantage to
consider the struggles of the commuters on a day-to-day basis, provide safety and
convenience, and also to escape to one of the top crisis in the country, which is traffic,
to run smoothly through traffic jams.

Aside from this, due to the uprising modernity in this generation, some parts of the
working industry are slowly being replaced by innovative technology and the
advancement of the development of enhanced robots. These are one of the contributors
that decrease the amount of deployment in every country might have.

Today there is still injustice in the workplace. Bigger corporations are taking
advantage of their smaller counterparts and employees which results to strikes. The
church look for answers that say that employers and workers should settle on mutual
agreements about working conditions and all the social injustices must be dealt with
through subsidiarity and workers’ association.

The second issue is unbridled capitalism and globalization. Capitalism, as I’ve

run through some research, according to Lisette Padilla, it is the private ownership of
the means of production combined with a free market system of trade. Capitalism is a
fastest way to grow an economy but not all people agrees with the capitalisms’ effect on
the society. There could be some instances where entrepreneur and an employee may
deal with inequality where if you work hard you’ll be successful, but in reality, however
that if you’re not an entrepreneur you’ll suffer anything from not being extremely wealthy
but still well-off homeless. It is unfortunate for other people who might be suffering
working for the entrepreneurs, or anyone who may be affected, to negative
consequences because of them.

In the Rerum Novarum, Pope Leo thinks that rather than abandoning god, what
is needed is to seek god in a deeper and more profound way within society. Because
it’s in god that we find our dignity and our meaning that every human being has a value
regardless of who they are or what their situation is. They are inestimable value
because they are made in the image and likeness of god and have the mark of his
infinite goodness upon them.

Humans are not machines. Therefore they must be treated as a being that have dignity.
People tend to misuse men wherein they value them because of its physical strength in
order to gain something from them which is very inhumane and unkind to have that
purpose to just take advantage of them.

Union associations would also help people who are in need. Workers and employees
should create union with these associations to help each other to stand up together,
achieve their ends, achieve a living wage, and to workers who is paid enough to support
themselves and their family. Furthermore, with that idea, employees and employer
could create a bond or relationship to try to achieve those goals together.

We should always keep in mind that the poor do not have the same power that
rich have to protect themselves, that they have all sort of ways to keep themselves safe
because they have money, power, and influence. While the poor doesn’t have any of
those combined and so the government should consider their needs when policies are
being made.

Lastly, the workers and families who are struggling to make ends meet. Just
like I’ve said about the issue on “Angkas” drivers, they are struggling to fight for their
contract to not be terminated because out of 27,000 hired employees, almost 17,000
employees will be deployed at the end of the year 2019. That is a huge number of
people who will be jobless and it is really terrible to see people who worked hard for
their job just to have food on the table for their family to eat. This just simply speaks that
life is not easy and I think that there should be equality and considerations to push
through but then there will always be some people who are seemingly blinded by power
and superiority. They only care about themselves knowing what people will be when
they come home with nothing on their hands.

With this situation some children in the families are being forced to work and stop their
education in order to help and support their family from the situation. There are also
some circumstances that in “Child Labor” they’re often paid only a fraction of what
adults were being paid. It is hard to believe that in real life, this is happening. All of us
deserve better, a better life and a life that we are longing for.
 I think one of the issues in the Rerum Novarum that have changed is none. On
my own view, these issues or situations have still remained unfocused and not
prioritized. As the day goes by, it is continuously evolving and I think there’s no way to
stop it unless people will have that discipline, empathy, and take away those self-
conceitedness within them for us, people, to be treated equally and have the advantage
on god’s creation which is given, basically, to “US”. I mean it does not mention anything
that it is only for the rich to take advantage of, but for all the human beings.

One of the main issues Pope Leo XIII touches upon is the separation between the rich
and poor. He has made it clear in the document that he contradicts to the idea of the
rich gaining benefits that the poor never get as well as their treatment. In the document,
Pope Leo states “It is a most sacred law of nature that a father should provide food and
all necessaries for those whom he has begotten."' As children of God, like I’ve said, we
deserve equal rights to everything He has given.

We should be all treated the same. Rich or poor, we are all still the same and
breathes the same air. The only difference is that we classify ourselves between one
another because its either we are envious or insecure with each other or we want to be
higher than the rest. People are often being blinded by jealousy blabbering about
they’re not born with a wealthy family. For me, most importantly is we try to be as one
and contented to what we have within our reach. That later on we will realize that we
should be thankful and happy with what God has left for us because each of us
deserves to live happily and peacefully with all of our needs/basic commodities
provided.

If we succeeded through time, then why not share it to the others? There are a
lot of people who strives harder and harder everyday but still it wasn’t enough. To me, if
one managed to succeed, he or she should share what she have and gradually help the
poor to rise upon to unending poverty.

Legally, and thankfully, that there is nothing to stop the Church from speaking out
against these issues. In Rerum Novarum “…But the church, with Jesus Christ as her
master and Guide, aims higher still,” this message by Pope Leo XIII explains that the
church will never cease to speak their mind on issues that concern them.

Links:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-Ozq4vCRkQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xeqzYaw97w4