Somebody please tell me if I am sounding like someone who just landed here after a long trip from Mars, but am I the only one who sees the quaint oxymoronism in what The Dingman says in the following excerpt from his recent post?
But this is not a sports post but rather a note about how the PacMan’s homecoming from Las Vegas may be shamelessly exploited to dilute the impact of this week’s anti charter change Inter Faith rally.
The mobilization for December 12 now includes students from Metro Manila’s Catholic schools and the El Shaddai flock, the Jesus Is Lord ministry, and the Ayala-led Makati Business Club.
I think Manny Pacquiao who is oozing with self-confidence and moolah after proving beyond dispute to be a certified star is in a better position to be immune from “exploitation” compared to the “flock” of El Shaddai, Jesus-is-Lord Ministry, and other Ministri-de-Cacao followers who will be marching lemming-like to this next so-called “Intefaith” (that’s Pinoy originality for you!) Rally.
Kung baga Ding, my man, you are quick to cry sensational “exploitation” in the way you expertly “explore” and — horrors! — analyse possible outcomes arising from how the Pacman may choose to conduct his travel affairs. Granting that amazing leap of causal relationship engineering, it is quite funny that you’d conveniently FAIL to interpret the act of leading a flock of believers into a POLITICAL rally as being, itself (more BLATANTLY, as a matter of fact), an act of exploitation.
Even in your previous post, you literally announce the circus like a true ring leader and spruiker that you are turning out to be in the rather revealing way that you title that piece: “Now Showing: The Congressional Cha-Cha Zarzuela”.
If it quacks like a duck and walks like a duck…
I couldn’t help commenting (my quotes from your piece in italics) on some of the Gulong ng Palad reminiscent poetry you wax there:
Nasaan na ang Lupang Hinirang?
It’s there, Ding, right under your nose.
You just have to look in the right direction
In your own words lie the answer…
We are witnessing a classic smoke and mirrors show.
… an answer that I deliver to you in the form of a question:
So why give that “show” the time of day then?
The Philippines is NOT Malacanang, nor is it Congress, folks. It is a society with cultural issues ingrained at its very fabric that will not be laundered out by simply kicking politicians’ arses.
While you point out how all these politicos are producing “smoke and mirrors” shows (which, to be fair, sells a lot of tickets), it seems you are not above producing some pretty big whoppers yourself (with even bigger stars). That post of yours so effectively and efficiently epitomises more than 20 years of Pinoy-class thinking in the Philippine Media.
Congratulations dude. You are a true beacon of enlightenment.
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Benigs,
Wouldn’t it be better to post your sublime thoughts on the comment thread to the post of Ding? Or do you make it a habit, when attending a dinner party, to eat directly from the plates on the buffet table and making an oink of yourself?
Hmmmm….
Let me pause for a moment and reflect on that brilliant piece of advise, DJB …
think…
think…
think…
reflect…
reflect…
reflect…
ting!
I’ve decided that I prefer to do things my way, thank you.
Oink Oink. ;)
FV was a good experiment on collaborative blogging but sadly it’s now a vassal state for getrealpelefins and powerpoint slides….the main page is practically benign-zero’s comment box…
That’s because you miss the bigger point I make and remain imprisoned in seeing this post as merely a “comment” on Ding’s previous post and in your specific case imprisoned by pre-conceptions about Yours Truly.
The bigger points that may be drawn (with a bit of thinking applied, that is) from this post are as follows (o ayan ha, a bit of spoonfeeding for the cry-babies out there):
:D One can easily and, without knowing it, cross the line into self-righteousness.
:D Together with strong appeals to emotion the pronouncements of the self-righteous get readily lapped up by those who do not exercise a bit of critical thinking to guide their day-to-day conduct.
:D Those who defer the hard work that critical thinking requires in favour of the far easier approach of merely running with the mob are, guess what, easily exploited.
So go back and examine closely AGAIN what Ding writes here and try to compare it with the stuff said by the very people he claims to revile.
What do you, nash (or anyone here in FV) think?
Is it different?
Or is it no different?
When you or anyone here starts to get my point we will be a bit further down towards understanding why the Philippines works the way it does.
It’s simple, really™
i can’t get your point…no one has…otherwise your movement would have achieved barack obama proportions…
I don’t think so, nash.
Millions of Pinoys “get” Wowowee and Sharon Cuneta.
But not too many Pinoys “get” democracy.
My point (Hey, another one from me to you! You’re having a great day, aren’t you? :D ):
An idea’s popularity is not a great indicator of its true value or merit.
Get it?
- :D
Millions of americans also watch the E! Channel and eagerly await Paris and Britney go commando so don’t use that celebrity obsession analogy.
an argument between a cerebral and a juvenile will get you nowhere. :)
…and what is democracy?? what are elections and how are democratic laws codified? who or what puts value or merit to an idea?….. i would like to see you succeed and put value into your movement without needing the critical mass…
that’s slighlty better than an argument with a corrupt lawyer like jose c. camano, esq…i suppose jcc is a good judge of who is the cerebral, his neurons were firing when he decided that extortion was somehow good….it got him to the atm for cash at least.
You seem to be under some bizarre impression that I claim that assertion to be applicable only to Pinoys, nash.
However way did you conclude that?
Explain plez…
jcc. True. But when we exhibit said argument, we gain a better appreciation of how said juvenile mind operates and thus we gain a better understanding of what makes Pinoy society in general tick. ;)
and so please expound why these cultural quirks you like to zoom in on (that are indeed universal) contribute to our our malady when it is not so for others? (I have a ready answer and it is quite obvious for a cerebral like you)
and please answer my question on who or what puts value or merit to an idea in a democracy. i would like to know your thoughts on that.
(do share this cerebral knowledge so that it may trickle down on us juveniles (who are not convicted extortionists) who just don’t get it.)
Such cultural “quirks” do also contribute to undermining progress in other societies as well, nash. The only problem is that in the Philippines:
:D These “quirks” are present and more prevalent as a proportion of what drives our behaviours.
:D The virtues in our society to counteract these quirks (those that generally require thinking) are so underdeveloped that they are completely swamped.
Kung baga, even if these quirks exist in, say, the U.S., they are more than sufficiently counter-balanced by other cultural traits that produce positive results. The net effect (taking into account both the forces of degeneracy and the forces of progress) is progress in the advanced world and degeneracy in the Third World due to differences in this balance I speak of.
In a democracy it is the people‘s “will” (channeled of course via the right procedures) that wins the day.
Whether or not said “will” holds value or merit is a separate issue (as we are finding out now that we are seeing the behaviours of those who are outcomes of said “will”).
Garbage in = garbage out as the old cliche goes.
I am a little perplexed by what the fuss is all about.
So what if the majority of natives on these islands are of a dependent culture. It makes life for those with wealth a lot easier.
The Pinoys who do not have the means to enjoy the benefits of the economic/political system and are abroad, sorry na lang.
Life is not fair… Life is what you make of it.
This thing called democracy is a complicated process.
Those who have the means naturally will enjoy the perks of the many who don’t.
Some wise men wrote some time back that power comes from the power to command labor.
Look at pacq
OMG Nash O.O
Your rebuttals are way too sexy ;)
Benign0 is merely a symptom of the elitist mindset which is common among the Filipino middle class and FV, after all, represents Filipino middle class thought.
benigno @ 1:03pm, i think the “value” of an idea is in the idea itself, not outside of it. it is objective, not subjective, i.e. its merit doesn’t depend on the acceptance or judgment of anyone. to paraphrase lincoln, what is valuable is so, and 10,000 angels saying it is not, will not make a difference.
Of course, FV represent the thoughts middle classes of the society. Magtataho, magpuputo or tindera ng tinapa will have no time to spare on discussion like what is here. Their need is urgent while we can throw away a few hundred peso in Starbucks.
I don’t buy this argument of other cultural
traits counterbalancing the bad ones. It’s rubbish.
My simplistic mind tends to the simplest answer i can find and that is OVERPOPULATION and the social inequality that goes with it.
Nash,
Your answer is not the solution but the problem.
Aside from the RH bill, what are other solutions out there if you happen to be the policymaker? Let’s see how you brain work to share two simple answers, focus on employment. if you need a hint, ask benigno and jcc.. ok :)
That’s too bad, nash. Cultural traits as the ultimate source of the wealth or pathetic poverty of a society is a FAR SIMPLER and COHERENT explanation.
Overpopulation for example is an outcome of religious beliefs, ignorance (in the face of modern-day options for women), and cultural taboos. And as a matter of fact (this is your lucky day!) population is a key concept on my simplistically elegant take on poverty; i.e., we are poor SIMPLY because:
We locked ourselves into commitments beyond any inherent ability in us to honour them.
(I first mention the above koan in my brilliant piece “Poverty is a simple issue. Really“)
Pro-creating is a commitment on our part to produce what our offspring will consume. As a people we are world-class performers in the first part of the equation but utterly pathetic laggards in the latter half of it.
It’s simple, really™ ;)
But it’s good that you are actually thinking this through, dude. At least you don’t let dubious “expertise” get in the way of basic thinking.
I think Bencard puts it a bit more succinctly than I do:
Just because a sensationalised topic is discussed to death (and therefore a hot shawarma topic) doesn’t necessarily make it relevant. After all, that’s what “experts” do best — quibble on the minute details that fall within the comforts of their respective zones of “expertise”. :D