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Middle Class Action

March 15th, 2006 by epoyz

WTF? These clowns, they have  got to be kidding me, right?

i learned that the menace at the palace made a documentary about Repression 1017 available for download at their website (or you can request a cd of it, but hey, why would you want to do that?) and with unparalleled audacity entitled it "Paglaban Sa Kataksilan: 1017".

wow.

i may have just let out the most wide-eyed, unbelieving, utterly-amazed "wow" of my life there. the whole idea also filled me with mirthless laughter.

Gall, that’s right. "Galling" may just be the word i’m looking for. you know what bugs me the most about this, what i find most galling?

they actually think the filipino people are that stupid. that’s right. riding high on the belief that the average filipino can’t think for himself, they step over the line and POINT IT OUT TO YOU. "boo-ya, motherfucker!", is what they seem to be saying. your mind is so convoluted now, here’s some more junk to keep your head in the funk.

me, i’m still pinning my hopes that we are just that lazy to do anything. lazy, and afraid maybe, but not stupid.

that e-mail by some SC Austero and Co. really got to me, not because of its content but because it got to my inbox meaning a lot of people are subscribing to what they wrote.

again, i think we are lazy, but not stupid. (insert wide-eyed finger-wagging here…)

i think one reason why a lot of people forwarded this e-mail is because a lot of us have become lazy to think for ourselves and never took the time for everything to sink in. most probably when they read that letter they are in a sombre mood, a bit depressed or worse, probably don’t give that much of a damn about what’s really going on and what’s going down. most of us probably read this letter once, found some points that they agree with, nodded their heads and clicked "forward to everybody in address book".

it is my utmost hope that this must have been the case because anything to the contrary (like believing in it enough to be willing to subject your children to years of martial law..) would be galactically stupid, unforgivably irresponsible and irreversibly damaging.

because if you do subscribe to this line of thinking:
"…quite frankly, we are prepared to lose our freedoms and our rights just to move this country forward…"

..then you probably have a screw loose. and if you get angry and still don’t get what i’m saying, then i rest my case.

if you have the time and want to read all about it, or if you never read the letter, the exchange can be found here.

i will acknowledge that most of us acted in frustration and adopted this person’s ideology as their own because probably most of us in the middle class (if you do have an access to a computer and you do give a shit about this then you probably ARE in the middle class..) are just tired. yes, we work hard, yes, we pay our taxes, and yes, we probably think that we should have a say in this because we "sacrifice" so much to keep this country going. why do they have to disrupt everything, cause traffic and make you late for work, cut into the telecast of sharon cuneta’s show with all these late-breaking news? do they even pay taxes like you do?

and you absolutely have the right to think that way.

here is where it all goes wrong: we have become so righteous we believe what we think is right, and readily agree amongst ourselves to what the suggested easier way out is, whatever it is that won’t affect our way of life directly. and worse, we let other people do OUR thinking for us. we no longer take a step back to say, hey, he does have a point, but he may be missing the big picture entirely.

damn, they have divided us and they have conquered. how absolute is the only question remaining now.

just because someone had the time to write an emotional email about what he thinks all of us are thinking, we readily accept that yup, this guy’s probably right and yeah, losing our freedom and trampling on our rights is not so bad, as long as it affords me to continue with my lifestyle.

and yes, it is not enough to say you love this country. you actually have to do something about it. and whining, we say "but it’s just so damn hard, it’s just a lot of work." that letter makes it convenient for us to do nothing about the situation, and it succeeded, to the delight of those in power.

somehow i learned that i am no different to those who chose to share these sentiments. i just took the opposite road to nowhere, just blabbering on about how i love this country, but still waiting for others to win battles for me.

i came to this realization as it hit me square in my smug face: i am not inclined to stand up because i am not directly affected. yet. an op-ed piece by randy david, "The Pessimism Of Spectators", drove the guilt further home, an excerpt i would be putting here for a more direct effect:

"THE more we regard events as having a life of their own, rather than as things we can shape, the more paralyzed we feel. The less we act, the more our society appears distant from us. The more we demand guarantees before we can act or believe, the more we feel like outsiders to our own society.

All over the country, in various forums, middle class people are asking the same questions. Who will replace Gloria? What assurance do we have that a new set of leaders will be different from the rotten ones we have had in the past? By resorting to people power all the time, are we not further destroying the very institutions we seek to rebuild?

Sometimes these questions are asked in all sincerity. At other times, they are asked only as a cover for a deeply-rooted apathy.."

ouch.

i admit, despite being openly supportive of the movement to reform the present government, i have been relying on other people to do the standing up for me. i repeatedly stated my zeal in joining the rallies, but i am guilty of waiting for the crowd to swell first before actually going. that’s right, i demanded guarantees before joining in the fray. i wanted to make sure that the number of people should be in their thousands first before i say "hey, count me in."

now, aren’t we in the middle class all guilty of this?  does forwarding that email really say that we care about this country? is this blog entry any different?

the truth is, you have done absolutely diddly-squat until you actually do shit.

before we criticize the poor folk taking to the streets, .."kasi wala naman silang ibang magawa kundi mag-rally".., we have to step back and think this through. who makes the greater sacrifice? the way i see it, we can afford to lose a day or two’s wages, join a week’s worth of rallying and still be able to afford that ipod or go to a starbucks for a venti frappucino after the demonstration. we can join in at our convenience and still be able to scrounge enough to feed our kids. a lot of the "rallying kind of folk" are just fighting for a better life, most of them are afraid to go near a starbucks. we’re the taxpayers? they’d be lucky to have jobs that afford them to pay income tax. and mind you, bawat kilos nila at bawat bagay na binibili nila para mabuhay, may tax pa rin. hindi lang tayo ang taxpayers, mas marami lang tayong pera.

 

they’re out there because they are directly affected by the scourge which is the present government. one might counter that this has been going on for years. yes, this has been going on for years! but do we actually take steps in reforming any of it? we just let it go on and on.at least they’re taking the beatings, they’re walking under the heat and through smog and filth to fight for something we have completely lost our grasp of: doing something for somebody else.

we, in the middle, between the poorest of the poor and the filthy rich, should do a bit more than just watch as events unfold. we should be part of history. we have the power to shape things. i don’t necessarily suggest that we go to rallies or anything, what i’m saying is we should not just lay down and say, ok madam president, your will be done. we should be heard, and we should talk about this.

dapat mag-practice na tayo na magsalita pag alam na nating inuuto na tayo.

tomorrow there will be a free concert at the UP Sunken Garden starting at 5:30 organized by Conrado De Quiros called "Never Again : A Concert For Freedom". i’m definitely going. i want to support this cause and i want to be counted. it’s a small step but it’s a beginning. i bet you there’s going to be some riot police there but i don’t care. i’m not even sure if enough people will show up, but hey, guarantees or no guarantees, i’ll be there.

Cc_c_steve_prest_b_wjpg

"..Well the son’s gonna rise in a mile
    In a mile you’ll be feeling fine
    In a mile you will see
    After me
    You’ll be out of the dark
    Yeah you’ll get your shot, yeah.."

                    -"Son’s Gonna Rise", Citizen Cope

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House Rules And The “AI” In Team

March 7th, 2006 by epoyz

well, cut off my balls and call me Nellie.

funny how when you need to stay up to finish something important, all the coffee in the world can’t help your cause. but when you do need to get up early the next morning an innocent bottle of coke keeps you up all night.

there’s going to be some american idol action tonight, but i still can’t get over how sway penala got sent home early. there are at least three dudes and a frankie muniz in the lot who are clearly less talented than our homeboy, and he still got a low number of text votes. is it because he looks like mark caguioa? akala ko mga pinoy ang nagpauso ng text messaging? what happened there?

haaay. i guess solidarity among us is very scarce these days. or maybe the bar has been set higher, i don’t know. never saw any media coverage on how a filipino rose above millions of americans and got into the final 24. if there was something on it i missed it, but i don’t think there was. nowadays you have to actually win something, or at least go very far in a competition to get recognition as a filipino. reaching american idol’s top 24 just won’t cut it anymore. manny pacquiao and brian villoria got theirs from just about everybody, jasmine trias did her hapee commercial and her major concert, and mig ayesa had his single. ( though i must say, not to knock him down or anything, i thoroughly loved his "baby i love your way" when he was singing it at the time in front of a live audience, but the radio version just hurts me. it physically hurts me.)

diosdado gabi went up against a boastful vic darchinyan last saturday for a boxing title and lost badly. so i’m guessing he won’t be getting any calls from the president soon. i would have loved hearing the third installment of the "hellow series".

God knows i don’t ask for too much, why can’t He give me "hellow, Gabi?" after "hellow, Garci?" and "hellow, Manny?"? That would have been rad and swell.

So just let me, in my own little rented space in the universe, give props to jose penala and diosdado gabi. i appreciate the effort, boys. good job, and good job. some of us were watching and hoping you’d win.

and on the subject of losing, today marks the start of another ginebra campaign, and i’m almost over the shocking game 7 loss to the red bull blue eagles. it’s another conference, a clean slate, a whole different story and a brand new chance to mess things up.. juz’ kidding… i hope the boys are motivated enough to avenge that series loss.

gonna be a whole lot of TV for me this week. i’m halfway through season 4 of The Sopranos and Seinfeld, got updated on Scrubs season 5 and i’m on the lookout for the latest episodes of The Office and House, both on their second season. was bummed to learn that season 3 of One Tree Hill will resume airing new episodes on march 29 after their groundbreaking take on teenage violence. that last one just filled me with cold anger, i’m telling you. i’ll just wait on it and see what happens next.

i have to find work soon. if only TV watching actually pays money.

I think i’ll go watch that latest House episode again. they have been on a lot of different tumor cases lately, but still, they keep things interesting. and chase is sooo yummy..

aherm..

i saw jessica alba at the Oscars and thought, damn, they’ve got to feed this girl something.

freakin’ great air jordan commercial.

 

i would want to point out that some people are just so deluded. we were set to play in this basketball tournament last saturday and i was chatting with a guy from the team we’re about to play. turns out they were running a bit shorthanded and in danger of forfeiture, so when his teammate passed by he asked if any of their guys have arrived yet.

his answer?

"merong dumating, mga pamalit.."

fuck.

who the hell does this guy think he is? or more appropriately, just what the fuck does he think of himself? only proves that stupid people regard themselves highly. man, i was just so amped that i made it a point to fuck him up the whole game, the referee had to warn me for excessive physicality. and we won, of course, but was still seething because dude had a feeling that he carried the game for his team. he didn’t, not by a long shot, but you can see it in his swagger. what a fucking moron.

last conference i heard this guy got into a scuffle with the "bad boys" of the league, and he actually got bitchslapped and spit on. that’s right: slapped like a ‘ho and spit on. now, i really don’t  condone that behavior in any situation and i’ll be damned if i let that happen to one of my teammates, and i actually felt bad for the guy. but i learned that more often than not guys that were dude’s teammates don’t like him that much because he is a stupid ballhog, he thinks the game revolves around him and he is called by a lot of names: "rekta", "galit sa bakal", "tapaoho", "the franchise" (sarcastic, of course), "assist-to-the-ring", "boy kupal", and a whole lot more monickers that are rated-R. you pass to this guy, he makes the shot and he does not even acknowledge you, like it was his right to get the ball and score. in retrospect if i was his teammate i’ll slap this fucker myself.

i hope i don’t have to team up with this fool in the coming tournaments.

but hey, it’s me. with my luck of course there’s a great chance we’ll get drafted by the same team. oh, brother, now i jinxed it.

I think fans of USA Basketball have taken our cue in being tolerant of injustice. on our part we continue to bow down to an illegitimate rule and sacrifice self-respect for "economic gains" and "stability" (still tastes like excrement when i spit those words out..), on theirs thay have the omittance of allen iverson on their olympic tryouts. i must say AI is taking the disrespect well by harnessing all the dignity left in the world, but still, if these americans love basketball and their country, they should at least fight for him to get a tryout. check the books, check the stories. this man is a soldier. he is pure heart and determination, and if he does not get his proper shot at an olympic gold medal (larry brown’s mishandling of Team USA 2004 does not count..), i think they ought to start a revolution or something. allen iverson IS pure USA Basketball.

hey, i’m just saying.

"..That nothing grows on

    But time still goes on

    And through each life of misery

    Everybody’s gotta hold on Hope

    It’s the last thing that’s holding me."

                    -"Hold On Hope", Guided By Voices

 

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