Making It Fun in the Philippines

It's a problem in the Philippines that you must ride the bandwagon or you're considered stupid. It's a culture of just do what everyone does no matter how stupid it is. It's really a problem in the Philippines to have a prevailing culture of anti-intellectualism . For these anti-intellectuals they think that the smart ones are stupid and the stupid ones are smart. It's all about their quest for "smart shaming" and their quest to "expose just how stupid the intellectuals are". These activities include online trolling (some of them even have gone as far as to be "brave" to foolishly expose themselves, character assassinations, name calling, demanding people to show themselves while commenting as "Anonymous") and/or commenting without reading posts properly . 

" Ever heard of the song "I'll Be Home For Christmas"? Unfortunately, this is one song that many OFWs may wish that they can fulfill but aren't able to fulfill for their loved ones in the Philippines. This is no thanks to the OFW phenomenon . It's often sensationalized that OFWs are indeed the new heroes of the Philippines  but that's not always the case. While some OFWs are indeed heroes who seek to make their families better but others are just Okay Fine Whatevers who remain poor in spite of having a huge salary. The tragedy of "I'll not be home for Christmas" could have been greatly lessened if and if the 1987 Constitution didn't endorse the 60/40 rule. Let's take a short review to why the OFW phenomenon is happening. It's because of the economic protectionist policy makes the Philippines more dependent than independent from foreign governments. By limiting foreign ownership to 40% only and instilling in the minds of gull...

Ever heard of the bandwagon effect? It's defined by the Business Dictionary as, "A psychological theory where individuals will do something primarily because other individuals are doing it, regardless of their own beliefs, which they will ignore or override. This effect has the capability to produce wide implications, but is most often seen in the areas of politics as well as in consumer behavior. For instance, in politics, individuals may vote for a candidate because he or she is most popular and the voters want to be considered as part of the majority. It can also be seen during bull markets and the growth of asset bubbles. It can also be referred to as herd mentality."

Based on this Butthurt Philippines comic strip, there's always the irritating attitude that many Filipinos have that they tend to accuse foreigners who offer criticism to them to be racist. Some people even think this blog is very anti-Filipino and racist towards Filipinos without pointing the specifics. A lot of stupid stuff like attacking the person instead of the argument and not making sensible conclusions are done to further enjoy their blunder . The bitter irony is that many times those who call others to be very stupid tend to be even more stupid.

I'm getting tired of all the paranoia that keeps saying, "Foreigners will run us Filipinos dry! " Yet they're not worried that the oligarchs may bully and destroy the small businesses that Filipino businessmen are relying on to earn for a living. The average Filipino small-time businessman is forced to kneel before the sloppy services of the oligarchy. That's not right, isn't it? Now it's time to talk about the phenomenon called glocalization. Glocal is a combination of local and global.

Do we ever bother to sit down and think that no matter how many stories are intended to be portrayed as fiction may teach us something? There's a short story I remembered called the scholars and the lion. Four have been friends but one was not yet a scholar. The problem was that even if the other three were learned they didn't use their common sense. What they did was to bring the dead lion to life killing them. What's the moral of the story? It's not that if you're educated that you're stupid. Instead, the moral of the lesson is that you can get educated all you want but you can still be such a stupid person if you lack common sense. A lack of common sense isn't always linked to one's intelligence or lack of it but rather it can be caused by being overly emotional or prideful.

This issue is nothing new and I don't need to be a political analyst to say, "WTF is wrong with you!" to people who choose to skip their classes to join those stupid rallies. I remembered how I attended my classes and my introduction to international marketing professor said something like, "I don't care about your stupid rallies! It's not excusable compared to if you got sick, hospitalized or met an accident along the way! Let those activists help you when I give you a failing grade!" I couldn't help but agree with her. While I'm no genius or anything but I passed through her strict policies by studying hard and following simple guidelines . 

Here's the latest news that's probably going to Bum people out: The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) should implement a national broadband plan for a cheaper and better quality internet connection, Senator Paolo Benigno “Bam” Aquino IV said on Thursday. The DICT is expected to present its plan before the Senate science and technology committee next week. Aquino said he expects the DICT to present different options on the national broadband plan: use the current infrastructure, put up its own system, or find other methodologies to connect.

It's a sad fact but many Filipinos are very balat-sibuyas or onion-skinned . This means that the person is too sensitive to criticisms, disagreements and insults. This may even result to throwing a temper tantrum in public, writing terrible comments, threatening the welfare of the other person or even using physical acts of violence against people. What may have been aggravated the fight any further because somebody is pretty much onion-skinned. That can also happen  while calling the kettle black . Let's discuss how having a balat-sibuyas attitude is actually a source of useless daily conflicts.