Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Fiery blog

I recall that there were a good number of people to whom I shared this blog who made their common comment. They were -- as far as I know -- unknown to one another; and I did not meet them together at just one time and in just one place. But, what was striking to me was their common impression of Didaskalos.
They all said that Didaskalos is fiery, and that he's obviously angry. I remember that one of them even said that he was trying to see what must have been causing me to create this blog and express my anger through it. He even posed a question to me: what have they (referring to the frequent subjects of this blog) done to you?
I tried to understand what they were trying to bring across. I tried to scrutinize the contents of the blog, and examine the words and expressions that I used. I have to admit that I've used fiery terminologies, and resorted to less civil phrases especially when describing particularly the persons I wrote about.
However, what is interesting in this is that despite this I have never felt remorse over this blog. After all, from what I learned in my studies, anger -- being a human emotion -- is more than a-moral. On certain occasions, when distinctions are made and lines are drawn, it is even indeed morally encouraged.
For who would not feel angry when political patronage is rule in the province, and when political leaders -- who benefit from this system -- do not lift a finger to set the system aright? For who would not be angry when the province is under-developed while the political leaders are living a high-end life? Who would not be angry to travel by land transportation from San Jose to Abra de Ilog through very rough highway? Who would not be angry when Occidental Mindoro, the food basket of MIMAROPA, has the highest incidence of malnutrition? Who would not be angry when the whole province is on certain occasions thrown back to Stone Age when IPC, NPC and OMECO fail to supply the basic amenity called electricity? Who would also not feel angry when people -- who would want a change in leadership -- mistake a self-serving and incompetent priest-politician as their political redeemer?
In moral philosophy, there is a mention about moral wrath. It is said to be the starting point for bigger and bolder actions to correct whatever wrong there is. It is a step away from culture of indifference, and a step towards liberating oneself for a better life.
Even Jesus is portrayed in the Gospel manifesting his (moral) wrath against the capitalists who were taking advantage of the poor fellows from far flung areas who visited the Temple in Jerusalem.

2 comments:

Summer Breeze said...

Well, it is really no longer fashionable to get angry about the actions or inactions of our politicians. I think people have become so used to seeing things not done, or have promises issued to them broken everyday that they feel like nothing they say about things would matter anyway. People will do what they want to do, when they want to.

And so you have apathy. And so we people who would react to somebody like you who writes about things not nice and does not promote smooth interpersonal relationship.

It can really be comfortable to just sit and watch things pass by, without thinking about it, without deconstructing things. So when they come across somebody who looks at things using a different perspective, they would feel as if their personal space is what is being violated.

E ganun talaga…at least you have made a small dent in their comfort zone, and made them reflect about things, even if they didn’t reach the same conclusions you had. It’s a start.

Virbac said...

I haven't read any blog more straightforward than yours. It criticizes in a constructive way, it points out the truth in a dignified manner. I lived in the southern part of Occidental Mindoro around 2001-2004. During the duration of my stay I’ve witnessed and got an excellent point of view on how the politics, people and the socio economic goes.

The reason why I got that view is I got an opportunity to work at that time in one of the radio station where every sort of people cross path with each other from A to Z. I don’t know if I’ll be saddened or be happy because I was able to look inside their world and I’m amazed how they run it. Politicking or whatever they call it but for me it all boils down to, “panloloko, pangagantso, at pangagamit.”

I’m not saying I am perfect but I think that is one of the reasons why Occidental Mindoro was not progressive. Pure crab mentality and selfishness was done there. Just look at the roads they do it strip by strip whoever won the current seat. Honestly, I hope I can do something for my province but I don’t know where to start.