Bobby Alexander Cypocalypse's posts with tag: capitalism
 The Current Events section of Peyups.com gave rise to the prominence of a specific forum member, known for his "affront" towards the core of Philippine culture, rattling the status quo of what we are, in the context of that elusive quest for Philippine economic prosperity. He's known primarily by his username, Benigno (also the webmaster of www.getrealphilippines.com) and for the last couple of peyups.com meetings I've attended, he's been the subject of discussion among us, easily giving the likes of Revo and Discostu a run for their money. So what is it about him that catches every peyups.com members' attention? It's simple--his piercing views about the essence of being a Filpino, the things in us that can't make us....take-off to economic nirvana.
The Cypocalypse also has a knack for a making criticisms and Benigno perfectly fits the definition of one, though I would no longer expound my perspective on the righteousness of his agenda.
Like what I've stated a few months ago in an earlier blog, the key to economic prosperity divides the Filipinos into two forces--those who understand at hand the issue and those who have no freakin' idea at all. The sad reality is, the latter is so big compared to the former. Modesty aside, Benigno and I are among the two who belong to the former. Though personally, discussing issues as complex and as sensitive as that is not among my most legitimate fortes. Benigno can take the glory for himself but I'd rather be a silent observer on the issue. I still think I contribute something to the country even in the smallest ways.
In my circle of friends in peyups.com, those that understand the picture almost always come from the corporate (working) sector--they understand the picture because it's a part of their daily lives to understand the issue. It makes me more at ease interacting with them because, at least, when it comes to that issue, we're wired pretty much the same.
I don't claim to be among the most efficient yuppie though. I'm a critic of capitalism almost as I am a critic of communism and honestly speaking, I see a lot of soulless-ness in capitalism to make me a perfect capitalist slave (in fact, I may be far from it). Corporate people may then view me as a slacker from a comparative perspective but I can deal with that. My opinions are not anchored on alliances or affiliations. I have a pretty much independent way of thinking.
Though much like Benigno, for the past couple of years, I kept thinking of the issue and I myself have been wondering on the more feasible steps we can take to get things done. For one, I know that culture is a starting point. Yes, culture. It all starts there. Culture define our ethics, and before tangible measures can be done, ethics should be the primary consideration to look at.
When an applicant applies for a job interview, the interviewer is already assessing the applicant's ethical standpoint by making him answer questions. Ethics overrides, everything. A mediocre applicant with good working ethics can be trained. An intelligent slacker can hardly be trained. It makes a lot of difference.
We can view culture then, as a collective ethical standpoint of the Filipinos as a nation. If what we are as a people don't have the formula for economic takeoff, what do we do then? Do we change things? Where do we start?
It's hard to fight for a cause something as big as this because changing the status quo of what we are as a nation is the ultimate attack on our soul as a people--the ultimate nail to the coffin that doesn't look good on a lot of angles, but to only a few who see the bigger picture of things.
I kept on wondering about this myself. How do we start? Some atheists I know have showed dismay over the catholic church for holding us back, and as a spiritual deviant myself, I would imagine an attempt to diffuse the Catholic influence by infusing different ideas into the mainstream would be a good starting point. Ridiculously hard to execute but a logical choice for a starting point. What do we infuse then? Pragmatism? Rationalism? Empiricism? Dichotomy of religious rights over civil rights? Personally, I leave that to the powers-at-be. I can still contribute to the bigger picture in my own right.
 A question that I would like to ask my fellow UP students is, "What do you guys know about the struggle? What do you guys know about the social class struggle? And nope, I'm not talking about the stereotypical social class struggle that you see on an average ABS-CBN soap opera. What I mean is, what do you understand about the ideology that the red represent? And what do its righteous capitalist rivals say about it? More importantly, do you even bother? Or, when you took up your Social Science 2 during your early days in UP, did you see the course as just a means to lift your general weighted average? You know that the course was easy. But, did any of Karl Marx' ideals have a bearing to your current life? Or, was he a figure that you just remembered when you took the course?"
To be honest, I'm too interested with this capitalism/communism clash but I'm too lazy to blog something about it. I don't know. Maybe the issue is too deep for any of my multiply contacts to read, let alone understand. For one, how many of them really understand the layman's plight? So what do I call this--underestimation of their understanding of the issue? Or is it the apathy that they have that gives blogs like this a certain degree of futility?
The truth is, I hate the red. I hate communism because it reduces the individual to a mere sheep--a sheep to the shepherd, which is the state. I hate being a sheep. I have needs as an individual that I doubt if the state would ever understand. That probably explains why I have a capitalist inclination--they can cater to my needs, even if the capitalists sees them as just a ways for them to earn money. At least I am identified as an individual, and not a sheep to a flock for which every move I make has to be attuned to their overall direction otherwise I'll be lost. There, I have no freedom. In the world of capitalism, at least I am my own person, even if I have to struggle with my fellow dogs--self centered, greedy dogs. At least we're all dogs. The question is, can I win it? Can I survive?
I wasn't born realistically poor, I don't normally experience the poor man's struggle, but don't get me wrong. I have my own struggles, a lot of which those people from the mainstream don't understand. Sometimes, to them, their sole objective to climb their way up the hierarchy of life, but they always blame the elite for it, like they're responsible for their plight, and then the hatred arises--a catalyst for a communist ideals. Rich guy is always the bad guy. The truth is, maybe as long as we have poor people, the effects of the communist ideology will never be fully eradicated. It's the sole thing they cling to. Ironic is it then, that Karl Marx envisioned religion as an opium to the masses, but eventually, his ideals became the opium replacement--ideals that looks good on paper but fails to overlook the eventual stratification, and rise to sophistication of the constituency. And maybe, that's where a lot of my problems lie--lot of things are being overlooked, and they're being reduced to mere simple things by the state, or more specifically, some people around me who have no idea how much the commies have influenced them.
Or maybe it's the price that an individual has to pay for being assertive--the possibility of being alone, because of his self-specific needs, that the flock can no longer relate to.
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