The Philippines is going nowhere, but it doesn’t have to be that way
Analysis and Opinion
By Joe America
This is a progress report of sorts as I collect data and ideas about the Philippines as it heads toward a 2028 presidential election. It would be nice if the nation could have a breakthrough election that would move it toward modern ideas, accountability, and productive outputs rather than remain stuck in the gameplaying of favoritism, impunity, and corruption. Odds are against this because voters are stripped of any basis for informed judgments, in favor of shallow populist views and going with the local crowd.
I’ve cited how the dynasties, which are at the root of favoritism and backwardness, can be broken if left leaning political groups can rid themselves of their own dynastic bickerings to join forces as a powerful national people’s initiative. It is in fact encouraging to see a slight movement in this direction as the Liberal Party under Leila de Lima endorses Makabayan’s legislative slate for the 2025/election. And it is a full slate.
But the Pinks are a force without a leader, ambitious people like Sonny Trillanes are behaving like little dynasts tearing at the fabric of unity rather than building it, and the left holds to its extremist positions supporting armed groups and opposing the US as a greater evil than China. So the powerful peoples’ initiative is weak.
Well, the core of the struggle is that Filipinos, in the main, work the hard lines of black and white, 100 percenters seeking complete concurrence with their views. Contributor Joey Nguyen put it well when he pointed out that it would be easy for the Left to move to prominence if they simply accepted agreement at an 80% level rather than demanding 100% and getting 0%. But it’s like they. just. can’t. get. there.
The same with Trillanes.
Leila de Lima gets it, I suppose in part because LP is so weak these days that attaching to Makabayan corrects this. But it really should be more positively purposeful, to build a strong combined force.
Leni Robredo is wise enough to get it. But not to turn her considerable pink independent movement into an ORGANIZED power that could build the moderate left’s stature. Sonny Trillanes is accurate to describe her as too passive. But he should do it to her face, in private. I’d tell him that in private, but that’s a world too far for me. And I’m in a hurry..
Risa Hontiveros is fighting in the Senate trenches and does not have time to craft an amalgamation of Akbayan, Makabayan, LP, and Pinks into a major force.
Plus they are all broke and no big-money oligarch will put his name and reputation behind an unstructured mess.
The path remains there, though, in some future that can exist, but it’s less than 50/50 today.
The backward dynastic system of the Philippines suppresses good ideas and good work in favor of personal gain for the entitled. Voters are stripped of knowledge and choices. Their distorted world sees the success of others as personal humiliation and they live in some fictional realm where boxers, actors, and thieves can apparently take good care of them. In the slowness of time and all the dirty information flying about, they don’t see that they are the problem here. But they can also be the solution if presented with a powerful picture to support.
The Left, tempered to be the peoples’ party, has the organizational talent to carry this off. Pinks don’t. LP doesn’t. Little dynasts like Trillanes don’t.
The structural changes that have to occur are mental, and I suppose emotional. Being able to compromise. To let go. To grow up. To think big. To collect power, not be jealous of others who have a little, and who have a few different ideas.
To be the 80 percenters who win.
_________________________
Cover photograph from Positively Filipino, “Senator Risa Hontiveros: Mother Courage“.
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The Society of Honor by Joe America 
“Risa Hontiveros is fighting in the Senate trenches and does not have time to craft an amalgamation of Akbayan, Makabayan, LP, and Pinks into a major force.” Is it possible for her to stop all that stuff in the senate, or dial it down, Joe, and go out and start talking to folks in the real world? Hell, maybe team up with more unlikelier women in politics? mix it up, people like new combinations.
She is doing perhaps the most valuable work any government official, elected or not, is doing these days, uprooting the corruption that infests everything. She is actually the nation’s justice department. She brought down the pogos and is on the attack vs the Duterte crime network. In doing this, she is making a name for herself, a populist of sorts. I’d not recommend she leave justice vacant to campaign for 2028. But the Left does need an organizer of stature and skill. I have no idea who that could be.
“She is doing perhaps the most valuable work any government official, elected or not, is doing these days, uprooting the corruption that infests everything. ” What’s the process here, Joe. Can Risa from these hearings send folks into prison. Or are these things simply fact finding in nature, thus individuals like Special Counsel Jack Smith would be needed to prosecute. “She brought down the pogos” Is this statement like the FBI bringing down the mafia, like no more pogos or more like a diminished pogos but Risa was just given the tip of the ice berg, not really the whole ice berg. if the former, what was the instrument that facilitated this demise? like over here for the mafia it would be https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racketeer_Influenced_and_Corrupt_Organizations_Act RICO laws.
“2. The moderate left must band together to do it” this one’s tricky it would require one person with a whole lot of charisma or a group that stitches other groups up. A how-to on this would be helpful. like grand narrative vs. local narratives stuff.
“Throughout history humans have constructed grand narratives to make sense of the world around them – Christianity, the Enlightenment, and Marxism, to name just a few. But in our age of skepticism, belief in grand narratives has declined. We are left with no clear story about who we are or where we are going. In this article, Matt McManus argues that the sense of meaningless and despair caused by the decline of grand narratives has been coopted by nationalist and authoritarian movements. McManus proposes that the answer is not another grand narrative, but a communal politics to fill the void of our postmodern age.
Matt McManus is a lecturer in political science at the University of Michigan. He is the author of, among other books, The Political Theory of Liberal Socialism.”
https://iai.tv/articles/after-the-death-of-the-grand-narrative-auid-2965
I’m not certain, but I think the only power to incarcerate they have is for contempt of Congress, which was used on Alice Guo. Their mission is fact finding, and if possible crimes are identified, then that’s for law enforcement to handle.
Is there meaningless and despair? In the Philippines, I don’t know what ‘meaning’ is to the suppressed here, or if resilience is built around despair. I think greed is pronounced here, and that is despair driven. But it has not produced any collective action. It has fractured cohesion behind laws.
If there are no laws against the abusiveness of trolling, then it will be deployed. Russia has a massive global trolling campaign ongoing. It’s the ugly side of the internet and freedom. AI has shown early signs of this ugliness, too. But I don’t know how one draws the lines between trolling and campaigning. Campaigning is often lies as well, and certainly abusive as to outcomes. I think education is the best approach, including education about internet abuse.
“I think education is the best approach, including education about internet abuse.” That’s a good angle I can add to the UFO blog, which I think I can submit by tomorrow. Gettier problem stuff. like this pie chart.
Joe, I don’t think you can draw lines around this. the best is just to be able to navigate thru different mediums.
And this video of polarized lenses on top of each other makes for great analogy:
“If the polarized glasses have their polarization axes aligned, it’s no different than looking through a single polarized glass.
If you have two polarized glasses with their polarization axes at 90 degrees to each other, no light gets through and everything is dark.
You can have variable brightness by rotating the angle between polarization axes.
If you have THREE polarized glasses and the first and last glasses have that 90 degree cross-polarization, and you then insert the third polarized glass between the first two at a 45 degree polarization angle, light will once again pass through the stack although dimmer than with only one glass.
You can compute the amount of attenuation using vector analysis and trigonometry, which I won’t do here.”
I got a C in “Vector Analysis with Applications to Mechanics of Continua”, but the eight Indians amongst the nine students in the class all got As. I doubt I could follow that. Life’s too short.
Sorry. gotta clarify meant it as just another dimension to the venn diagrams above, that to get a clearer vision of things just tweak all three circles. and you’ll get it (whatever it is). but many times not. which is fine too. lol. indians and jews, this has been documented. they produce more geniuses. whether genetic or tradition (eg. talmud or hindu) i dunno. didn’t mean any science at all, Joe. just the Venn diagrams.
Ah, thank you. I am capable of doing that. 🤣😂🤣
@JoeAM, much-needed seed for thought article! Good timing in preparation for 2028; You’ve touched (smoothly at that. Again.) on themes that should be considered by rational thought of prospective voters. 🙂
Thank you, sonny. Good to have your engagement here.
No hurry. There are a couple of articles stacked ahead of yours. I’m looking forward to the write-up.
20 October 2024 is significant. let me coordinate with karl.
Gian is asking about Oct 17. I am fine with the last in line @lcx but if you do not want Oct 17 I will ask Gian for it. Thanks
I’ll take Oct 17, karl. let me read this final draft , then I’ll send it tonite. thanks!
@giancarloangulo Oct 17 is LCX’s
I still believe his stuff should be published on Halloween, but I guess mine is a minority opinion based on not even having seen anything. 😜
Thanks, karl! that’s gonna be Oct. 16 here which is St. Longinus day. since i’m stabbing at something. i’ve already sent it to Joe. hope you all like it. Halloween could work too. but that Oct. 20, 2024 is crucial. its like day after a millenarian movements promised date. thunder will be dissipated. lol.
ps. I’d not known about St. Alphonsus at all. just Googled saints feast days cuz you suggested Halloween , Ireneo. the synchronicity of Jesus and Mary pointing laser lights from heaven. what are the odds?!!
@LC, does this mean you’ve finally found religion?
sonny, not quite. but I think I’m getting close. was reading the original exorcist story, the one the book is based on (which in turn the movie was based on). so it wasn’t a girl, but a teenage boy who was possessed. unlike the movie, much of it was actually just speaking in tongues and furniture moving around. no neck turning, green pea soup, etc. but there was writing on skin. that was consistent with the movie (i’ve never read the book). where the movie ended with priest taking the possession and jumping down a long flight of stairs, the real story was more a whimper. but it involved a vision of a cave and St. Michael archangel driving a demon back into the cave. the interesting part for me was after that whole ordeal, the kid went on to college and became an engineer and ended up working at NASA. sonny, are you familiar with Diana Pasulka? she was consultant in all the Conjuring movies. maybe Joey will know her.
I normally don’t watch horror, sonny, but was curious about this couple. unlike other horror movies, I don’t know if its the director or writers, but these movies end in a hopeful note, which is aberration in this genre. ps. I also have a big crush on Vera Farmiga.
@LC, your references to Sts. Longinus, Alphonsus, the Blessed Virgin, Purgatory do give me hope, albeit serendipitously, that you will eventually get Religion; consider – the virtue of obedience (already the lifeblood of the USMC like the Jesuits and all religious congregations of the Catholic Church); belief in miracles, the supernatural (part of the superstructure of Christian life) …, et al.
btw, I like Vera Farmiga also, she is underrated 🙂
sonny, there’s some parts of my upcoming UFO blog that I’d really want your take on. related to the laser stuff above. but more in line with this stuff:
“What are Biophotons? Biophotons are ultra-weak light emissions produced by living cells. Unlike other photons, biophotons are believed to be fundamental to cellular communication and regulation. Some theories suggest that these photons are integral to consciousness itself.”
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/photographing-the-glow-of-the-human-body
I’ve always wondered if this is also the stuff of spontaineous combustion. I’m trying to Google this and Philippines. but all I get is Ozone Disco fire.
As to religious conversion, I am still researching monasteries especially in the Middle East now. If you have anything on Vatican observatory, I’m interested in that as well. I’m reading these monk astronomers also span the globe, accessing other telescopes and measures. But you’d be happy to know that I’m living completely monk like , especially ever since COVID. one more step and I’m off to some forest in Alaska. lol. but yeah given up on a lot, thus feel lighter these days. but fantasies of Mango Ave. still seep in my mind and I’m usually like Get behind me Satan. some times the memories win. sometimes I lose, like when Joey reminds me, eg. short time hotels. But I think about Origen often, sonny. as to miracles. everything’s a miracle to me already, so no big leap of faith there. doesnt take much to impress me. lol. but this Roger Penrose microtubules stuff does redefine a lot for me, sonny.
(here’s the above painting zoomed in, also relevant to Joe’s ruminations on knowledge. Mama Mary & Jesus pointing laser lights at his head. some dude playing the lute.)
Adam was given life via laser. Saw this in Monreale cathedral, Sicily. The cathedral had Greeks creating the murals, and Arabs made the tiles.
Greeks also built the Hagia Sophia, which has survived in an earthquake zone for centuries. They had Greek fire to deal with enemy ships. Who knows what other technologies they had in the background? I have been to Agrigentum where Daedalus allegedly lived, and damn the temple hill there is high enough for hang gliders to start from. Who knows how much of the legend is true. The sea that Ikarus might have fallen into is not too far away either. Anyway, awaiting whatever you publish, even if it might have Stargate and The Mummy in it.
I like how St. Alphonsus, attempted to dodge it. you can almost read his mind, Hey WTF! those things can blind, man! But they’re just trying to upload some info to his brain. trying to help him out. Ikarus is also instructional. thanks! that maybe its a one way street.
The “laser beam” is a common medieval motif that serves as a way to depict the Holy Spirit, which is Unseen. The “laser beam” or “ray” depicts the path the Holy Spirit is traveling on to the subject to be filled by the Spirit. This artistic method was widely understood in ancient times, but due to humanity forgetting what the motif meant there have been many conspiracy theories about how some paintings showed UFOs.
In “The Vision of Saint Alphonsus Rodriguez” by de Zurbarán, the Holy Spirit is is emanating from the hearts of Jesus Christ and St. Mary Mother of God and fills St. Alphonsus Rodriguez with the Spirit.
In the Creation mural in Monreale Cathedral, the Holy Spirit in the form of the Ruacḥ / Ruah (divine wind/divine breath) emanates from God’s lips and fills Adam with the Holy Spirit (life).
Genesis 2:7
“then the LORD God formed the man out of the dust of the ground and blew into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.”
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/genesis/2?7
Here art historians explain the motifs and how old art pieces were co-opted by Ufologists:
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/ufos-in-renaissance-art_n_5679991de4b014efe0d7044b
“In the Creation mural in Monreale Cathedral, the Holy Spirit in the form of the Ruacḥ / Ruah (divine wind/divine breath) emanates from God’s lips and fills Adam with the Holy Spirit (life).” Ireneo, can you say if said painting you saw was medieval or older? I’m wondering now what the oldest painting or other arts that represented laser beams as Holy Spirit, Joey. like who came up with this motif first. before it was widely understood.
“In ‘The Vision of Saint Alphonsus Rodriguez’ by de Zurbarán, the Holy Spirit is is emanating from the hearts of Jesus Christ and St. Mary Mother of God and fills St. Alphonsus Rodriguez with the Spirit.” Joey, my only problem with this interpretation is that Mary and Jesus are clearly holding the laser contraptions in their hands. now sure we can quibble as to what part of the body is their target the dude’s head or heart. but that looks like technology. the artist even got the points that cats chase around correct!
It was medieval yet in Byzantine style because it was in Sicily:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monreale_Cathedral_mosaics
“The mosaics of the Cathedral of Monreale were influenced by the spread of Byzantine art throughout Southern Italy and Sicily. Many Byzantine artists remaining in Italy after the Islamic conquest of Sicily in 965, took part in decorating the interiors of many structures, including the many mosaics that reflect the Byzantine style of the artists. Later Sicilian kings of the Norman dynasty went on to build large cathedrals, the Cathedral of Monreale included, in the same Byzantine style that had been largely influencing the region during that time.”
thanks, Ireneo. I don’t really know much about Art History, though I’ve watched a bunch of videos by Waldemar Januszczak. and remember now researching some during chempo’s Gott Tot blog. but the origins of this laser light motif is proving difficult to locate. I’ll try cold emailing Art History professors now see what comes up.
https://joeam.com/2019/04/24/ist-gott-tot-is-god-dead/#comment-310303
LCpl, look closer. What Jesus and Mary are holding are clearly hearts. Check out medieval depictions of hearts in other paintings. The reason why Jesus and Mary are holding the heart is that it was commonly understood at the time to be borderline obscene to draw attention to the chest. I had a very good Art History teacher in AP Art History in high school, and a great Art History professor in college who both explained these things.
It’s hard to figure out “who came up with” the motif as during those times elite artists would frequently copy each other’s ideas as they were regulars in art/philosophical collectives where they interact. Then the regular artist who makes the mural in a church would just be following the trend. You’re looking too deeply into something that’s easily explainable haha.
I finally found a zoomable photo of this, and you’re right , Joey. not a laser pointer but more like projection of hearts. both Jesus’ and Mary’s (though I’ve not seen that symbol for Mary before, but I can make out the M). thanks.
Yes that’s it! What this painting symbolizes is Saint Alphonsus Rodriguez being filled with the Holy Spirit through Jesus and Mary, which is alluded to by the transference of the Holy Spirit along the “line” from Jesus and Mary’s hearts to be imprinted upon Saint Alphonsus Rodriguez’s soul.
The heart with “IHS” is for Jesus. IHS is also known as the Christgram (Monogramma Christi in Latin). The Christogram is the first three letters of Jesus in Greek, is “ΙΗΣΟΥΣ” (iota-eta-sigma). This can also be understood as an acronym of the Greek “Iēsous Hēmeteros Sōtēr” (Jesus our Savior). Translated into the more common Latin of the Medieval period, it would be “Jesus Hominum Salvator” (Jesus, Savior of men).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christogram#IHS
The heart with “MRA” is for Mary. MRA is also known as the Marian Monogram. The Marian Monogram is a shortened version of Maria (M-R-A). The Marian Monogram can also be understood as an acronym of the Latin Mediatrix, Reparatrix, Adjutrix (Mediator, Restorer [of dignity, in reference to repairing the Original Sin], Helper of God).
https://udayton.edu/imri/mary/m/mra-meaning.php#:~:text=MRA%3A%20Meaning%20in%20Art&text=Marian%20monograms%20are%20abbreviations%20of,%2C%20or%20A(djutrix).
Keep it coming Joe. I am very happy that you are writing often.
Thanks, Karl. I’ll be repeating themes now and then. We don’t have a big readership these days, but I’m guessing an occasional “name” will check in to get ideas. This article presents three main points.
1. The dynasties can be broken
2. The moderate left must band together to do it
3. They can find agreement if they go for 80% of their goals and don’t expect others to capitulate to them 100%
And . . .
4. Pinks should organize and contribute
Thanks for the outline. No need to be 100 percenters just be 80 percenters and everything will move .
100% is disinfectant that one should not drink. 80% can get you very drunk.
Six percent you can drink a long time.
Joe, please take a look at the post I lined up for monday and if it needs improvement please fill free to use your editorial powers if minor but if major major we can resched.
Giancarlo has a post scheduled Monday so maybe you should work with him on the best date for publication. I think we want only one on any given day, but could go to a MWF publication schedule. LCX also has an article inbound. But, yes, I’ll review the post.
I will move it to Friday next week and LCX can take the Wednesday. @lcpl_x @Giancarlo
MWF don’t matter to me, karl. but can we publish prior to 20 October 2024? I’ll send it out Friday night, let me go thru it one more time.
Joe will decide on MWF. Keep on writing and keep em coming MWF is also fine with me. @Giancarlo Angulo
In the order received, staying with MT, Giancarlo Oct 14, Giancarlo Oct 17, Karl Oct 21, LCX Oct 24. Giancarlo can revise at his discretion.
agree with M TH schedule. Its like drinking wine or steak. We have to let the article stay, have time to breath.
Let us swap Oct 17.
@karl @LCX who wants the Oct 17 slot
If LCX does not reply about 17th I’ll take it. But if he does then give it to him.
I’ll take 17th Oct., karl. thanks.
I’m trying to fit in EDCA and WPS, but I think its better to just tackle all that in the comments. makes for interesting discussion on top of the other stuff. so I’ll send it soon. by days end today, karl. thanks, guys.
On second thought I will ask Gian to pick my schedule because he has two lined up.
Good plan.
THANKS as always, Joe America! May our merciful Lord strengthen our sense or consciousness of Country as One Comm-Unity!
Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPhone
Amen. Everyone should take three paces back and listen for areas of agreement, rather than speak to areas of difference.
this is probly one palpable area not easy to talk about. although some countries already ban the use of social media during election, philippines has yet to do same aside from solely monitoring social media expenses of political candidates. that maybe political aspirants are emboldened to bypass debates coz they’re already confident of winning, so assured by their paid trolls.
https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3181416/marcos-confessions-philippines-president-elect-admits-trolls?module=perpetual_scroll_0&pgtype=article
The voting public prefers populist politicians, not doers. When they recognize a face, never mind that he cannot deliver, but he could sway them back to the voting place. I love your outline too Joeam, spot-on.
Thanks Arlene. I hope the Left-Center liberals figure out how to be known.
I think the first order of things a Left coalition needs to do is to reject coalition building with the Far Left (Radical Left), and eject any members who hold Far Left-friendly views. The former is dangerous, the latter is unhelpful. In either case, the Radical Left are a tiny minority of any given populace who have a propensity to shout very loud so seem to have more popular support than they actually have. The fact that the Radical Left have never been successful throughout history besides hijacking (an example of entryism) existing revolutions or social unrest is an indicator of their weakness. Take both the Russian Revolution in which the Bolsheviks took advantaged of a weakened state led by the victorious Whites and China the aftermath of WWII where the Maoists took advantage of a weakened Kuomintang who did most of the fighting against the Japanese. Radicals by nature are accelerationists and hope for societal collapse or disarray so they can swoop in to take over, since they are too weak to make a successful revolution alone. Additionally Anarchists need to be removed, and Greens are mostly unhelpful.
Second is to be aware of political positions. The classic political continuum was described by political psychologist Hans Eysenck:
However as time goes on, there is a suspicious confluence of tendencies between the Radical-Authoritarians and Reactionary-Authoritarians that blurs the lines between Far Left/Far Right, which was described by the philosopher Jean-Pierre Faye in the Horseshoe Theory:
An example in the Philippines of this Horseshoe Theory behavior is in Duterte, who took over the formerly center-left (social democratic) PDP and started pushing the party further left to democratic socialism, then finally to Dutertismo. Dutertismo is a syncretic movement with no set ideology but takes from both radical (far left) and reactionary (far right) schools of thought.
So a Left coalition should become a big tent similar to Aquino’s old Laban that seeks to gather together political figures from the center-left, liberal, social-democratic and democratic socialist views, but exclude Radicals like communists and anarchists. I think that the center-left, liberals and social-democratic parties can find common ground easily since their ideologies are not that far apart; they tend to argue over “how much” and “how fast.” Democratic socialists are a bit harder to corral since they tend to be closer to being purists and want faster change, so it should be impressed upon them that unless they reach consensus with a coalition they will never get any of their goals. If the democratic socialists can’t or won’t agree, I’d leave them out of the big tent too; the center-left, liberals and social-democrats outnumber democratic socialists by far.
One big differentiator in Philippine politics compared to let’s say American or Western European politics is that by my estimation the vast DE classes that we discussed in a previous blog largely hold “no ideology,” though they are receptive to a combination of Left ideas on their personal financial views and Right ideas on culture wars, penal populism, “law and order” politics. To me it seems the DE classes follow whoever promises the most benefits towards them above all, more than any grand ideals about making the nation better. In addition, I think there is an interplay of ingrained ancient habits of expecting gift giving by leaders which manifests in the current day by vote bribes and bags of food.
I’m willing to bet that most Filipinos are patriotic though, and what more patriotic thing to do than to bring economic development, modernity and increased international prestige to the Philippines? This simple plan would depend on working with FDI and government-to-government investment, which will certainly come with increased feelings of dependability on Filipino leaders to be able to implement plans. An economy-first plan would provide jobs for the large available workforce with the resultant tax revenue, which will then enable building out infrastructure and social programs. Reinvesting tax revenues into increased development would sow the seeds for even more economic rewards.
To accomplish this, the big tent coalition from the center-left to democratic socialists must put aside their petty purity tests and penchant to have “Main Character Syndrome” even if they are a small party. Everyone wants to be the leading man/lady but not all are capable actors. The coalition leader should be the most capable leader among the parties. The dynasties always win time and time again despite being few in number because they are experts in creating division to crack the opposition. Take 80% of the win, bank it, then reinvest efforts into grabbing another 80% and another 80% and so on. The belief that one can win 100% is a deluded position to hold. But continual incremental wins will gradually move the overall wins closer to 99.99%.
Perfect description of what needs to be done. Finding the most capable leader among them will be difficult. Senator Hontiveros has the most experience at legislative initiatives but is untested as an administrator. She seems not at all political. More project driven, and justice driven. I don’t believe any cabinet agency heads fit the bill. Nor other senators. No House reps. I’d suggest they recruit Defense Secretary Teodoro to the cause, or find a business exec at SBC or elsewhere who can organize a powerful government that puts people first. Emphasis on organize, pointing at specific “first world” goals, like modern justice routines.
maybe the most capable leader has not been born; in the meantime, we got a high school graduate tasked to lead our country for the next few years and we just have to make do with him. the buck may stop with him, but he is surrounded by advisers with credentials long as their arms, and should really be making sound decisions.
Yes, likely true, that the future has a lot of people and maybe one will make a real difference. As I watch President Junior work, I can’t extract from my mind the vision of him standing in front of a Rolls Royce in top hat and fancy grey suit, looking smug. And lazy.
The country will be ok as long as the Cabinet is filled with decent administrators. With BBM that seems to be a hit or miss. Teodoro is great. Recto not so much. At least the country isn’t going backwards anymore, only maintaining status quo, even crawling forward ever so slightly. It was always going to be a miracle that a Marcos Jr. administration was going to do a lot of good works. Well, we need to look towards the future.
The beauty of a robust and effective political party is the party leader need not be the best at anything — they just need to be able to inspire others that are great at organizing, legislating, administrating. A leader trying to be everything at once is a leader that micromanages and cannot delegate, which is a recipe for burning out supporters and helpers. The distinct lack of such inspiring leaders in the Philippines though that can gather others to their vision is a damning verdict on why there are no robust and effective political parties in the Philippines. And I don’t mean personalistic leaders like Marcos Sr. or Duterte who both inspired many lower level followers for a time.
It is impossible to transform the whole citizenry overnight into a Western-thinking (or at least modern-thinking) nation. That would take time and possibly another generation or two of continual, consistent work. But the existing penchant for Filipinos to throw their support for leaders they think can bring benefits to them can be harnessed in a more positive way. Instead of the benefits being “freebies,” the benefits can be better jobs across the board, personal dignity, better standard of living, national pride through actual results. These benefits would outweigh any freebies the voters are used to getting from the same-old same-old politicians. Voters just need to be persuaded to get on board, and once the coalition gets into power their President and Congress better get moving to start affecting change people can see and feel.
Yes, seems true. What has been interesting yesterday and today here were testimonies in the House that have implicated Duterte and his henchmen Senators Dela Rosa and Go directly in the drug war killings. It has far-reaching impacts and seems to pretty well demolish old man Duterte. Sara has gone completely quiet and Marcos said today she is not in his Administration. So the break is complete. 2028 is an open field.
The developments lately have been a relief. Duterte and his henchmen should be brought to justice. I’m glad some have been falling already; soon hopefully the rest of the dominoes will follow. Damaging Sara Duterte’s credibility by exposing her bad deeds is a good strategy and I feel less worried about the Dutertes coming back in 2028. However, this also may mean that the Marcos Jr. camp are the ones who will benefit from the hard work of Congressional investigations, unless a stronger opposition can develop outside within the population.
If Duterte is removed as a wart on Philippine history, the US alliance holds firm and spills over into the economy, the economy keeps on ripping supported by OFWs, consumers, and its breadth, all that remains is corruption and incompetence. Maybe Marcos can start to address those, other than any that attach to him, of course, and we can simply keep it going by electing Romualdez. The Pinks are into personality, the Left is banshee nuts. Hey! Maybe I’m onto something here!
OFW remittance and BPO income spent in the economy can maintain the momentum of modest growth, but no more. There are probably tens of millions of under-employed and idle Filipinos by my observed estimation who may be enticed to join the workforce if the salary is good enough. I still believe the better salaries for non-college educated workers would be through factory work (even college-educated workers become factory OFWs in Japan, South Korea due to better salaries). By making sure there are enough jobs there can be increased spending and feelings of dignity for more and more Filipinos. It’s a really simple equation, which makes me want to hit my head against a wall when Filipino leaders are consistently too lazy or too afraid to push for it. Whichever party can achieve this will probably be wildly popular for years to come.
The Philippines is not some random country. It is the US’s oldest treaty ally in the Pacific. With that alliance also brings access to all the other US allies; something many Filipino leaders don’t seem to understand. Some may get the people to grumble that the US isn’t giving more freebies to the Philippines, and I argue that the US has given enough freebies throughout the years and will continue to give freebies (in the form of grants and developmental aid). To unlock a higher level of investment the government needs to at least show progress in cleaning up corruption, streamlining business practices and respecting human rights. After all, Duterte complained that the US demanded proof of respecting human rights, and that it was an insult to Filipinos to require basic humanity to exist and thus he’d reject US grants and go to Chinese loans. If things can be cleaned up, I’d expect the foreign investors to pour in and start building up factories. The Philippine government needs to do its part as well and start building out infrastructure (transportation and energy) to facilitate an export-oriented economy.
That is, of course, a better approach. It requires a professionalism and competence among agencies that today work to serve their masters and not make mistakes. It differs from Japan’s conservatism on decisions which produces the mantra of “get me more data”, which moves forward steadily. The manta here is to respond to problems after the fact and don’t worry about tomorrow, or data.
But I would underscore that the Philippines is not a bankrupt state, dead in the water. It has a foundation. We can dream of ways to make it richer, and they are easy to find. Harder is aligning them in an iterative manner that actually is doable. We can’t even find one person who can be an FDR or Joe Biden, who has a grasp of the future and how to talk to citizens. So, lacking that, we might focus on how to unite voting groups who can put a sensible person in charge, and who can start building what you envision. The problem is not a shortage of ideas, it is a shortage of people who can see the acts that need to be done, and then do them.
I’m inclined to agree with Giancarlo’s take on this subject. From my reading of history and talking to Filipinos, it seems that the damage done during Marcos Sr.’s mismanagement kneecapped the Philippines’ progress. It’s no wonder Marcos Sr. formalized and accelerated the OFW program during his tenure to generate revenue. I think that if the remittances and BPO income were to be reduced at an appreciable level, the Philippines would fall into a recession spiral. But as I observed before, there is also a lot of potential (this is my optimistic side) due to the large available workforce that is underemployed/unemployed. You’re right, there seems to be a lack of good leaders who are willing to stick their neck out and enter public service. Honestly I think Leni should try again next election. The Robredos have suitable patriotic duty and competence, not to mention vision.
Otso Diretso in 2019 was an attempt at a centrist coalition as it included Trillanes on the (somewhat) liberal right and Diokno/Tañada on the Liberal left. Trouble came when Makabayan senatorial candidates did some rallies with Diokno and Tañada – and explicitly went against Trillanes. Mar Roxas often campaigned alone, cementing the prejudice towards liberals that they don’t really care about anyone but themselves. I also saw on Twitter how certain liberal influencers mocked Florin Hilbay, who was part of the Otso Diretso slate. Chaos led to losing.
There was a similar attempt at a joint senatorial slate in 2022 that I observed less as I was focused on Atty Leni’s campaign. Risa Hontiveros, who WASN’T part of the slate, was the only proper Senator who won back then. Filipinos suck at finding common ground. That is one reason why no big tent political parties, especially with popular participation, aka card-carrying members, exist there. Though Akbayan now has gained ground, let us see how they fare.
De Lima endorsing Makabayan is probably a major mistake. Their embrace is usually deadly.
“Filipinos suck at finding common ground. That is one reason why no big tent political parties, “ Is there a grand narrative already available though? that all can get behind.
The Pink narrative of Angat Buhay Lahat (basically a better life for all) was great, but the different groups under the big tent quarreled for primacy instead of focusing on winning first. Cmon, the factions of the Revolution and Republic fought while Spain and the USA watched.
Unfortunately, nobody makes an honest retrospective or lessons learned in the Philippines. Mistakes keep getting repeated every time in different variations. It gets very tiring to watch.
As I recall, Makabayan was the biggest offender here with regards to Angat Buhay. The problem I have with Far Leftists is they talk the big game but never want to do the work. Essentially they want someone else to do the work, then they will try to hijack it after weakening the hard workers by causing in-fighting. Far Leftists have been like that ever since they came into existence during the French Revolution (they had similar behavior then as well).
In my ideal big tent, good faith debates are accepted and insisted, however if someone/some group acts in bad faith they should be ejected henceforth. Probably a good thing anyway since Far Left ideas are usually based on a deluded version of reality that only exists in their own minds. Focus should be on whoever actually wants to work together for the common cause.
Makabayan were outside the tent and even barking in front of the fence. The major issue I saw looking into the tent and knowing many inside it were petty divisions, as Filipinos are often what Joe calls 100percenters.
Ding Velasco, who is a veteran Kakampink, outlines in FB how recent petty quarrels have undermined Pink until today: Atty Leni and General Rio’s electoral protest, the religious purists fighting the more pragmatic Pinks on the Paris Olympics opening ceremonies, the arguments on Carlos Yulo and his mother and recently the controversy on Sara D visiting Atty Leni in Naga. What happened in 2022 within Pink was similarly petty, and I prefer not to go back to it.
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/pE6yk96z3Zfe7v9u/
The problem with Makabayan and similar parties/groups is they are fanatic enough to try to infiltrate larger groups in pursuit of their agenda (entryism). Once their agents are inside, they “bore-from-within” in an attempt at takeover of the party apparatus then brainwash the followers. This strategy has been a main Far Left/Anarchist playbook since the French Revolution, though it was further elaborated by the Socialist Party of America in the late 1800s (boring-from-within) and by Trotsky (French Turn). Of course, being fanatics Far Leftists will turn off the more moderate members of the party they attempt to take over and thus always fail. The problem is then the party or coalition is fractured once members leave due to the fanatical behavior, which is what happened to the Democratic Socialists of America in 2016 when anarcho-communists successfully infiltrated. Though Makabayan was on the outside officially in 2022, I don’t doubt that they had agents on the inside or at least fellow travelers who were sympathetic.
The Pinklawan in-fighting is a sign that there is still not a core message. Well, I believe Leni has a core message so some of her more outspoken supporters did not “get it.” An observation I had was that once again, some Pinks-in-name-only went with Leni as their new personal avatar. They followed the person, not the idea/ideology Leni is trying to construct. That makes the movement brittle and susceptible to shattering at the slightest issue.
Well, some sort of Far Left ideology is mainstream among a lot of college educated people there – I guess until Gen X and some millennials. Even if it is often made up of slogans that never have been significantly reflected on, it makes even people who could be solidly liberal insecure in their stand. Even as Atty Leni had the most left-liberal program ever, the pushback by her supporters vs Far Left, for instance in the “touch some grass” Twitter war, was weak.
Of course, Duterte made the Far Left temporarily strong again by red-tagging. It had already been weakened by having been allowed to take part in democracy and show its true colors. Marcos Sr. had created radicalized former academics by forcing them up into the mountains. Now, the Philippine Far Left has become as feudal as the rest of Philippine Society, with a few poor people fighting for it in the mountains and the educated in the cities and in Congress. Seems the strongest support remained in Mindanao among some Lumads harassed by miners and loggers. Them carrying placards around with slogans they did not understand was absurd.
As for Leni being just an idolized figure around those who saw themselves as the good guys could gather, sure that existed. That some performative pseudo-woke rich kids from Gen Z to millenials overly showed up as the face of Pink was probably not good for VP Leni’s campaign. The epithet woke-inam was easily invented and used by the Marcos side and discouraged some older or poorer people from voting for Atty Leni, I believe. The non-icing on the cake was stuff like “Power Bottoms for Leni.” LGBT for Leni was OK, but stuff like that turned off many.
To give context as this was obscure to those not closely watching the 2022 campaign:
1) the touch some grass tweet came after a pro-Leni motorcade in Laguna. I wrote an article in response to the flood of support she received at the start.
What I recall about the response of Leni supporters to those telling the Pinks to touch some grass was they allowed themselves to be put on the defensive instead of saying we come from the middle of society, all walks of life.
2) the young pseudo-wokes. Again, the images of some going to Starbucks after, for instance, the Ortigas rally were allowed to dominate social media. It is often unfair, but nowadays, one needs very agile socmed managers to quickly give counter. Below (excellent) video showing the different groups as representing a modern Philippines came nearly too late, as an afterthought in a country where you have to be quick as the street sees everything like a cockfight.
A better social media team would have disseminated the Camanava and Tagbilaran old airport campaign rallies (the latter had the flair of Barbados celebrating Rihanna) across all channels instead of leaving it to chance, to show urban and provincial CDE for VP Leni.
Some Pinks that I knew told me Barry Gutierrez was quick of wit and VP Leni’s best asset, but Bam Aquino was so out of touch that it hurt. And that intrigues within campaign HQ were huge. Possibly all of this was due to a campaign that was decided on and set up way too late.
Nice characterization of the dysfunctionality of an unorganized campaign.
The movie AND SO IT BEGINS, I heard, is the Philippine entry to the next OSCAR competition; directed by Ramona Diaz.
To me most Far Leftists are meek in real life; they are only aggressive online. Just need to find a way to counter them. What American younger Gen X and Millennials have figured out this cycle as the pro-Palestine protests got very ridiculous, performative and generally pissing off normal people is to simply mock the Far Leftists. Similarly to mocking MAGA, the Far Leftists immediately melt down once their attacks or snide remarks are mocked and dismissed. Some might rage, but with continued mocking they can’t elicit the “tears” they are trying to collect by antagonizing others. One must remember that most of these Far Leftists started off as the weirdo high school outcasts and socially awkward losers. I may or may have not punched a few in my younger days; I’ve found that punching through mocking is equally effective as I got older. Fundamentally they are weak people who are only strong when they band together in group-think. Funny that the Filipino Far Leftists would use “touch grass” as an attack on Pinks, when that retort refers to someone getting off the keyboard and going outside into the real world. They are not even using the attack ironically — I doubt they have reflected on the meaning, just like they haven’t read the socialist and communist tomes they purport to believe in.
I also noticed what you noticed in Leni’s rally attendees. I had remarked to a friend in 2022 that Leni’s public supporters seemed very much like our Bernie Bros here in the US — all performance, little understanding, no desire to learn how the political process works, little patience, too many demands that would require practically a dictator president to accomplish on the time scale they expected. Of course, the Bernie Bros did not show up to vote for Bernie Sanders, and they are the very same who threatened to withhold support from Joe Biden. Kamala Harris was counseled by Joe Biden to just ignore them and go for the center.
This is how I see things in the Philippines politics:
Dynasty “party list” supporters have a deep emotional aspect — the emotion of fear. The fear takes some forms, from fear of security, fear of financial, fear of change, fear of not being on the winning team. When a group is in fear they become aggressive, uncompromising. Aside from the foreign influence of Chinese and Russian bots, Filipino online trolls supporting Duterte and Marcos Jr. are very aggressive.
On the other hand the Filipino Left, many of them being at least in the middle class and secure have some feeling of guilt. There is a feeling of guilt that they are part of the problem on why others are not treated fairly. That in their relative comfort and safety, they share complicity in lower socioeconomic position and suffering of others. There is too much apologizing, or excusing one’s feeling of guilt.
Both the dynasts and the Far Left take advantage of this penchant of Filipino Leftists. That’s a large reason why Filipino Leftists feel like they can’t fight back. But they should fight back. State positions clearly without wishy washiness. Punch back when necessary. I have a feeling that if the dynasts and Far Leftists are mocked they will instantly crumble, or at least develop cracks. The added benefit is that it gives confidence to the Filipino Left while making them seem like the winning prizefighter in the eyes of potential voters.
The other major mistake Leftists make is creating extremely detailed plans of what they WILL DO without making the most important plan, which is HOW THEY WILL WIN. I would say having a broad vision that might not have a neat and detailed plan is better. People want to hear a vision to have hope and become inspired. The details of the vision can be worked out later, after the Presidency and a majority of Congress is won. Note how the dynasts never have a plan. They campaign on a vision, which is what gets people to vote for them time and time again. It doesn’t matter if they never bother to implement the vision after winning, since next time they will blame others and push another vision. Visions win over detailed plans. Have a somewhat detailed plan on the campaign material/website, but in rallies focus on the vision.
I think she recognizes that it will take new alliances to build any kind of opposition mass. Leftist Castro’s outspoken attacks on Sara Duterte led the charge that is now the House revealing Duterte’s involvement in directing the murderous drug war. So there are interesting changes going on.
The problem with Makabayan is that it’s just another vehicle for the dying CPP/NPA movement to try to whitewash the fact that they’re communists. I consider Makabayan to be no different from a communist party, though they have tried to pretend to moderate by insisting they are now a democratic socialist party. Satur Ocampo was one of the direct disciples of Joma. The Jomaites rabidly insist on purity politics and extreme positions. Thankfully, they are mostly a bunch of privileged contrarian former university students who “never grew up,” as it is with most Far Leftists. Imagine privileged and mostly economically comfortable people being able to understand the “oppressed masses” that they don’t even bother to listen to the stories of, rather expecting the “oppressed” they supposedly want to help to obey blindly. Makabayan’s perennial poor performance in Congress shows how much they should be listened to — which is not at all. I also think Leila de Lima endorsing Makabayan was a mistake… the disappointment comes from my immense admiration for her. The problem also is that Ocampo is seen as one of the “leaders” of EDSA and was imprisoned by Marcos Sr. Let us see him for what he is, an entryist trying to bore his way into influencing larger parties/coalitions.
If the Filipino center-left is a bit dull for most people’s taste, the Filipino Left seems to have a penchant for “Main Character Syndrome” where each party leader is invested in their own perceived self-importance despite basically having no national power. Just a bunch of loud bleating if my bluntness can be excused. The bad habit gets worse the more left the party is, but I think the members themselves can be convinced to jump ship. If anything, the Left core are those who are educated and even wealthy. In a big tent coalition, there is no requirement that the entire coalition needs to bow down to the demands of the smallest groups under the tent. Those groups should be promptly thrown out, which is what Joe Biden started doing and Kamala Harris did. The result is that the minuscule but very loud Far Leftists were replaced by countless center-left and center-left voters who joined the coalition. The citizens who have a high likelihood of voting should be considered first, not the shouters who might be too lazy to even vote on election day.
Thanks for the idea. I’ll pen a blog about Makabayan and we can focus some attention on them. It’s possible they could come in out of the dark.
This is the critical mistake I see many Philippine Left parties not understanding:
Activism is either a form of pragmatic persuasion, or it’s a turn off wasting everyone’s time. There is a difference between political activism that moves the needle among the targets of persuasion and performative purity to rigid ideology. Apparently for all the education gathered by the Philippine Left, no one had apparently read Saul Alinsky’s “Rules for Radicals.”
A political movement needs to connect with those who can be moved on a common level they share with the movement. Only then can that person be persuaded towards the movement’s position. Screaming and demanding others adopt a position without even bothering to explain why aside from shaming is just going to make others become hostile.
Allowing Far Left (communists, anarchists) to infiltrate their agents and fellow travelers into a party is just self defeating behavior. The Far Left’s reach and voter base is tiny. Closer to the center of the national sentiment is where the Center-Left and Left should be going. People can be persuaded to move negotiable political positions later, after non-negotiables are taken cared of first. The non-negotiables thankfully consist of common sense positions that appeal to the majority.
Trust me, the lefty Left has not read Salinsky or anything else that would encourage reflection and sense. Their ideas are so thin that if they were clothes, they’d be declared obscene. They just go from this event to that complaining and blaming America. It is standup comedy to me. But, like any good agitator, I persist in nagging them toward sense.
If the Philippine Far Left can’t leave its out-dated ideas behind then they are no better than those who go about claiming that *this time* communism will prevail in making a worker’s paradise. Did they not know that Sir Thomas More meant “Utopia” as a satire and contemporary political commentary? Of course they don’t, because Marx who based his ideas on “Utopia” did not read the book, the meaning of which was widely understood by the learned by that time. It’s amazing that Far Leftists still do the same thing now centuries after the French Revolution — they have no intellectual curiosity or capability of self-reflection. It’s no wonder that many Far Leftist leaders anywhere around the world are in fact upper middle class or wealthy idle sons who have too much time to pontificate on ideas they have no clue on, because they don’t even understand the Cliff Notes version.
If I were to be pushing for a political coalition I’d simply leave the Far Leftists out. Those rank-and-file Far Leftists who are capable of changing their ideas can join, but only under an existing party in the coalition. I’d only include the spectrum from the center-left -> liberals -> social democrats -> democratic socialists. Leave out the anarchists, communists, and communists-in-all-but-name like Satur Ocampo’s Makabayan. The majority of “gettable” voters/supports are closer to the center, so the policies should focus on what gets broad support. I think those policies that will get broad support are more/better jobs and better living standards — all supporting policies should serve those two top goals.
Well, as I said, I’ll drill into Makabayan in a blog article. I’m not prepared to accept the premise that they are a lost cause.
I still think Makabayan are a lost cause so long as they are led by Satur Ocampo, but will be looking forward to your article to see if I’m missing something. I probably am.
Well, he is the leader, but he’s 86 and you can wait until he dies or view that rebellion is not really the modern mantra. More it is chopping trees in the forest of people’s suppression, and if they don’t do it (like oppose the corrupt jeepney replacement) no one will.
Makabayan spreading the news about logging in the Lumad lands or the corruption of jeeney modernization is good at face value, but ultimately did not accomplish anything. If anything, Makabayan’s usual rhetoric might even inflame certain types of people to a rage, which is even more unhelpful.
Makabayan reminds me of my first day on the Berkeley campus when I entered university. I was walking down Telegraph to find a bite to eat, then suddenly a rusted VW Beetle roared down the street around the corner and screeched to a stop where some firemen were setting up a ladder. Out hopped some long haired, bad smelling upper classmen with blank placards, sharpie in hand, followed by furious scribbling. I could not believe my eyes at the signs “CATS HAVE RIGHTS,” “HANDS OFF THE CAT.” The firemen were as confused as I. And the cat stuck in the tree looked like it just really wanted to get out of the tree.
I’m still of the stance that if activism doesn’t accomplish its stated goal, then it is basically useless and one needs to reassess a better strategy to affect the change desired.
Joey,
I would place myself somewhere in the bottom of said horseshoe but more to the red side, eg. Bernie etc. but further down below in the conspiracy theories circle, but not fully immersed head still above water. UBI i’m noticing is also now accepted by both sides (Elon Musk, etc.). that goes for crypto Bitcoin. though MMT is not as popular, but the whole printing money is accepted by both sides already so i’m thinking no ones bothered to read up on MMT. I for one want Trump to win if only for RFKjr. to get in to gov’t. I think RFKjr.’s main motivators is to uncover his uncle’s and dad’s assassinations. i think he’s also really into environmental issues as well as food issues, eg. more colon cancer he’s right on food issues, where the produce section is the most poisonous in grocery stores. RFKjr. reached out to Kamala camp and they told him to fuck off. Trump rolled out the red carpet. Kamala camp should’ve taken him in if only to shut him up. but gave him access to JFK and RFK assassinations. i think that’s all he really wants. But yeah i totally agree with horseshoe theory, I’m seeing this personally. in general , folks in this area where horseshoe meets (including me) also want less competition. and we’re seeing that in Gen Z and A as well. i gotta feeling the tambay lifestyle is expanding not contracting over there, why that factories work you’re proposing might hit this road block, Joey. people just want out of the rat race. in general. so maybe UBI is perfect for the Philippines.
Actually Bernie is a social democrat (same as me, though he is slightly more left). His adoption of the label “democratic socialist” was only in 2015 during the 2016 presidential campaign in an attempt to gain followers from further left. His move mostly backfired since his most ardent followers the “Bernie Bros” did not show up to vote since they were actually communist and anarchist entryists, as is typical for Far Leftists. The communist and anarchist entryists are the same crowd that took over the Democratic Socialist Party of America, which caused the co-founders to leave in disgust (tells one a lot about how extreme the “new democratic socialists” are).
On a political spectrum, Biden, Harris and I are slightly below the horizontal line in your attached image. Bernie is slightly below my own positions, but far from the extreme end of the horseshoe. Biden is seen as a “centrist” simply because he is an old White man, but Biden has done more to move the Democratic Party back to the true progressivism of Theodore Roosevelt and Franklin D. Roosevelt. Bernie also describes himself as a FDR type, which makes his political calculation to pander to the Far Left even more disingenuous beyond his official position as an “Independent.” What’s the difference between Biden and Bernie though? Biden walks the walk on what he espouses, while Bernie is the classic “pilosopo.” Even if I agree with many of Bernie’s positions, I find him extremely annoying. If one looks at his record in Congress and the Senate, he hasn’t really done much which is why he’s usually mocked as the “President of naming post offices.”
I don’t agree with your take on why Harris rejected RFK Jr. RFK Jr. is clearly a crazy person who is actively ruining the Kennedy name. His entire family has come out to disown him. He is more concerned about his own fame and grift that he trashes the legacy of his father RFK Sr. and his uncle JFK Jr. with his actions. His positions are the complete opposite of what JFK Jr. and RFK Sr. espoused.
On the tambay lifestyle — it indeed is expanding. Gen Z Filipinos even are proud of it nowadays on socmed (TikTok), whereas the Gen X and Millennial tambays were are bit more embarrassed to admit their tambay. UBI won’t fix that, as the reason why certain Filipinos in the DE are tambays is because they are enabled by the love and generosity of their OFW or BPO breadwinner family members. If someone is used to being, even proud of being “pabigat” then UBI would allow them to be even more toxic towards their generous and loving family members. Not sure how to fix this at a government policy level to be honest… from what I gather, among lower socioeconomic Filipinos there has always been excuses made about why they can’t work going back decades. Some diaspora elders I’ve talked to have surmised that the Marcos Sr. years gravely wounded the collective consciousness of DE Filipinos. UBI would just make it worse, not to mention that the Philippines can’t afford to even undertake major infrastructure and energy projects, so there won’t be any money for UBI. 4PS is already a form of UBI for very poor families (mostly E class) with minor children.
Have you heard of Eric Weinstein? He’s a newcomer to UFO twitter, but I guess he’s kinda like a Neil Degrasse Tyson public science and such prior. In the video below which I just saw last nite, he’s interpreting VP Harris oft quoted What can be unburdened go to line. Which I never really thought about. but I guess its a Marxist quote and even mentions Harris’ dad who’s an economist with Marxist leanings. but he says he doesn’t think Harris is Marxist per se , says AOC is more that. He also has a Vietnam anecdote about the dangers of communism. which is pretty sad. Pol pot type story but Vietnamese.
As to UBI, I was talking to Micha about this re MMT, and she had the same thought like UBI was EBT or some shit. and I was like no UBI would be like minimum wage say like 10,000 a month via MMT and then she said you’d have inflation, but MMT taxation was just that for gov’t to suck it back into gov’t. I have to find that discussion now. But essentially there’s UBI the mechanism and anti UBI perception that its hand out ergo bad. my point is to accept that hand out, just basic income cuz more people are detaching themselves from the system.
he hasn’t really done much which is why he’s usually mocked as the “President of naming post offices.” He makes sense to me. as to efficacy i think thats just him not having enough allies to form consensus.
Eric Weinstein was actually roundly mocked by actual scientists (he is not a scientist and cannot be compared to Degrasse Tyson). Weinstein is one of Peter Thiel’s buddies, and a hanger on. He’s part of the Far Right “Intellectual Dark Web” of self-appointed “smart cookies” whose goal is to cause government collapse and bring in fascism. In other words, as Elon Musk described himself, they are “Dork MAGA” and a bunch of malcontents. I’m starting to get quite worried about your YouTube content consumption LCpl. The algorithm is bouncing you around completely different topics with no connection, hehe.
Harris’ father is not a Marxist, neither is Harris, and neither is AOC. They’re all capitalists. Apparently a professor teaching a course on Marxism as relates to Economics is to be called a Marxist, in their view (this was originally pushed by Trump). I doubt Weinstein knows anything about Vietnam, and it was the communist government of Vietnam post-1975 that brought down Pol Pot.
UBI if not tailored carefully would cause inflation. There’s already enough inflation as is in the Philippines. Inflation derives from too much money in the economic system without enough ways for the money to circulate or exit the system, so then there isn’t enough goods to buy with the money. The main way money exits an economy is through taxes (It’s a misunderstanding that taxes is a way for the government to make money. It is not because a government that controls its sovereign central bank can just make more money).
A blanket UBI in the Philippines would probably have catastrophic effects as it doesn’t encourage more people to be employed. Over time people will expect to get freebies, like Arabs in Saudi Arabia who nearly violently overthrew the monarchy when MBS barely suggested that the monthly stipend from oil sales might be reduced due to needing to manage the dwindling oil reserves. With Saudi Arabia failing to modernize, they are running out of time, and running out of oil. When the oil runs out, their country probably would collapse and regress.
The reason why Bernie Sanders is mocked is because he’s been a Congressman and Senator for decades, yet hasn’t gotten anything done. He just preaches and rails. Not having allies means no one really likes him, because his ideas are too idealistic with no plan (sounds like Philippines hehe). He also made a critical mistake in creating the Bernie Bros from the Far Leftists who are wearing Liberal clothing. There’s a reason why he’s clinging to Biden and now Harris, and is supporting Biden and Harris so much. Biden and Harris actually are doing the hard work to make plans and executing the plan to achieve what Bernie only theorized for years. I’d rather choose the doers than the talkers.
That does make sense with Eric Weinstein, seems like he’s got an axe to grind especially with String Theory physicists. But I know for sure he’s a newcomer to UFO, which I just figured was the TicTac influx. but if you’re saying he’s with Elon Musk etc. I’ll buy that. cuz this guy I’m just seeing recent. and he’s on a rampage. What’s your take on Donald Hoffman from UCI? cuz he’s on a rampage too, but he’s not really connected to UFO, but similar to Eric Weinstein in the podcast availability like trying to sell something.
As to Harris and Marxism. I’d not even known that the dad was an economist, but if I remember correctly he wasn’t even around as a dad. I remember that during her Atty General days. it was always her mom they focused on. As to AOC, I’m in love with AOC by the way, and see her in the same light as Bernie. As to Biden and Harris, I’d argue that the talking like all this woke stuff for example is working cuz theory begets practice and the detour is apparent in the Dems, which is why also Trump is still ascendant even having been clobbored by Harris in that debate.
So they caught up to Bernie, and not the other way around, Joey.
“Inflation derives from too much money in the economic system without enough ways for the money to circulate or exit the system, so then there isn’t enough goods to buy with the money. The main way money exits an economy is through taxes (It’s a misunderstanding that taxes is a way for the government to make money. It is not because a government that controls its sovereign central bank can just make more money).”
This is my point of contention with Micha, Joey. She was the one who taught me (hell everyone here really) about MMT, but when I say UBI (and Bitcoin), she was really anti-UBI (anti-Bitcoin). So I’m like you said taxes was for taking out money from the system. so inflation would be easily controlled thru MMT. which I think this was just her derision of UBI, that somehow it was antithesis to how economies work, that you gotta buy buy buy stuff. that was the whole point. So she was also anti De-Growth economics. for the Philippines specifically. I’m like you can’t be pro Greta but anti DeGrowth! the two go hand in hand, Micha! I’ll try to connect that part to my UFO blog. the economics of it all, I still don’t get.
But the principle is sound. like Bernie.
Eric Weinstein is simply a moron who failed upwards then thinks he’s a genius, like many who have his privilege are able to. Donald Hoffman is fine I guess in his theoretical realm, but recently he’s been trying to supplement his professor’s salary with what appears to be grifting. Hoffman has been mocked by some as a “pseudo-profound sophist,” which is appropriate as he has a contrarian view on cognitive psychology that goes against the prevailing view of his peers. In the nearly 40 years he’s been pushing his theories, no major scientists have signed on to it — that alone should give one an indication of the validity of his theories.
It’s incorrect to say that Biden and Harris had “caught up” to Bernie. Biden is doing the actual work of pushing and implementing the most progressive policies in at least 2 generations that we haven’t seen since the White backlash in 1968. These have always been Biden’s views; it was just masked because he looks like an old White man so people think he’s a centrist. It would be more correct to say that Bernie caught up to Biden, and it shows by Bernie enthusiastically touting Biden’s policies. Biden put theory into practice rather than just remaining a pilosopo sophist like Bernie, and I think Bernie is starting to recognize that when he sees Biden’s accomplishments. Biden is also a skilled political operator who understands how to get things done, as can be seen by him essentially tricking Joe Manchin to support the Inflation Reduction Act (which was harder to pass), then one-two punching with the immediate follow up of the CHIPS Act, both of which passed. Harris being Biden’s mentee seems equally skilled. AOC is clinging to Biden and Harris because she has finally realized that the Far Left is useless in getting votes, and she does want to get things done to leave her own legacy.
I don’t agree that Trump is ascendant. Trump has always had a hardcore following of about 30-33% of the country. His often stated 47% support was based on the 2020 election and Harris has been peeling away his soft supporters at the margins. If Trump was ascendant then the Republicans and MAGA won’t need to engage in dirty tricks to set up a path to illegally steal the 2024 election.
On removing money from the system, I forgot to add that in addition to taxes removing money from the supply, raising interest rates also remove money from the supply. Both have deflationary effects, which is why we see European countries that took an austerity stance following the 2008 financial crisis and the Covid financial crisis caused their economies to be largely stagnant. A little bit of constant inflation is also needed by the way in order to grow the economy.
Hmm degrowth economics lies on the more extreme side of Leftist economics. In essence degrowth espouses a utopian economy where everything fits perfectly, basically eco-communism, which isn’t how anything works in real life. Like the theory of communism, it sounds great in theory until put into practice and reacting with the human tendency to abuse power if not checked. If I had a guess, Greta’s stances on green stuff would follow a degrowth model. But Greta had her moment in the spotlight, then now has exposed herself as a charlatan and someone that was manufactured by her parents who are strong-Greens. Adopting the “omnicause” starting with the Gaza stuff was her biggest mistake and made a lot of her non-Far Left supporters leave.
Looking forward to your article. Some things can be connected yes, but mostly can’t.
“no major scientists have signed on to it — that alone should give one an indication of the validity of his theories.” this sounds more like herd mentality or band wagon effect, which you’ve also prosecuted on Bernie. but I do agree with you on Bernie vs. Biden efficacies compared , mainly cuz Biden was a better politician (eg. herd, bandwagon). But Bernie was already there just the getting it done part, he didn’t do. not a great politician. but when it comes to scientists, I generally don’t ascribe the herd or the rest of the bandwagon to their ideas. science just a different game, though there is politics i don’t doubt that at all. as to Greta and De-growth, lets revisit this soon. Cuz i wanna argue for De-Growth and UBI again re UFOs, but with no background on finance or economics. So i guess i’ll be like Bernie. pointing at the principle. But I agree with you that Greta shoulda stuck to her brand which was climate and corporations (how dare you!). now she’s done. but we’ll always have Malala i guess.
Science needs consensus building, to make stronger conclusions. That’s why eggheads of old in their flowing robes and caps argued vociferously in university halls until they came up with an agreement. A contrarian scholar is like a street preacher yelling screeds who every passerby ignores.
Glad you shifted on Bernie. Bernie regularly speaks effusively about Biden’s effectiveness. What Biden has done is basically a large chunk of Bernie’s dream come true. Let’s say 80% of it like my comment that spawned this blog article. Banking 80% wins and fighting to get the rest later is better than getting nothing, which I think Bernie finally realized. We also need to recognize that Biden and Bernie have been friends for decades.
I don’t think there’s any connection between degrowth, UBI and UFOs. It might be better to have focus in an article 😅
Arguments and agreements I don’t agree, Joey, especially in science. per Laura Nader (Ralph Naders sis) its usually one smart dude/dudette and every one eventually follows, or small groups, and every one eventually follows. that’s how consensus begins. so contrarian/s is the start. then everyone follows. thats the process. its very contentious and many times people are mean.
Agreed on Bernie and Biden being friends. as it relates to de-Growth, woke stuff, etc. Bernie was already there. Bernie and President Carter i’d lump in the same group. both open to de-Growth waaaaaay back in the 70s. Whereas (in mind) i would say AOC is alike to Bernie, in deed AOC is more like Biden. Both AOC and Biden would own fancy race cars, whereas Bernie and Carter would not. (just assuming here, i’ve never seen the inside of their garages).
As to UFOs, theres no connection, but my policy proposal is for UBI and De-growth re UFOs. like I said (in deed), Bernie and Carter were already at de-Growth in the 70s. as to UBI, I don’t think they’ve considered MMT. Only Yang i think has pushed for this seriously. but AOC knows MMT, so maybe MMT and UBI will be with AOC. but its about playing catch up and getting people to follow. so we’ll see.
I’ll concede that established theories usually start from a contrarian view, but 40 years is a long time to convince others and Hoffman simply hasn’t convinced his peers in the cognitive psychology field. Just like in the realm of economics, MMT has not reached full consensus yet though there are some strong-ish arguments for MMT. Hoffman is just one dude shouting into the wind 😅
Well if we can say Bernie was already there, then we can also say that Biden was already there before Bernie as Biden had served in government longer. Most of Biden’s views have barely changed since his earliest Senate days. Biden’s early mentors were senators from the New Deal/Great Society generation. Bernie is actually pushing to go back to New Deal, but he’s a terrible communicator, and even more terrible consensus builder. He’s probably so happy Biden got the New Deal ideals back and over the finish line — it really shows in how hard Bernie was backing Biden, and how he’s now backing Harris.
Going back to Far Left stuff. AOC figured things out and ran far away from the Far Leftists to the point the DSA excommunicated her. Smart move on AOC’s part in using her excellent gift of oratory to firebrand effective methods rather than dead end ones. Something probably clicked in her mind watching Biden in action, and she realized she can get the same New Deal 2.0 dream if she words things in a more palatable way that appeals to centrists a la Biden.
Bernie is worth around $3 million, Biden around $10 million. Both tiny amounts considering their long government careers. Both didn’t break millionaire until they sold their first memoir in recent years. So Bernie can afford a nice car if he wants. Biden has a nice classic Corvette, and preferred to take public transportation during his Senate years.
Yang is a clown. He was exposed as a grifter.
I don’t think degrowth really existed as a concept in the 1970s. Degrowth is relatively new, and a reaction of the surplus elites of advanced societies who want to virtue signal on green stuff. None of the degrowth ideas would actually make a meaningful effect on reducing carbon emissions, since no developing nation would go along with it.
Agreed. De-Growth is very recent, Joey. I just saw youtubes of it like 2 years I ago i think, been on TSOH promoting it (Micha and chempo were really against it, Joe’s pro i think). But based on what we know of Bernie and Carter, not just those solar panels on the roof of the WH but also his speeches urging Americans to go with less etc. lifestyle same with Bernie’s less is more. I’m saying they’d be down with De-Growth economics. Whereas Biden and AOC, just purely basing on their lifestyles and what they own etc. would probably shy away from De-Growth until such a time its convenient politically. So i’m equating Pepe Mujica, Bernie and Carter in the same world view, less is more camp. Where Biden and AOC would be in a nother group. they like the finer things in life. As to De-Growth’s popularity in the 3rd world, they’ll of course want to follow the 1st world. so I agree with you. tough sell. But its all about making Greta proud so we’ll try.
Context is important because actions don’t exist in a vacuum. Carter’s speeches on conservation and the solar panels were during the Oil Crisis. Prior to the Oil Crisis which occurred during one of the Arab wars against the Israelis, gas was pretty much as cheap as water (figuratively). OPEC didn’t really exist yet so the Arabs just sold oil at firesale prices. Now OPEC is a tool for the Arabs to milk the global economy which runs on petroleum products, making transitioning to renewable energy even more important.
Bernie pretty much wants to go back to the policy types of the New Deal. In fact he described himself as a New Dealer before adopting the democratic socialist thing to try to get votes from the Far Left in 2016. Well that failed and he has basically stopped talking about democratic socialism. He’s a New Deal Democrat in essence. Just like Biden.
Carter is actually rich by the way. His family was one of the biggest peanut farmers in Georgia back in the day. I can appreciate people who live simply and humbly, like Carter, Biden, Bernie. Though I don’t begrudge those who like to enjoy a bit of going out like AOC with her partner. She’s still young, why not?
Degrowth being popular in the third world. Not sure about that as I haven’t followed third world thinkers who push that, but it would be a dumb idea. Basically what degrowth wants to do is to make a high tech green utopia, let’s say like Wakanda. Well Wakanda doesn’t exist. And if the developed world can’t afford it then not sure how third world countries can afford degrowth.
Don’t mention her partner. The corporal turns mean-eyed with jealousy.
😂🤣🤣
I’m pro-exploration of degrowth as a practical path, and not for an abrupt change. I don’t have enough data.
Yes I think that’s a good take. I explored degrowth a bit and concluded it’s a pie-in-the sky 100 percenter type goal with no plan. Biden’s craftily named “Inflation Reduction Act” is actually the Green New Deal that Bernie Sanders wanted, which is why Bernie supported it enthusiastically. It’s a 80% plan. And it got done vs 100% and get none plans.
I’ll have to read up on Hoffman (meaning watch a bunch of videos). will get back to you on it in the UFO blog. thanks.
Haha I don’t really watch YouTube. Mostly I use YouTube for music videos, that’s it. Maybe a bit of PBS Eons or National Geographic sometimes. I find a lot of the monetized videos to be click bait and grifting, not that I notice since I use a modded YouTube app that skips all the ads. I don’t trust people who heavily monetize, it means they have an agenda to excite and make people angry.
I can’t stand You Tube lectures. You can’t speed read them. Music and sports highlights. Excellent. My son devours information videos on wars, cooking, and how things are made. And music lyrics, generally 60s and 70s. He self-teaches himself guitar from YT videos. Different strokes.
That’s a good diet. I have the same problem with long form videos too, especially the heavily monetized ones. It ends up being people who know nothing about what they are discussing bloviating out of their asses. Sometimes for 6-8 hours if you can believe it. They all tend to be far right or alt right, or curiously push those agendas. Not everyone who opines knows what they are talking about. It takes a real man (or woman) to admit they lack knowledge and seek knowledge from those with it.
Totally agree. I don’t listen to podcasts either.
I listen to a ton of podcasts while driving, working, cooking, reading. Mostly history or science podcasts, even if I may know a lot of the history already. Always good to learn more. It’s a way to exercise both spheres of the brain by multitasking. Political podcasts too sometimes, though I curate those more carefully. Mainly listen to the center-right, center-left through Left perspective. I can’t stand the long form podcasts which tend to all be right wing or far right.
Ah, if I were on freeways I’d probably listen as well. I used to listen to talk radio.
AM talk radio has gotten worse. It’s now filled with non-denominational “pastors” who try to convert people to fund their lifestyles and serves as a disaffected male-to-conspiracy pipeline. It was how my BIL and some older male friends got sucked into the MAGA train. Just grifters galore from AM radio to those long-form podcasts. I think one of the ills affecting the US is people are moving away from family/friends for work and lost a sense of community, so they are prime targets for charlatans who fill that void.
Actually early podcasts were mostly informative and heavily represented by history or book reading podcasts. I guess I’m still stuck in that era.
Ah, yes, that started with Glen Beck, I think. The preachiness.
Isn’t it ironic that the most odious Republicans turned out to be closeted gay men who grew up in ultra religious households?
It is, and boy did it whack their emotional foundations.
“Don’t mention her partner. The corporal turns mean-eyed with jealousy.” I heard he’s gay, Joe. its an arrangement not relationship. like that movie The Birdcage.
You might still have a chance then LCpl! Haha!
“I can’t stand the long form podcasts which tend to all be right wing or far right.” Kamala Harris is set to do FOX tonight with Bret Baier, I say too little too late. after that Kamala Harris is supposed to be doing Joe Rogan. I think Trump already confirmed. I can see Trump shooting the shit with Rogan. Harris will come off as not authentic. I don’t know why she’s even considering Rogan. Bret Baier’s pretty chill, so she should be fine tonight. but the why’s of getting into the deep end, when the View and such was going well for her. who ever is advising her to do these last minute interviews that’ll be more risky than not, meaning juice squeeze cost benefit whether juice is worth the squeeze. its too far gone now to be playing with risks. she shoulda gone with Kelly Ripa or some shit. its just outta character. this stuff shoulda been done right after the debate. not 3 weeks out!
I think this is probably a wrong take on Kamala Harris’ strategy here LCpl. Her moves for the Baier interview on Fox and possible Joe Rogan appearance are strategic moves to peel off voters on the margin and sway them towards her side. She did the same thing with going for male voters and Gen Z voters by going on podcasts that cater to those demographics. Harris already has a solid base, these moves along with sending Tim Walz out to do his hits are to make sure they have padding.
What is Trump doing? He won’t even debate again, nor do interviews in “enemy territory.” He’s sticking to his rallies, which are attended by groupies by the way (been to a few) who are rich enough to follow Trump around the country going to each rally as if it’s a concert. That won’t gain Trump any voters, especially as his speech gets more unhinged by the day. His new strategy is to cut friendly interviews short and sway listlessly to his playlist for nearly 40 minutes in a confused state like a dementia patient.
“You might still have a chance then LCpl! Haha!” She asked the best questions in last years UFO hearing, so we’re kinda a match made in heaven, Joey.
We’ll see what Trump does with Joe Rogan, he’s been courting Rogan for quite awhile now. and Rogan didn’t wanna give him the platform. Harris I think is better off not going to Joe Rogan. its 50-50 right now in all battleground states. Joe Rogan and Trump are a match made in heaven. Kamala Harris can just play it safe, go to another friendlier podcast channel. Joe Rogan i feel will have an axe to grind when with Kamala. its a trap best avoided.
You can’t grind a truth-sayer, and as Joey mentioned, she gets nowhere just talking to her base. A lot of Yellows don’t want to talk to the Left. But De Lima is, and she will win her candidacy for the House.
Trump is polling upwards in the battleground states, Joe. if this is her idea of a Hail Mary, I think she’s better off not over extending. its feeling very much like 2016 Hillary, Joe. She can do Howard Stern. Joe Rogan is a trap.
The only way I’ll feel comfortable with her being on Joe Rogan is if Kamala Harris reads my UFO blog and gets up to speed on UFOs so she dazzles Rogan. he won’t ask her about immigration if she talking UFOs. UFOs is her salvation re Joe Rogan.
Kamala Harris already did Howard Stern. She also did Charlemagne the God which is hostile territory in the “Dirtbag Left.” I think she left a sizable (positive) impression on CTG. Maybe Rogan would be fine to do, but the Gen Z-centric “Call Her Daddy” podcast has just as wide a reach as Rogan, and are persuadable. Rogan’s audience of “self ironic” contrarian men are mostly checked out of politics, besides always having the ability to opine and mansplain of course.
Mansplain needs to be taught in schools, what it is and why it exists.
Oh, i’d not known about Howard Stern. But Charlemaine the god, she mentioned there should be data base for cops, so bad cops can’t just keep moving to other depts. Especially fed to state or local pds (eg. border patrol officer to CHP). that was a good idea, which the FBI should run.
This is good enough. This wasn’t covered as much as it shouldve been. Charlemaine the god though was. or maybe i’ve just been watch a lot of UFO videos. Joe Rogan is gonna be a shit show. totally agree with you on Joe Rogan show. thats why i’m totally against it. juice not worth the squeeze.
And back to the Philippines. This is not an American blog.
@Joey,
It is still up to you, but my suggestion for you to write an article stands. I am sure that you are a better writer than me.
I second karl’s , Joey. if you told me 2 yrs ago that we’d have a bottleneck of articles trying to get published , I’d not believe you. 2028 will be here before you know it. And your commentaries are actually articles already, Joey. so please send articles in. My personal favorites are series articles, when writers write articles, then interact in the comments, then calibrate, then write follow on articles, rinse and repeat and really hone in on stuff. My request if you take requests, Joey, would be for more supernatural or spiritual stuff from Philippines or SEA etc. your travels, but drill it down on D & E Filipinos. and 2028. IMHO how to capture the imagination of C & D & E Filipinos. that’s it.
As Filipinos say… “I’m shy.” More than happy to provide commentary as part of the commentariat, though writing articles it would require me to do some more research. Sometimes I get quite busy, like the last few days. Well I’ll continue to comment for now, but it’s as if Karl is coming out to say what Irineo and Joe had hinted to by including my ideas in their articles. We shall see, heh.
Joey re Cavite.
In terms of development, I say it is more than gentrification. In politics, I witnessed and got shocked by local election violence last 2010, but life goes on. My sleep doctor is the wife of the current DILG sec and former governor and I will never ask about politics when I am at her clinic.
The Cavite I knew before was more rural, though there were signs of more development. Once I ran across a dead body of a murder victim beside the road while with a friend to visit her lola. Still, it was beautiful out there and they said the young ladies of Cavite are quite beautiful, and the young men are handsome. It’s a bit sad that due to the suburbanization of NCR, Cavite will soon be built over. I used to think Nueva Ecija would remain endless fields of emerald green palay. So sad that that’s no longer the case. Tarlac too.
Thanks for your thoughts