How to pick JoeAm’s brain
Analysis and Opinion
By Joe America
The Society of Honor blog by Joe America has produced 1,880 articles, most about Philippine affairs. It has generated over 180,000 comments that provide additional depth and insights. These are all open for examination by AI tools such as Gemini or ChatGPT.
What can you explore? Any political name, any incident (Mamasapano, Marawi, Yolanda), any time period, what commenters think, what JoeAm’s bookie or cousin Maude said, and many many other topics. Your memory or imagination is the limit.
The quality of data depends on the quality of the prompt. You can refine the inquiry as you get data, and you can get reference links or quotes from articles as you dig deeper.
Here’s a demonstration prompt:
What did JoeAm at joeam.com say about the Marawi incident and how did commenters respond to his remarks?
For other topics, swap “Mawari incident” out for whatever it is you’d like to investigate. Haha, ask about Grace Poe, she really fried my bacon. Or Jejomar Binay. Or Customs. The world is your oyster. Or find out what Edgar Lores had to say. Man, he was great.
Can AI tools “write like JoeAm” on a given topic, or project what JoeAm might say about current events? I doubt it. Maybe in a few years when all the dogs are released.
But a version of history, and various insights, reside in these blogs, and will until the site drops from the internet.
You are welcome to explore them.
Joe
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Cover photo from JoeAm’s 2014 article “A SECULAR MORAL CODE TO TAKE THE PLACE OF THE PHILIPPINE GOLDEN RULE“. Do read the comments to that article. The insights readers have given to the blog, freely, are terrific.
The Society of Honor by Joe America 
I deleted my previous query about your writing style.
So I asked again based on some leading questions
Sure — here’s a reconstructed version of your query about Joe America’s writing style, based on your description:
Reconstructed Query:
“How would you describe Joe America’s writing style? It seems to be a balance of satire and straight talk — sharp, witty, yet grounded in reason and civic concern. He uses irony and humor to expose flaws in governance and society but also maintains a tone of sincerity and analytical depth. Could you break down the elements that make his style both engaging and persuasive?”
Would you like me to expand this into a short analytical paragraph (for use in an essay or blog) describing his tone, techniques, and influence?
Thanks. The computer can describe the style (quite well) but can’t mimic it. But if you described the style exactly as given here, and gave it a topic without reference to JoeAm, it could probably come close. Its normal style has no sense of humor I think. I wonder if it can write humor. Hmmmmm. I might have to test it.
Here is the follow up.
Here’s a polished analytical paragraph expanding on Joe America’s writing style, suitable for essay or blog use:—Joe America’s Writing Style: The Balance of Satire and Straight TalkJoe America’s writing style is a distinctive blend of satire and straight talk — incisive yet approachable, witty yet grounded in civic purpose. His use of irony and humor serves not merely for entertainment but as a scalpel for dissecting the contradictions of Philippine politics and society. He often juxtaposes absurd realities with calm, reasoned commentary, allowing readers to see folly through laughter and reflection. Beneath the satire lies a disciplined analytical structure, characterized by logical argumentation, moral clarity, and a consistent call for accountability and reform. His tone bridges intellectual critique and common sense, engaging both the reflective reader and the everyday citizen. This fusion of candor and irony — of head and heart — makes Joe America’s essays both readable and resonant, transforming political commentary into a vehicle for civic education and national introspection.—Would you like me to follow this with a comparative section — for example, how Joe America’s tone contrasts with that of Get Real Philippines (which tends to be more cynical and polemical)?
Thank you, Karl. That’s cool. Don’t go further as the computer might say Benny is better at it. 😂🤣😂
Hahaha
(part of an answer I got from ChatGPT)
What is the Going Home series?
The Going Home series is a set of essays and reflections by Irineo B. R. Salazar and Karl Garcia, hosted on the JoeAm website, under the “Going Home: Salazar/Garcia” index.
The series was published mostly in late 2020, and presents a “big picture” re-thinking of the Philippines — its identity, institutional challenges, and potential paths forward.
The series is framed around the question of “home” — what it means for Filipinos, how the nation’s past and present inform its direction, and how to build a viable future rooted in Filipino values and realities.
Significance & Legacy
The Going Home series aims to shift the discourse around Philippine progress: away from purely technocratic or donor-driven templates, toward ideas grounded in Filipino culture, history, and local agency.
It’s not a manifesto with fixed solutions, but more a thought experiment — a structured conversation across topics, inviting readers to engage, critique, and refine.
In follow-up JoeAm articles, the authors still refer to Going Home as a touchstone. For example, The Philippines and the World (2024) remarks that The National Village had become an involuntary summarizer of prior work.
The series seems to serve as a foundational intellectual platform for further reflections on the Philippines in the JoeAm ecosystem.
(Karl, is this what we wanted to say? Well it does sound nice hehe)
Here’s a distilled summary of the Going Home series from JoeAm.com — the core ideas in 10 principles that capture the spirit and logic of the essays by Irineo B. R. Salazar and Karl Garcia.
🏠 “Going Home” — The Core Framework in Ten Principles
1. “Home” as the Central Metaphor
The Philippines must first find home — not just a place, but a shared sense of belonging, purpose, and coherence. Development without identity is rootless. “Home” means rediscovering what being Filipino truly entails — the values, community bonds, and aspirations that should anchor national life.
2. The “National Village” as a Model
The country is not a machine to be fixed, but a village to be nurtured.
It is composed of relationships, habits, and stories. Progress happens when trust, cooperation, and collective responsibility grow — when Filipinos see the nation as an extended community, not a battleground of tribes or factions.
3. Filipino Identity Is the Foundation
Reform must be culturally grounded. Colonial legacies left deep psychological fractures: inferiority, fatalism, and dependency. A healthy society requires cultural self-confidence — recognizing what is distinctly Filipino, while engaging the world as equals, not imitators.
4. People Power Must Become Institutional Power
Democracy cannot depend on heroic moments or street revolts.
Institutionalizing People Power means embedding accountability, participation, and transparency into the everyday machinery of governance — so that civic virtue becomes routine, not exceptional.
5. Reform Is a Cultural Process, Not Just Technical Policy
Technical solutions (laws, projects, investments) only work if mindsets evolve.
Corruption, apathy, and short-termism are symptoms of deeper social conditioning. The Going Home series argues for “regenerative reform” — changing norms and incentives, not just rules.
6. Modernization Must Be Filipino
“Modernity” is not Westernization.
Progress should emerge from Filipino realities — local languages, community networks, adaptive creativity, bayanihan, and resilience. True modernization harmonizes tradition and innovation instead of erasing roots.
7. Development Must Be Balanced: Agriculture, Industry, and Innovation
Agriculture secures food and identity; industry creates wealth and dignity; innovation drives long-term competitiveness. A healthy Philippines integrates all three, rather than oscillating between rural nostalgia and urban dependency.
8. Regenerative, Sustainable Growth
The authors promote regenerative development — where progress renews rather than depletes.
Economic growth should restore ecosystems, empower communities, and sustain future generations. The goal is not GDP, but a “living system” that thrives across time.
9. The Philippines Must Move from the Edge to the Middle
The nation has long seen itself as peripheral — a follower of others’ models.
To “go home” means to take the center of one’s own story: to define the country’s place in the region and the world with confidence and vision.
10. The Journey Home Is Collective
There is no single savior or formula. The path forward is collaborative — citizens, institutions, and leaders co-creating a national narrative that makes sense to everyone. Going Home is both an inward and outward journey: understanding who we are, and acting together on that understanding.
🧭 In Short:
“Going Home” = Returning to ourselves to move forward as a nation.
Progress is not just about systems or economics — it’s about belonging, dignity, and shared purpose.
Thanks their flattery will lead to somewhere unless it gives me a flat tire.