Enter the New Year, on hope, superstition and maybe a prayer
By Joe America Best wishes to all for the New Year. Resolutions are important, I think. I hope that you will strive for high values based on knowledge, and will have the discipline to align your acts with your values. If you do that, it will be hard for anyone to expect any more from you, … Continue reading
VP Robredo would lead a weak LP opposition
By Joe America Well, to be sure, VP Robredo is and always will be strong, but the idea that LP can form a resistance to the deadly and autocratic ways of the Duterte Administration is an idea that is weak. The Philippines is stuck in a nightmare of death, disunity and economic drift. Influential people see this but … Continue reading
The Philippines leads the world into post-truth modernism. It’s ugly.
By Joe America In the post-truth world we live in, we define our values according to utility, and so we paint the factual world around us as we need to in order to get what we want to get. Okay, okay, I know that is vague, a lot of words chasing an idea but not … Continue reading
Dear President Duterte: “Ummmm, any chance you could up your game?”
By Joe America Decisions have consequences, Mr. President. For example, if others see Filipinos as rude, OFWs have a harder time getting jobs. If the nation is considered a dangerous bastion of killer cops with no respect for international conventions, then investors don’t want to bring their money here. I think you would agree that Filipinos … Continue reading
The Philippine Legislature: Heathens at the Pulpit
By Joe America A few articles ago, I did a story about faith. The gist was that idolatry and faith, not facts and acts, are propping up President Duterte. A reader was sharp enough to point out that democracy is also a faith. My first reaction was, “huh?”, but as I thought about it, I … Continue reading




