First, We Believe

When one thinks about it, belief has to be the most basic impulse of the mind. Before a child learns to think, the child learns to believe. Kids first learn to affirm what is before they get a notion of what's not. They first learn who mommy is before they make the distinction between mommy and daddy. It's the most fundamental function of the intellect.

Yet it's stupid how people throw away the impulse to believe when they learn to doubt. They say that the critical mind is much better than the trusting one. But one has to think whether this really is so at all times.

Do people's intentions always have to be double-guessed and re-assessed for honesty? Can't people be taken anymore for what they are?

Don't answer that, it's rhetorical. Instead, answer this: what do people see in doubt that
makes them throw aside belief? To me the answer isn't that simple. A person who doubts too much is more often than not one who doubts his or her own self, and that is just sad. People see others the way they see themselves, it's subjective before becoming objective. The fact that people doubt more nowadays shows the sad state of human affairs: humanity no longer trusts itself.

When humanity stops trusting itself, it throws away that fundamental intellectual faculty of belief. It tries to justify its actions through concepts such as the culture of death. The only dead ones are those who believe humanity is doomed. Then they try to get others to believe them. They tell the normal folks that humanity is headed for doom, that souls are gonna burn in hell, and that guidance is needed, fast.

Sorry to burst your bubble, but if I can't guide my own soul through the journey of life, don't any of you dare do my deciding for me. You may doubt yourself, but I don't doubt in myself. If you find solace in doomsday prophecies, fine. Contribute to your culture of death. Kill yourself.

Now, not all doubting is evil. There's no doubt that this world is f--ck-d up. Sometimes we really need the help of others and sometimes we really have to set aside our own judgments. But if you find yourself doubting more than believing, you better re-examine your life. Remember Socrates' words.

Not all doubt is evil. But be careful not to make doubt the foundation of your thinking.

Game 3...

We lost to FEU today, as I expected. For those who have no idea what I'm talking about, I'm referring to the Basketball finals game between my alma mater De La Salle University Manila and the Far Eastern University. The best of three series is now tied at one win each.

Fellow Lasallians, time to get tickets.

So, do we forgive them?

In the news today I discovered that the mutinous soldiers of the Magdalo group asked the president for forgiveness. To the uninformed, the Magdalo group is a band of soldiers who dared to take over the country by means of a military coup. To cut the long story short they failed miserably and were asking the president yesterday for forgieveness, and possibly amnesty.

In my opinion, they should rot in jail. Mutiny in the military is high treason and a war crime. Should we forgive people who committed high treason and who waged war in a peaceful Philippines? No way in hell. Especially if they froze the conomy and business during the days they did their thing.

That's it for now.

Some People Are Just Stupid

Is it just me, or are people just plain stupid?

Forgive the pessimistic thesis statement. I just can't help it. I just can't imagine how stupid our government officials are. Take these people for example:

1) Senator Loi Estrada nearly passed out when she played badminton while on the South Beach Diet. Isn't she a doctor? Shouldn't she know that cutting down on carbs means you have to cut down on physical exercise? Then again, she was stupid enough to marry Erap.

2) Our President appointed Ramon Revilla as head of the Public Estates Authority. Genius. Assign a senator known for sleeping on the job to one of the most corrupt offices. Right.

3) Jose De Venecia said that he would take back the congress' pork barrel, then took back what he said some days later. That's not political skill. That's just plain stupid. Did he seriously think I believed him when he said he would take it back to begin with? He should just shut up.

You know what hurts the most? WE put these people in power. We gave them the sacred duty to protect our national interests, even though they probably have no idea what national interests are.

Yet one does not have to look far to find an idiot. News on The Lasallian about frat beatings outside Mc. Donald’s show that idiots from fraternities are just around the corner. I don't care if you're a Tau-Gamma or what-- if you subscribe to this mindless violence you're a fool to me, because you don't have the inner strength to rely on yourself and you need the help of thugs to help your sorry ass get through life. You're not human. You're a parasite preying off a parasitic organization that saps virtue from our society.

There are just too many fools. I can't stand it. I have given up looking for humane solutions to their idiocy. To me they aren't even human. I give my dog more respect. When I see the President I won't use any terms of respect for her. She's not on my level. Same goes with everyone else who acts foolish.

I just hope others can be smart enough to realize that humane treatment is only for human beings. We owe these dogs nothing.

My Friends' Blogs...

Hello. While you may have merely stumbled upon this god-forsaken blog, there are a couple of other blogs out there you may want to visit, especially if you hate the fact that I talk like a doomsayer. Anyway, here'e a couple of other blogs you may want to check out:

1. The Babbling Introvert - A blog my good pal Angelo just put up. Try it out.
2. Tama Na Ang Sophistication - This one's from a friend from college. Go here to read posts which are a lot sunnier than mine.

That's all I got to post for today. I'm a bit too stressed out to think about anything right now.

FEU vs. Lasalle, and something depressing on the side...

So let's have a moment of silence for our dear pals in Katipunan.

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Moment over.
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Now, onto the issue at hand. The SWC another plenary session last night. We basically talked about stuff like our lovelives (short discussion :P), future plans, and so on. Stuff you other guys won't enjoy hearing anyway. The discussion that we had which would be relevant to all would be our discourse on politics.

We were thinking of how to fix up government. Nearly all members were for federalizing or at
least de-centralizing the government. Some of us also were for the privatization of the GOCCs
because government, by definition, is not supposed to run corporations, that's a task of the private sector. Japan and Korea do things that way, their Governments are basically just oversight bodies.

But it was the discussion of what we could actually do about the problems, not what we should, but could do, that made up the meat of the discussion, in my opinion. It also ended the discussion, because besides running for office someday and not losing our souls in the process, there isn't a damn thing we can do yet. I suddenly remembered why I had dreams of being a politician someday, of actually making my own true reform party and propagating ideas for
the happinness of future generations. I also remembered the reason why I opted to become a
sensei (teacher) instead--teaching is more practical. Plus I don't want to lose my soul.

Such is the life of a frustrated Romantic. I want to do so much yet realize there's little I can do.
I remembered a line from the anime "Gatekeepers 21" where the lead character, something of a
frustrated youth herself, said:

"I think birds are lucky. They flutter through the sky and can always go wherever they want. They can leave the garbage-filled city of disgusting humans beneath them. They live and fly free, bound by nothing. If I am to be reborn, I think I'd like to be a bird.

But... I am..." (Ayane Isuzu, GK21 episode 4)

Then in typical anime fashion, the scene cuts off right there and then. It's best done that way, it
accentuates the utter hopelessness of her dream--of wanting to leave the city out of the frustration involved in trying to protect and change it. You see, in the show she is a member of
a secret society dedicated to preventing an infectious alien disease which preys on human hatred and greed from spreading. She's something of an MIB agent. The disease she fights turned humans into the avatars of hatred itself--grotesque creatures who wander like demons
in the city, demons which she in turn eradicates using advanced technology and her own innate
abilities (she's a reluctant superhero of sorts). She gets pissed at the idea that she wants so much to help these people but they aren't helping themselves. They continue being selfish, spiteful, and greedy. In the end, what the hell could anyone do?

Just as in the country today, what the hell can we do about the greed and hatred that permeates society? Sometimes I would love to make a change myself, only no one hears me, not even within my own family, since many of them have political interests as well. We don't need an alien disease. We have enough demons here. And there isn't anything I can do.

I am all alone. I live alone, and will die alone. Tomorrow I turn 21--one more year closer to my
death, and when that happens, no one will know. Or care.

This is the path I choose. I won't be happy, but I would be true to myself. I won't lose my soul.

Though sometimes, I wish my path wasn't so empty.

Have a nice day.

Reckless Posing

Hi! I got a couple of things to post today. One, it was the first day of my Creative Writing course under Dr. Cirilo F. Bautista. We'll be learning to write short poeams and short stories, and we are required to come up with six works by the term's end: five poems and one story.

And man do I suck at writing fiction and poetry. I can't even blog right.

Still, I hope to learn something new from the classes. Who knows, I may just have an untapped talent waiting to explode.

(Yeah, Right)
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Now, onto the news.

This item caught my eye last Thursday. There were a bunch of sexy starlets who posed near-nude in front of policemen in the middle of traffic just to protest the banning of the exhibition of lewd movies from all SM department stores. They did their thing, posed as any Playboy playmate would for Playboy's cover, only no one wanted them around for their public exhibition.

Guess what? They got arrested and are facing charges of grave public scandal. Stupid, huh? Protesting the ban on lewd movies by acting lewd themselves is just pure genius, for a protozoan. For humans though, to act like protozoan, no matter how smart the little critter, is an insult to Darwinian evolution.

Oh, and an insult to humanity as well.

Resignations Galore!

No doubt, those who are aware of the events in the Philippines. These cabinet officials resigning left and right are beginning to get on everyone's nerves.

They're annoying because the positions they held are very critical--and very close to dead. The National Treasury has little money to count, and NAPOCOR is knee-deep in debt. They resigned at the worst possible times.

I just hope this issue ends in a positive light sometime soon.

Back to Work!

I finally started my last trimester at the university today. Damn, I just can't belive it. In three months' time I'll be graduating with a degree in Literature, God permitting. I'll also become unemployed, but my rant on the rarity of jobs in this god-forsaken country is another tale for another time.

I'll actually miss studying, losing sleep over work, and for all I know, I might even miss arguinjg over pointless topics such as the classic "ano'ng pinagkaiba nang fishball sa ball nang fish?"

Instead of looking back, I've actually been looking forward. I hope to land a job teaching in some high school and pollute a few heads. If that doesn't work, I guess I could ghost write for some politician or take up law full-time--anything to keep myself from being idle. Maybe I could actually find love (right), or write my first collection of pessimistic short stories for love-starved men(actually, that's not such a bad idea).

Oh well, whatever happens, I won't just sit down and wait. I want to reach out and grab it, whatever it might be, because I hate inaction.

Madness

Three years ago in this very day, history took a horrid turn for the worse.

Suddenly possessing Arab features turned heads wherever you went. People had to act paranoid because no one knew who was or wasn't a terrorist. For non-Americans like myself getting into the US to check up on relatives living there became a troublesome process, especially because our family looked Arabic (for the record, like majority of Filipinos, we're Catholic, but we have great respect for Islam as one of the world's greatest religions).

If the effect that 9-11 had on America was bad, its worldwide repercussions were even worse. International terrorism went on hyperdrive. Bombings in Indonesia, Russia, Spain, and elsewhere exhibited the renewed vigor of these damnable dogs.

All because of a gross perversion of Islam, a religion whose God is "Merciful and Beneficent," as their very own Koran says. Who has the right to use the Merciful and the Beneficent to justify the mass murders of men, women, and children?

No one does, not an imam, priest, bishop, or monk. The greatest blasphemy would be to declare one's will as God's own, and should never be done.

To play god anyway, as some inhuman dogs have done, would be madness indeed.

I Haven't Been So Emotionally Touched by Anime in Ages...

Dang, my friend just passed by earlier this day to get his comp fixed, then the dude (a true-blooded otaku of the Evangelion era) showed me this really depressing anime about the love story between a girl and a guy. The show is called "She: The Ultimate Weapon" or Saikano in Japanese, and I gotta admit that I was very depressed after seeing just episode one, all the more so when I read about the rest of the story off some fansites.

I won't bother spoiling the story anymore, let's just say that it fits in the "mad-science" category of scifi, kinda like "Rappaccini's Daughter" (sp?) with an anti-war twist, and a love story thrown in. The entire story was so emotional "it touched parts of my skull I never knew existed (quoted from Wolverine of the Uncanny X-men). "

Anyway, I'm taking a break from serious posting for now, mainly because I got nothing serious to talk about yet. I just wanted to vent out my left-over emotion. Hey, if you want to read up on the show yourself, go to this link.

My Friendsters can expect a very favorable review any time within the next seven days. It just might get my first perfect ten.

Is it Real?

Reality TV seems to show no signs of waning, at least in the Philippines. Every day people flock to their TV sets to watch "reality" shown to them on their TV sets, which mostly comprises of people p*ss*ng each other off or trying to get a date but end up p*ss*ng their dates off anyway.

Basically, reality TV shows its viewers a "reality" where the negative side of human nature is emphasized. There people aren't trustworthy and might drive one out of the game unless one beats them to it. There potential partners for one's children have to go through lie detector tests because they're lecherous dogs.

You know, there's one other type of entertainment that shares these traits. It's the carnival freakshow. Here one also sees things that are "real." Here one also sees people with lives more pathetic than one's own, and one can also feel good about one's self because the one can say: "hey, at least I'm not a freak like that thing!" In short, one can inflate the ego while watching the freakshow play out because it gives one a sense of superiority. And everyone loves to inflate their egos, even just a bit. <>

But, is it real? Is that all there is to people? What of the fact that people can actually be trusworthy? What of the fact that they can actually date one's son or daughter out of the goodness of their hearts? <>

People just don't like to see goodness in this world anymore. I know why. Every time a person sees something beautiful, it gives that person something to look up to, something to struggle for, something that person isn't, and probably is inferior to. No one likes to feel inferior. <>

Hence, since people can become too lazy to look up and struggle to perfect themselves, they look for things that are the exact opposite: things worse than they are, which can make them feel great about themselves because they already got better lives than what they're looking at. They call it reality. <>

I call it lazy. People who can only feel good about themselves because everyone else is inferior is not deserving to be called a person. Once they stop evolving, they become Darwinian mistakes who have stopped becoming fit for survival. Reality TV caters to these kinds of people. <>
Of course, watching reality based shows purely for entertainment is not wrong in itself. Just be careful not to watch it out of the need to inflate the ego.

Pesidential Elections

Hey, welcome again to this god-forsaken blog.

The USA will be having its elections in November 2004. What I can't stand is how few Americans actually vote. It should not be so, because American interest runs the world, and American policy becomes World policy. In short, eveytime there is an election for US president, Americans are effectively electing the king of the world. That's not an exaggerration. It may not be readily apparent in the first world, but here in the third world it is. The Philippines for one is heavily influenced by US policy because the US is our primary partner in trade, military modernization, and economic aid. It may not seem too important to first-worlders to vote for their leaders. But it sure matters to us if the US president is Republican or Democrat, liberal, conservative, or centrist, because when the US goes to war, we do. When the US liberalizes trade, we do. When they decide to send troops to wherever, so do we.

I am not mad at Americans per se. I've been there and it's a beautiful country. I just hope that they could learn to see the fact that their national responsibility, by virtue of the fact that their country is a hegemonic power, is also an international responsibility.

First Post

Welcome to "Why Are You Here?"

This Blog is dedicated to all those people who either have nothing better to do, are trying to get some recreation time, or just happened to come across this site. Whatever the reason is, I welcome you all the same.

For now, I'll just recycle some of my older personal essays posted on friendster. Granted, I am not the best writer out there, but feel free to comment anyway.

What is Open-mindedness?

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Isn't it crazy that many people claim to be of an open mind yet don't really show it? Like how they claim to be open-minded yet condemn people for reading the Da Vinci Code or any book they deem offensive? What really is an "open mind" anyway? That, my dear pals, is what I will explore today.

Some people say that an open mind is open to all ideas insofar as those ideas are not “poisonous." I had a teacher in high school (a real nutcase) who said: "you do not need to drink poison to know it is poison." This is why he instantly criticizes movies he hasn't watched, books he hasn't read, and philosophies he hasn't studied.

Poor guy. Hope he's happy. I see it differently. His analogy is wrong. Poison is a substance that kills the body. It is always lethal. Knowledge is not like poison. Knowledge, depending on who possesses it, can lead to salvation or damnation.
Poison always kills. The body can't adapt to poisons. The mind however can be trained to resist potentially destructive concepts. It can learn to turn potentially counter-productive knowledge into something useful. It can use the Theory of Relativity to make nukes or nuclear power plants, morality is a non-issue. Therefore, there is no reason for my old teacher's intolerance.

To be of open mind is to be able to ask oneself the simple question when faced with a view that is potentially problematic: "what did the author of this idea see?" In short, instead of avoiding the "poison" (which it isn't), see first how the idea came to be. Why does its author believe in the idea as strongly as you believe yours? Why are you both 100% sure of your beliefs, yours and the person in question's?

This does not mean that you'll throw away your own beliefs. Should you deem your beliefs more suitable, then adopt them. Should you think that the other guy's ideas may be unsound in places but sound in others, adopt the suitable ideas but don't throw away yours. This is not eclecticism. This is appropriation.

If you think I'm misguided in these beliefs, then sue me. Condemn me to hell. Tell me I'm, going to burn with Satan. I'm of open mind. I know where you're coming from. I had the same training you did.

But think first of why I am as strong in my "misguided" beliefs as you are with yours.