All-Out War (Blog war, that is)

(Anton’s Note: To protect the privacy of this misguided UPD Freshie from QueSci [and herself from a lynch mob], I have decided not to mention her name which begins with the initials E.N. To protect her further, I have decided to omit any trace of her course which is in the College of Arts and Letters. Finally, my response is the block of text in italics at the bottom)

Ganun ba yun?? Ang batayan ng galing ng naproduce na estudyante ng isang eskwelahan ay ang dami ng numero ng estudyanteng naging aktibista??

I think not.

I, for one, am not interested in being one of those protest-joining people we call ‘activists‘. Honestly, because of the activists I’ve met, I’m not impressed with what they do.

Forcing people who clearly do not want any part of their activities is one thing that turns me off, precisely because I’m the kind of person who doesn’t think I can change anything by joining the protests held by the students and afterwards proclaiming myself as one of the few who "stands up and does, at the very least, something for the people".

Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that I think the activists’ attempts are entirely futile, but it’s just that I’m just not the type of person who can help with such things. I would just be a burden.

I do want to do something for my society, but not now. I don’t feel as if my time has come to act yet, but I know that someday, I will. I’m not apathetic to my country, I care very much. It’s just that I really don’t think I’m of much use. Besides, I’m not willing to scream my voice hoarse just for something that I feel unnecessary to do anyway.

—

"Smart people speak out only when they have something to say. Fools speak out when they want to say something."

"Fools only care to show how smart they are."

So how do you suggest we change society for the better? By following your example and watching the developments from the sidelines?

First of all, how did you learn to ride a bike? or swim? or tie your shoelaces? Did you learn by reading some guide book until one day, voila! You could do it perfectly? No, its the basic scientific method. In fact, its basic common sense. You experiment on what is the best solution to society’s problems. Even if you don’t figure out which is it on your first try, you always come out of the experience with more knowledge. Non-participation in society is analogous to figuring out if the hypothesis is correct without conducting an experiment. Good luck nalang dun.

Its incredible how some can claim that they are not apathetic yet when they are offered an avenue to figure out which way to go, they slink from that offer. Like I said above, if ever activism is NOT the way to go, you would have at least learned something else. And if you really cared, you would have recognized the urgency to do something: at the minimum, eliminate one path because you found out it was wrong. at the maximum, found out the path to go.

To dismiss something as unnecessary without actual knowledge of that object is like saying what a dish tastes like without even consuming it. And sitting by idly while your people goes to the dogs is like a scene from Spiderman-2: Peter Parker watches and does nothing while two men beat up another person.

And finally, to say that activists are merely people who want to be in the spotlight is a piece of stupidity that even people from DLSU won’t even say. I’m sure if you ACTUALLY spoke to one of them, you’d understand what I mean.

When you said I THINK NOT, this is what I have to say in reply: maybe you should really start doing some thinking for a change.

P.S Incidentally, ask the Araling Panlipunan faculty what they think is the basis for determining the quality of the students a school produces =)

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 12th, 2006 at 9:26 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.