sana hindi n lang tyo pinaglaban ng ating mga bayani!!

[uls]

labo ba? eto, the NPA and all those pissed at the govt are fighting the govt. so there is war. but its too damn small to change anything. nothing to explain here.

U want change? BIGTIME CHANGE? then u wont get that with that people power rally rally bullshit.

BIGTIME change comes from violent upheaval. nothing less.

We dont want violent upheaval. So we have what we have. So everybody stop complaining. We all deserve the govt we get.

[empy]

sorry i'm late to the party

labo ba? eto, the NPA and all those pissed at the govt are fighting the govt. so there is war. but its too damn small to change anything. nothing to explain here.

U want change? BIGTIME CHANGE? then u wont get that with that people power rally rally bullshit.

BIGTIME change comes from violent upheaval. nothing less.

We dont want violent upheaval. So we have what we have. So everybody stop complaining. We all deserve the govt we get.

i disagree. EDSA 1 was bigtime change. dictatorship to (ok, flawed) democracy. want more examples? Martin Luther King. Gandhi. Lech Walesa. it's not easy, and you must be absolutely committed, but it can be done.

but let's say that the only way you can enact big change is through violence. who has the means to take power by force from GMA's cold dead hands? the AFP? the MILF? some politician's private army? do you want to be led by any of these groups?

i'm not a pacifist. i believe there's a time and a place for armed struggle (the war vs. Spain was a good example imo). but this ain't it.

[uls]

the spaniards wouldnt have left if they werent driven out by the americans by force.

the americans were driven out by the japanese. then the japanese were driven out by the americans. all those changes involved blood... lots and lots of blood.

And pinoys expect big changes from a bloodless revolution 20 years ago?

only the personalities changed. but the way things are done have remained the same.

the way wealth is acquired remains the same, no matter who is in power.

[kyle618]

war isnt very likely. so lets be happy about it. no more complaining about the status quo. things are fine.

It can be much, much worse.

imo, i feel this is the kind of attitude why we are still this way.... unfortunately, rallying is not the answer or that people power bullsht. i think it will take a lot more than rallying for the people to wakeup... yes, i think "war" will wake us up but! there are other ways... but it must be HUGE and SCARY like war... kasi masyadong relax ang mga tao dito... laging masayahin... we need to show them that our current situation is not normal ... like our streets... stopping in the middle of the road<-- not normal. We need to show them the consequences for not following the rules something like PUGOT ulo in front of everyone, shot dead in front of everyone etc... We are too relax... too satisfied.

[niky]

imo, i feel this is the kind of attitude why we are still this way.... unfortunately, rallying is not the answer soooooooooooo um im stuck in the middle haha

Too true. One thing many people don't think about or realize is: "Where do activists go when they grow old?"

A lot of former activists often grow up and into jobs in the industry, in business, and in government. The sad part is, once they're in a position where they can make a change, they apparently forget why they wanted to be there in the first place...

Rallying is not the answer... but neither is quiet acceptance. Do your bit to make the country a better place from where you are. Help a poor kid through school. Give someone a job if you can. Speak your mind when you have to. Don't stand by while other people espouse bull and actually convince others that it is all good.

Don't encourage corruption. If you get the traffic ticket fair and square, just tell the enforcer: "Give me the ticket, I'll go to the LTO on Monday." (I actually do this) Pay your taxes.

If your heart leads you abroad, don't forget your homeland. I'm glad that this new generation of OFWs is doing that (with our record remittances and all). But they should follow the example of older OFWs... when you've made your personal fortune, come home and contribute to our economy. Become a teacher so that others may learn from you and follow their dream.

Alone, you may not be able to make a difference, but follow your principles, help your fellow man, and together, maybe we'll be able to make this country work... someday.

[the_wildthing]

I'm not very clear on our history. Didn't the Spaniards leave because they were paid a sh*tload of money?

[chua_riwap]

Kahit magulo sa atin, basta ako............


PILIPINAS PA RIN!

[GasJunkie]

uls


Change can be affected, if and only if the majority are united by setting aside personal interest, but as history has shown we are a nation of selfish people talking big ideas but never pulling through on anything. We have a long ways to go, we'll get there though maybe not on our time but the next.


even if we have a hundred wars as long as we don't change. deja vu.....



Bonifacio anyone?


Ot hope am coherent enough brains a little wired right now.

[uls]

Change will not happen because people dont want it to happen. Many people are happy with the way things are.

U have a lifestyle u dont want to change. U have a well paying job, or a business, u have kids going to private school, u have a house in the suburbs, u have late model cars in ur garage, u have underpaid household help, u have ur weekend car club meetings, ur golf tournaments, ur trips to boracay... do u want change?

well, many people in govt also have the same lifestyle. do they want change?

[GasJunkie]

I want change because I believe what is good for my country is also good for me, but never through violence.

[uls]

yes the americans bought the phils from the spaniards but not before they traded cannonfire.

[oldblue]

yes the americans bought the phils from the spaniards but not before they traded cannonfire.

and not before Aguinaldo and his men sneaked at the back of Intramuros Fortified City and while the Spanish were busy exchanging cannonballs with the American invaders from Manila Bay.

taka nga ako what's so glorious about this victory eh.

before that war event, Aguinaldo and some members of the revolutionary movement had a secret meeting with the Americans in Hongkong. not exactly a honorable/heroic act worthy to be credited by history. pero ito ang namana natin, secret meetings/dealings, conspiring

[Jun aka Pekto]

and not before Aguinaldo and his men sneaked at the back of Intramuros Fortified City and while the Spanish were busy exchanging cannonballs with the American invaders from Manila Bay.

taka nga ako what's so glorious about this victory eh.

before that war event, Aguinaldo and some members of the revolutionary movement had a secret meeting with the Americans in Hongkong. not exactly a honorable/heroic act worthy to be credited by history. pero ito ang namana natin, secret meetings/dealings, conspiring

At the beginning, Admiral Dewey's main concern was to destroy the Spanish fleet which he did very convincingly. He had the meeting with Aguinaldo to enlist the help of the Filipino insurgents in throwing the Spanish out of Manila. At that time, both had no thoughts of colonization/annexation of the Philippines by the US. But, the politicians back in Washington saw these events as a chance for the US to be a world/colonizing power. It was those politicians who convinced Washington to keep the Philippines and territories won from Spain. Spain thought the Philippines was lost. So, they sold the Philippines to the US (and maybe as a last ditch spit on the faces of the Pinoys). All these started happening soon after Dewey's meeting with Aguinaldo. The Spanish demanded that they keep their honor. So, there was some gunfire followed quickly by the Spanish garrison surrendering to the Americans but not the Pinoys who were kept out of the walled city.

[GasJunkie]

Life is full of disappointment you just learn to live with it.

[CVT]

tama si Chip:
Sabi nga ni Quezon "I prefer a government run like hell by Filipinos to a government run like heaven by Americans."

Ayun, ganoon nga ang nangyari...

[uls]

the absence of war doesnt mean there is peace. it can mean that an oppressor is too powerful that the oppressed cant fight back.

Yes we have relative peace in our country. but the masses are disenchanted. it just so happens the rulling class is too powerful that the masses are helpless against it.

Now, where are u in the socioeconomic ladder? if ur A-B (which most of u are), then things are fine. things are good, things can only get better.

If ur C-D, u hate A-B. U wanna drag A-B down to ur level and beat A-B to a bloody pulp.

The govt and A-B preserves the status quo by oppressing the C-D. So A-B can pimp their rides, go to boracay, gimmick all night, go shopping...

[GasJunkie]

edited Don't want to be redundant.

[uls]

Peace, or the absence of violence, is good only to those who have interests to protect.

Like i said earlier, if u have a fairly nice middle class lifestyle (i.e. up to ur neck in credit card bills), the last thing u want is violence and looting and lawless rampage.

the A-B want the status quo. they are the ones who want peace and order coz life is good to them.

Down in the C-D neighborhood, hate and resentment is brewing. And they are waiting for the opportunity to go out into the streets to loot shops and kill and rape...

[niky]

The problem with the class differences is that there's not enough pie to go around. Investments and developments that would help C-D rise up, like agricultural development, rural development, are not prioritized by the government, which, due to its centralized nature, concentrates most of its efforts at infrastructure development in the environs of Manila.

In what other country, for example, do you have to travel four or five hours to Manila to visit the regional office of certain government agencies?

And in what other country do you see unions rising up to destroy businesses and factories that help provide jobs for C-class Filipinos at B-class wages? And just because the Chinese or Japanese who own these factories are different from the Chinese who own most of the "local" businesses?

And why do we have such an American-ish attitude that all poor people are poor because they're f*cking lazy? Hello? There are a lot of C and D class people who scrounge up as much as they can to send their kids to school. Kids who don't have a chance to make it to High School or College to qualify for the "abundant jobs" that they should supposedly be doing instead of being poor.

Hell, the last time I looked, even unskilled labor was going to High School graduates and you needed to be at least 1st year College to do the relatively easy task of sweeping floors at McDo. So where are those jobs the poor people should be doing?

Maybe this is because all we see are the beggars. The people who, out of desperation and the inability to eke out little more than subsistence and slow starvation from our poor soil or from increasingly limited hunting and gathering (and yes, our topsoil resources are very poor) find out that Manila is very rich indeed... and that a Beggar can live like a King in Manila, whereas a beggar in the province is merely someone waiting to die.

A lot of those D-class people are those who are trying to make a living off the land, not an easy prospect, and not made any more palatable by the fact that money earned by beggars and maids in Manila would make them rich at home.

I've had beggars as students at public schools. They don't want to be beggars, but there's no way they can survive and study on the meager income their parents make doing odd jobs. I don't like giving to beggars, because you never know whether that money is going to a syndicate, to rugby or to pimps, but it's hard not to feel sorry for those who are forced to it.

There can be no revolution of the poor, like the "revolution" of the middle class that failed to do anything but open up the circle of power to more and more players... because the poor... the truly poor... are fighting hard enough as it is to stay alive... and some of them are actually fighting to rise above their class. Unfortunately, it's a losing battle.

[uls]

The govt and A-B will always protect their interests. Corruption is allowed by the A-B so those in power are corrupted to a point where they wouldnt want to leave where they are. Tada! Resistance to change is solidified. Status quo preserved.