La vie est belle

You Reap What You Sow

++++You Reap What You Sow++++

So I’ve been thinking a lot lately, trying to understand and analyze what has happened to the Filipino society. It’s disappointing to know that more and more young adults and teenagers now ignore the basic premises and core values of the Filipino society. I know that change happens overtime and with globalization, Filipinos have opted to adopt a more liberal mentality and have become more open to change than ever before. However, it disgusts me to know that young teenagers are now engaging to sexual activity and think that sex is just nothing. Yes, everyone has the right to do whatever he/she wants and is free to make his/her decisions but what is happening to these young people?

Another thing that really makes me sad and angry is how young people don’t make use of their education after college or university. They think that getting married or getting pregnant after they’re done school is their destiny, period. The concept of Love in the Philippine seems to be distorted, young Filipino people confuse the term with LUST and they believe that it’s LOVE when really it’s NOT. It infuriating to know that those who have been privileged enough to be given high education are the ones who often screw their own lives after and make no use of what they’ve learned, total waste of time and money eh? Why would you want to waste your parents’ money when clearly you want to be nobody afterwards? They have the lame excuse such as “I went to school because of my parents, I was getting good grades for my parents”, bullshit. Your parents are supposed to be there just to provide for you (If you’re lucky enough) and to guide you for a bright future, you go to school because you want to and willing to make a change. I think this happens to many spoiled brats, those who have been lucky (unlucky) enough to be given all they wanted since birth, those never had to beg for things; yet they become useless afterwards and for me, they don’t deserve any respect or whatsoever.

I think that what’s really missing in most young Filipinos nowadays is discipline. Growing up, my mom always taught us to become good children, by obeying her orders and not overstepping the boundaries that she set for us. My sister and I can get really crazy, wild, obnoxious, and stubborn but we know that there are limits to everything we can do; we know better not to disappoint her because we have high respect for her. I studied hard for university, I may not have gotten perfect grades to every subject but I did try all my damn best because I knew that I was doing it all for myself. I knew that I was responsible for shaping my own future that’s why I took advantage of the education that was given to me by my parents. Young Filipinos should change their perspectives; they should start making wise decisions and start acting smart, besides “you reap what you sow”, what happens to you is always a result of your actions….Also, our society needs change, we currently face political turmoil, economic recession, and social problems, the least we could do is to add more problems to our society that's already deteriorating.

::Money as an Ideal::

        You know the famous saying, ‘money does not buy you happiness’? It’s a cliché but it’s totally true. Last Friday, I went to my sociology class and I actually stayed for the whole lecture. It’s a 3-hour lecture and I normally leave halfway through because I get bored and would rather sleep in my warm and cozy bed on a Friday morning. But that day, the topic was about money and I decided to stay because I knew it would be something that would interest me.
         The professor asked some students the question, “why are you in university”? A girl responded, and said “Because of money”. Then he asked other students, they answered the same thing. However, I thought to myself, I am in university because I want to gain knowledge. Education does indeed open more opportunities or doors to for many people. It provides you knowledge and problem-solving skills to make your way to becoming a millionaire, for example. But is that really why it’s such a big deal going to school? According to our society, it is; it’s all because of societal norms. In reality, there’s an unwritten law that we must all conform to the norms within our society. But what about those people who don’t even have the opportunity to attend school or university?
         It’s funny how people become so caught up with the idea that going to college guarantees you to earn big bucks. But if we’re only going to school for money, we can simply all quit school and get a job that could make us millionaires somewhere else. They can be legal or illegal… For instance, we can all become drug dealers and earn a lump sum of cash right away, or if we don’t want minimum wage, we can be strippers and earn $700 a night, right? Now is there something wrong with that, when all we really want is money? Yeah, again these things are against custom traditions, etcetera, etc.
            I understand not everyone is the same, we all have different values, beliefs and cultures that we follow, but we share a commonality and that is, we always hold on to the norms within our society. Now, it’s not that there’s anything wrong with that, but norms are becoming downplayed to the extent in which, people like me don’t even care anymore.
           When talking about money, some people get this idea that money is everything. I do admit, I used to think that way as well. I would dream about having the nicest and luxurious things that other people had because I thought having them would make me the best. But my experience in high school changed my perception of money. When I was in high school in Brussels, I learned something very significant about class stratification. I don’t know if it was because of the school I attended but when I look back in that school, it didn’t matter whether you were rich, middle class or upper-middle class. It’s so sad that some people in many places treat money as God to the extent in which, the rich and the poor can no longer co-exist because they’re two very different classes. Big deal eh, but for me I’ve experienced and seen all walks of life and that notion is absolute crap.
            In high school, I was surrounded by extremely rich people with big reputations.  I tell yah, I felt so poor in that school. Little did I know, I used to sit next to the grandson of the founder of Toyota Motors in biology class, or played field hockey with Nicholas Burn’s daughter [the current under-secretary of state for political affairs in the US] Or have the grandson of Enrique Bolaños [the president of Nicaragua] attend the same school as me. You know what, all these things didn’t matter, there was no class division or whatever; people didn’t give a damn about your money or reputation. What mattered most was who you were as a person and how you got along with others. I know that in many Third World countries [I’m a poli-scie major and I know I shouldn’t be using that term, but I will, to make a point] class is everything but people should abandon that perception and start thinking that money is just an ideal. 

YOU KNOW YOU WENT TO AN INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL WHEN:

YOU know you went to an International Schoold when:

         

    

1. You can't answer the question "where are you from?"
2. You speak two or more languages.
3. You flew before you could walk.
4. You have a passport, but no drivers license.
5. You have a time zone map and international calling card next to your telephone.
6. You don't know where home is.
7. Someone brings up the name of a team and you get the sport wrong.
8. You know there is no such thing as an international language.
9. You realize it really is a small world, after all.
10. Your high school memories include those days that school was cancelled due to bomb threats, tear gas, riots, demonstrations, or flooding.
11. You have a name in at least two different languages, and it's not the same one.
12. You think VISA is a document stamped in your passport, and not a plastic card that you carry in your wallet.
13. You automatically take off your shoes as soon as you get home.
14. You know the geography of the rest of the world, but you don't know the geography of your own country.
15. You actually go to your 'HOME' country for summer holidays.
16. Your high school yearbook looks like a Bennetton catalogue.
17. You're spoiled. You know it. You're VERY spoiled.
18. Sports tournaments required plane rides and homestays.
19. No matter what people tell you, you'll never drink TAP WATER.
20. You watch a movie set in a foreign country, and you know what the nationals are really saying into the camera.
21. Your second major is in a foreign language you already speak.
22. You sort your friends by continent.
23. Your life story uses the phrase "Then we went to..." five times (or six, or seven times...).
24. You have or are eligbile for more than one passport. Each on a different continent.
25. Your family moves every three years.
26. You and your high school friends can speak in a different language to each other when you don't want anyone to listen.
27. Each of your friends is from a different country.
28. School field trips require travelling outside the country
29. You've been drinking alcohol at fancy dinner parties since you about 13.
30. Many of your friends had chauffeurs drive them to school.
31. Your high school prom was at a five star hotel.

Power and Politics

It's 2:17 am and I'm still awake...I actually fell asleep for like 10 minutes but my sister had to wake me up cos I'd forgotten that I was still doing my laundry...So, I went to get my laundry and now I'm fully awake, and listening to music. I've never written or posted a blog before, and never wanted to cos I thought it was a waste of time. However, I can't fall asleep so I'm gonna go ahead and vent by writing to kill time.

Today I had my human rights exam and it was pretty easy, although I spent the whole 3 hours writing essays, and more essays, all about human rights and politics. Yes, so political science is my major and so now I'm so passionate about politics. In fact, I believe that everything is about politics because it applies to everything in this world. But the easiest way to understand politics is to relate it to POWER, which means, Material wealth/ Money. Yes, so I am a realist. I believe that politics is all about power, money, survival, self-interest, etcetera, etc...Sometimes it makes me so angry when I think how f*cked up our world is. The discrepancy between the rich and poor continue to increase especially with the advent of globalization.  Millions of people in the world particulary women and children become the victims of extreme poverty, famine, and deadly diseases. Sometimes I wonder how and why these bad lucks happen to the most unfortunate human beings on earth...

Well, the answer is simple. Governments around the world are driven by capitalism and want to follow the US model of governance, which by the way IS not the Best because it's too state-centric and puts too much emphasis on the economic realm. The problem with the developing countries is that, they try to follow the US trajectory but the thing is, their levels of economic standards do not equal that of the US. Hence, they can play catch-up forever but will never match the economic power of the United States. However, these developing countries do not have a choice, but to adhere to free trade and open their markets because they must obey the conditions set forth by the World Bank and IMF, which were outlined in the Structural Adjustments Packages or SAPs. Why? Because they owe them money, lots and lots of money so they must follow these conditions. So while they try to develop and build all these nice, expensive and attractive skycrapers around the city, evidence of extreme poverty remain in the sorrounding area.

Do you wonder why Makati is so developed but at the same time the squarter areas still exists? And what about Hongkong, Beijing, Shanghai...they have developed infrastructures, yes, but on the other side of the country, more than half of the population live under the poverty line. For those who may not realize {although it may be obvious] this is all done by the so-called globalization which means free trade and free market between countries, that's why they say, we now live in a borderless world. Yet, globalization is not beneficial to everybody, only those with money and power to control [i.e. multinationals or big firms from the West] could gain from it. It's sad isn't it? But it's a harsh reality...

So what must be done??? Well...we as the younger generations probably can't do much now, but we can be the future leaders. We can make a difference by not submitting to the wills of the powerful states, we can challenge them and not elect incompetent leaders in our countries who will only become the puppets of the West. It saddens me that my home country, y'all know Philippines, is still the same. In effect, it has not progressed much. When I left almost 8 years ago, the country was facing huge political disarray and economic disposition and today the problems remain. Now I currently reside in Canada and I meet a lot of our fellas at work and sometimes on the streets. More and more of them immigrate and choose to come and work here because of the abundant amount of money. They sacrifice not seeing their families for several years just so they can earn and send money to them. Yet, most of them get paid with minimum wage, but that's already a lot in filipino pesos, so in a way it's a good thing.

One time at work, I met a filipina in her 40's who migrated here a few months ago. Now, she's in college in Ottawa, re-educating herself to have a higher-paying job. She told me she is a CPA back in P.I., but she is having a hard time finding a job. You know why? Because the Canadian government would not recognize her CPA certificate and she graduated in one of the best schools in the country. Sad eh? So she's stuck here, and if she goes back in the Philippines she would not be paid much either.

And I used to think that, where you get your education doesn't really matter much, rather it's how you educate yourself, because at the end of the day, science is science, english is english, and maths is maths. Nothing really changes until you do your schoolwork then quality comes down to subject. BUT, to some extent, if your parents have money and can afford to buy you a degree in one of the elite schools, then you are safe and can be a President like George Bush who graduated with a C [roughly 70%].