it is with deadlines looming and the need to earn my keep that I write this. which is to say I have more important things to do with my time, including of course your notion(s) of action, as they do include what you wouldn’t be caught dead doing for nation.
but your tirade against the armchair … este … the revolutionary armchair … no wait, the armchair revolutionary! cannot be left unquestioned, lest the world thinks we all agree with you, and that would ultimately be a misrepresentation of this country’s ability at coming together and kicking presidents out: nakaupo man tayo sa armchair o lupa ng EDSA, nakataas man ang ating kamao sa Mendiola o nagki-click ng mouse maghapon.
this is not to say at all that I’m a revolutionary — my knowledge of who exactly are the revolutionaries of our time keeps me from imagining myself as that. you meanwhile seem to have no issue with calling yourself such, seeing as you critique its armchair version because as far as you’re concerned real revolutionaries translate it into action: I imagine you mean that workshop you had with your Pinoy Power NGO?
don’t worry, I shall get to that in a bit.
right now I find the need to write you as a matter of defending my chair, which is not an armchair, as it is an ergonomic chair — the better for one’s lower back. this is to defend this chair, many versions of which exist across this country, and in every space in the world where there’s a Filipino. this is to defend this chair, because on it sits the Pinoy who clicks on the Like and Dislike button on FB, and (re-)Tweets what he or she thinks.
we are the ones you critique yes? you admonish us: do more! do more for country! act on your tweets, act on your FB statuses!
I’d tell you with as much excitement that we’ve been doing this all this time, but I don’t want to rain on your parade of imagined self-importance. instead let me point out two things:
(1) all the activists on my FB friend list and the ones I follow on Twitter are activists period. do you follow them too, Jim? these are intelligent people who continue to teach this side of the world about nation, extending the teaching process to Twitter and FB, and yes, blogging (which I presume is an evil too as far as you’re concerned — oh the time we waste just sitting to blog!)
I don’t know where you’ve been Jim, but we established a long time ago, and I think it’s now common sense, that these social networking sites reproduce who we are as people to begin with. tool po ang tawag sa FB at Twitter, Tumblr at Posterous na ginagamit natin para sa ating mga pagkilos sa labas ng virtual nating mundo. who exactly said and believed that this was an end in itself?
I do wonder now: when you admonish them people who Tweet and put up FB statuses, and question what it is they’re doing, who are you talking to? obviously not the activists who have continued to exist, over and above your leaving and living again in this country Jim. or is this really just your recent realization about yourself?
(2) or maybe you mean me? with no time really other than the few precious minutes I spend finishing a cup of coffee, which I use to do any or all of the following: look at my Twitter feed and retweet the tweets I agree with, look at my FB News Feed and Like the statuses that are funny or relevant or both, Share notes that I feel are important to read for whoever will catch it up on their News Feeds. if there’s time, I might tag the people who I feel must read these posts, be it on Twitter or FB.
but you know, time away from writing means no money to pay the bills, Jim. and things aren’t difficult for me, as it actually is for a bigger working class in this country: the ones who are underpaid and mistreated, underemployed and overworked, be it in BPOs across the country, or just in horrid creative jobs that really only look good on paper, all of the educated class who would know to use FB and twitter as tools, if not as possible escape.
and so you see Jim, I’m actually happy enough when there’s any sense of nation in the FB statuses or tweets of my students — now all mostly working in crappy jobs that don’t do justice to their skills or intelligence. I celebrate when they Like an FB post of mine that’s about the fight for passing the RH Bill, or about a current event or other that they might not even know of otherwise. I take the chance to respond to their questions on my blog, or in private messages, because you know it means they took time, that there was time spent at thinking about nation, at removing one’s head from the daily grind and clicking on what Miss Ina said today about nation.
that Like, that (re-)tweet, that Shared FB note, means more to me because I know of the lives they live, and the way in which time is equal to money where they work. and yes, those Likes or Shared posts from public school teachers where I used to work, the ones who keep my feet on the ground, the ones who have taught me more than they can imagine because of the lives they live: those are enough too, Jim.
because the question really is: who can afford to get out of his armchair and scream at people to do the same? no really, Jim. isn’t this just all about you?
yet you speak as if it’s about us, as if you know all of us; you speak as if we are all in the same boat. and you question us, Jim, you question us who are here, have stayed, and have no where to go really, though we might leave and work odd jobs elsewhere — not at all the case for you, right? you speak of us who can’t just go around building NGOs, holding photography workshops, being paid for being us, Jim.
you are not the same as the rest of us, and I said it long ago, and I’ll say it now: you and Carlos Celdran are in the same boat, from which you have the option to watch us all sink, from which you both speak of changing nation, and yet will keep the status quo. unlike you though, Carlos has been touring us through Manila, and fighting for the RH Bill, to his own detriment. what have you done that even equals that, Jim?
not much, really. and yet you will brag about making your house a relief and donation center in light of the 2009 floods in Luzon, to which I respond with two questions: (1) what have you done since then? (2011 na diba?), and (2) why do you speak like you have a monopoly on this act of opening up one’s house and home?
countless Filipinos did this in Manila and beyond post-Ondoy, Jim, and they might have been tweeting and putting up FB statuses while they were doing it, too. you don’t know my sister-in-law, but she lives in The Netherlands, has three young kids and a house to keep, and she kept an operation going in the aftermath of Ondoy. like many Filipinos here and across the world, she didn’t even think of bragging about it. for most Filipinos the relief operations were not a claim to fame, or a claim to moral high ground. in fact it was nothing but a national spirit that cut across the world, in every tiny space there was a Filipino. yes, chairs included.
you have single handedly made it seem like we weren’t doing much during Ondoy, Jim, and I don’t know how that helps nation — how that helps any of us — in any way.
nor is it clear how a weekend workshop of 99 people who ate like the poor in one exercise — only sardines and instant mami you say — helps nation. no really: how does a workshop where you ask the question “are we a people wired to fail?” help nation? where does a workshop even stand, that whole weekend spent talking to each other about being Pinoy, in the context of the urgencies that we live with in this nation every day, both personal and national.
sa totoo lang Jim, many of us don’t need to do an exercise where we can feel like the rich or poor: we know exactly what that disparity is like. many of us don’t have time to talk about being Filipino and Filipino identity Jim, instead we live it and its contingent oppressions every day.
and this is not a question of you having the privilege of time and money Jim. it’s a question of what it is you’re doing with it. because there is no reason to blame us for the time that you have on your hands; no reason to look at our tweets and FB statuses and think: what are they doing with their time? and finding only the answers that are about highlighting what you’ve done.
in truth: you’re writing on air, Jim, in a country where writers write with their own blood, and die poor and hungry.
really now Jim, you must know this is a lot of crap. and you must know it because you’re talking to yourself, sitting in every kind of chair you’ve got in your house. and no, there’s nothing revolutionary about that.
Uy, baka gusto mo i-post to sa Disqus comments section sa ilalim ng article? :D
To promote on-site discussion ;)
thank you so much for writing this. i felt offended when i read his article, but i wondered if i should really be. thank you for making me feel that my tweets and my statuses are worth something, because in the world i live in and in the life events make me lead, i can only do just that. and thank you for making me feel that with just that, my thoughts and efforts, though not as grandiose as Jim Paredes’ wanted it to be, are worth something.
hi gee, good to know that i wasn’t, still am not, alone in getting offended, and feeling like he was pointing a finger at all of us, instead of seeing what we’ve done so far.
and yes, thoughts, efforts, writing, speaking, facebooking, tweeting, blogging. i will always think these are worth something, sometimes even so much more than grandiose displays of responsibility. :)
cheers!
I think Jim Paredes’ point was that tweeting and blogging isn’t enough. We have to contribute by paying taxes, by following traffic regulations or by not bribing policemen when caught. If that’s not how you took it, you are, of course, entitled to your opinion. As for asking what Jim Paredes has done vis-a-vis Carlos Celdran, I think you need to do some research about what he’s done. You can question his comment about armchair revolutionaries but to say he hasn’t done anything is ignorant.
didn’t say Jim hasn’t done anything. didn’t say that AT ALL. and if that’s what you get out of it, then what i get out of Jim’s statements about tweeting and using FB is exactly this. so we are to our own readings, which in the end should be judged on how it helps nation, and who it helps, if at all.
My comment was based on this:
“unlike you though, Carlos has been touring us through Manila, and fighting against the RH Bill, to his own detriment. what have you done that even equals that, Jim?”
If you feel slighted by his comment, I actually do understand. We do what we can in our capacity. But I also understand him. When he was younger he actually went to the streets. He encouraged people to go to EDSA (1 and 2). There wasn’t any Facebook or Twitter or blogs to use as a soap box. And he HAS done things to his detriment. He wasn’t on the fan list of Marcos. The worst the Catholic Church can do to Celdran pales in comparison to what Marcos could do. So I can see why he feels that what he sees now is lacking. I hope a better understanding of each other’s perspectives will resolve this because really we don’t have time to squabble amongst each other.
@carlo: what Jim did for EDSA 1 and 2, my parents and I did, too, as did hundreds of thousands of Filipinos. we don’t go around pointing a finger at those who didn’t do / haven’t done what we have done. Martial Law is also very VERY different from the recent past, of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, for example, of the fight for the RH Bill for another. i invoke Carlos’ name (maybe in vain, and to Carlos i apologize) as a matter of doing something now, concretely and correctly towards creating intelligent discussion and discourse, not easily to monopolize the conversation.
Jim Paredes never directly participated in the protests back then. The best he and APO were doing are making snide remarks in their concerts, and not even in their tv appearances. Have you even heard of an APO song that directly criticized Marcos? AFAIK he was not part of the parliament of the streets from the time Ninoy was shot up till Marcos left.
Any effort to even hint at this is disgusting, and is an insults the memories of great Filipinos who fought bravely during those times like Soc Rodrigo and Evelio Javier.
“and is an INSULT to the memories…” pala… oops!
@acid: SALAMAT at may nagconfeerm kung ano ba talaga ang role ni Jim sa EDSAs. sa totoo lang, hindi ko siya nakita sa EDSA Dos, at nandun ako from the beginning, hindi ko naman yan naramdaman si Jim.
at OO. what an insult to Evelio Javier and Soc Rodrigo, and everyone who died and disappeared during Martial Law. we can even get into whether or not Jim has ever felt endangered by the State, and given his social class (which is what people would like to deny) I’m sure never nangyaring delikado o ikamamatay niya ang ginagawa niya. what does that say about his notion(s) of activism.
maybe you’d like to read this, and maybe share this with Mr. Paredes na rin.
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2010/10/04/101004fa_fact_gladwell?printable=true
Ang haba naman ng article. Solb na ko sa “Social media can’t provide what social change has always required.” Thanks sa share. :D
pero winner pa rin!
salamat @gee!
I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
LET’S GET MARRIED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
But seriously, great letter and thanks for writing it.
All my love,
-Stuffy
@stuffy: i don’t quite know how to respond to this marriage proposal, but to that second part: you’re welcome. :)
[…] read this http://www.gmanews.tv/story/214338/jim-paredes-hits-armchair-revolutionaries-on-fb-twitter […]
Dear Jim,
if you think u can recover from the Honasan Retort and Challenge with ur Armchair Revolutionaries piece, u better try harder.evrytime u open ur mouth,it only confirms what many already suspect:u are Irma Daldal in disguise.
yours truly,
Pepe
Dear Tito Pepe,
You and your writing is invoked by Jim’s NGO Pinoy Power:
“The idea was to try and imagine what the country could be in the future, not unlike the way Rizal did during his time when he wrote ‘The Philippines: A Century Hence’.” via http://haringliwanag.pansitan.net/archives/1373
I imagine you turning in your grave.
Cheers,
Ina.
May point naman si Jim. Hindi sapat ang blogging, tweeting at Facebook[ing] sa paghahanap ng pagbabago sa bansa. Let us convert it into action. Kung sabagay, mas safe naman makibaka ONLINE. Isipin mo na lang ‘yung mga aktibista na pinagtatabuyan diba… It hurts you know. Pinagpapawisan, nagugutom at minsan nasa kapahamakan.
Sa blogging mapapahamak ka din pala, kapag natunton nila kung sino ka.
Blogging, tweeting and Facebook[ing] our protests and concerns is Good. But converting it into action is Gooder. Joke lang. Better. Iyon ang point ni Jim.
@BP: ang tanong naman, lahat ba tayo makakaafford ng conversion na hinihingi ni Jim. at siya lang ba ang nakapag-covert na, if at all? kailangan nating bigyang-halaga yung mga matagal nang nag-convert, yung ni hindi kailangang mag-convert, dahil nauna sa kanila ang pagkilos at pagiging aktibista at ang twitter, fb, blogging ay ginagamit lang nila bilang extension ng totoo at kongkretong pagkilos.
nakapagconvert na siya from Kalye to Online. It’s a challenge for us to convert from Online to Kalye. Challenge lang naman, hamon. It is a hamon for us.
Kung may Twitter at Facebook lang dati, madami na sana nakapagbasa ng mga Nobela ni Rizal. At ngayong may Twitter at Facebook na, hindi naman lahat e naabot nito. Hindi lahat ng mga nilalathala natin ay nababasa ng mga taong nasa kalsada, nasa gilid ng bundok, nasa ilalim ng butas na bubong at nasa ilalim ng tulay.
Paano natin maipapadama sa taong bulag ang ating pagmamalasakit?
Action speaks louder than Tweets.
@BP: EXACTLY.
ang tanong: ano nga bang action ang ipinaglalaban ni Jim? hindi yata kalye ang nasa horizon niya.
Hindi ko din alam. Basta para sa akin, ang mga Tweets at Facebook Statuses are just words. Thoughts and ideas. That must be converted to action. Hindi ko na tinitignan kung sino ba o ano ba ang katauhan/katungkulan ng nagpost ‘nun.
Jim is one of the ordinary people. Kapag ako ba nagTweet gaya ng sinabi nila may papansin sa akin? Wala, kasi pang lima ang follower ko.
“We have to translate it into action.”
“You have to get out of your comfort zone.”
“You have to go beyond a 140-character slogan.”
Siguro ayan ang gusto niya [ipinaglalaban]. Challenge niya yan para sa mga Netizens.
Great article! Bakit kailangan ma-offend sa sinabi ni Jim? Aren’t we over-reacting? I see his only intention is to encourage Netizens to do more for the country than just Tweet, update, like and share Facebook statuses? I dont see anything wrong with that. The country and Filipinos around the world will be better off if many will get out of a state of apathy and take action in what they preach. And why the presumption that not all can afford to do what he’s suggesting? We all need to put more faith in the Filipinos. Kaya yan kung gugustuhin! Kailagan lang ma push at mamotivate tayo to make that choice.
Like. (thumbs up)
Share.
RT.
@JB: oh i have more faith in the Filipino, even the ones who only have time to tweet and put up FB statuses, than Jim does. and i don’t think it’s a matter of “kaya yan kung gugustuhin”. there are concrete conditions that point to how and why we can do certain things, like point a finger at others, when everyone else must work to put food on the table. that choice you speak of is available to the former, not the latter diba.
its not clear from the gma article what he actually said.
if he said, tweets should accompany action, whats wrong with that?
if your concern is that many people have no time or money to act in big ways, like donating one’s house 2 disaster relief, then what about small things? volunteering your time to help others? surely, paredes didnt say WHAT you must do, ONLY that one must do SOMETHING.?
@gabby d: in the process Jim failed to take into consideration what has been done, and how much continues to be done, for nation every day by many Filipinos across the world, regardless of whether they are on Twitter or FB or both, and otherwise.
i havent read what he said, only the GMA article.
having said that, i fail to connect your comment to his. if all he said was “dont just tweet, act also”, how is that failing to take into consideration what has been done, continues to be done, etc…?
is he factually wrong? are people doing actions beyond tweeting?
how exactly did he fail to consider all those things u mentioned?
Very well said. Galit na galit ka pa rin.
@b: actually hindi ako galit. at all. ang galit ko ay para sa ganid tulad ni Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, at sa AFP na dumudukot ng aktibista.
pero kay Jim at sa katulad niyang mahilig mag-generalize tungkol sa mga Pilipino, at hindi nakikita ang kompleksidad ng ating panahon, simple na at natural ang pagtugon sa mga hirit nila.
nakakalungkot rin yatang nasasanay na ako. :)
Very well said, I’m glad someone other than Gringo has taken Jim Paredes to task for his trademarked self-righteousness. I can’t stand Gringo myself but was so glad to see him cut down Paredes to size. Now RadikalChick has done it more eloquently, very well done.
He used to be an interesting songwriter but he has degenerated into a social media pest of the highest order with his self righteous rants. Thankfully he can be blocked on Twitter so I don’t have to listen to him anymore and I always remind everyone not to retweet him my way. Social Media is a 2-way street, we don’t always have to take it, in fact we can dish it out right back.
Spot on.
@jim: what gets to me is that he has all but replied on tumblr. baket kaya? baket gano’n? isn’t the first step in properly using social media responding (im)properly in the space within which we are taken to task? so it’s not even worthy of space in his blog?
ganon? :)
thank you thank you Jim. you might be the one Jim who I like. :) wait si Jim Morrison pa pala.
I agree, Jim A.
Action does not preclude Tweeting/FBing. and vice versa. I hope PAREDES would just shut his trap.
Thanks for the commentary Katrina. Kindly extend my regards to your Mom and Dad.
Re Jim: I was there and politically active among the many groups that came together. Because everything was ad hoc every effort was heroic, i suppose. APO was an inspiring encouragement to us all, since music and social presentations are a political tradition in Filipinas. Aguinaldo retreated to Moncada and was greeted (salubong) by two bands!
Aguinaldo was heroic but the musicians were unheralded. So I suppose the action he meant was to “do” what we do “best”, entertaining in his case, and blogging in ours. No sweat, right? Except do either of us have the right to call ourselves heroes?
thanks for waking up everyone!
steve
@Tito Steve! Hello!
you hit the nail on the head, and really, more than having the right to call ourselves heroes, will we EVER have the temerity or gall or kapal ng mukha to say “I’m Hero, What About You?” maybe in the end it was just so wa class of Jim to do that. and now when he says I made a mountain out of a molehill, parang hmmm… so who did that first, screaming and all? :)
thanks for passing by Tito! Mama and Papa send their regards. i am forever awed by stories of the parking lot in the 60s, something i insist you guys must write about soon. :)
I think you zeroed in on one aspect of Mr.Paredes’ statement and ignored his point entirely. In the same way that we can’t ignore the good that HAS been done, and I agree with you that MUCH good HAS been done, we also can’t just sit back and proclaim we’ve done our part by just sitting down on our ergonomic chairs, (which not all of us have) and clicking away on our computers. I don’t think Mr. Paredes is beseeching anyone to stop going on FB or on Twitter. He’s not saying that going out on the streets is the ONLY form of activism either. Let us just walk the talk, that’s all I think he’s saying. What is so offensive about that? Let us, shall we say, distill the essence of the matter first, before we react with such animosity.
@natalia: i think what is crucial here is the tone that Jim took in those statements and the kind of position he put himself in as the person who did SOMETHING post-Ondoy, as the one who has the right to say GO BEYOND TWITTER AND FB, as if it isn’t being done. as if he is right in that assessment of what people are doing.
this wasn’t a reaction borne of animosity as it was one of critical discourse and taking someone to task for what is a false generalization.
I haven’t read his letter or whatever because i generally ignore him, but yes! i hate his self righteous guts, and really, i’m commenting here, and not in FB, because i know some people whom I love, but who love him, and it’s not their fault.
i’m so happy you mentioned his leaving and living here again. i guess nobody recognized him in Ozzie and gave him time of day, and that’s why, until now, we’re still saddled with his rants. I say promote him as king of all media. Si Kris naman, Queen diba?
Argh Argh Argh. Thanks for this ins! How insulting that exercise in being poor is? Apparently walang empathy.
@drea: hindi ba? ohmygad, hindi ko kinaya yon. and you know they did that raw, and there was like one table where the supposed “rich” were sitting, tapos titingnan nila kung maiinis yung “poor” eating sardines and mami, sa “rich” eating the sosy meal. and sure enough, nainis raw ang poor. and the rich raw felt guilty.
so anong point ng exercise na ‘yon? highlight our differences? susko tumingin po tayo sa labas ng ating mga bahay! daming difference do’n.
you’re welcome drea, i imagine you’d write something like this too if you had the hour or so i used up on it.
I agree @drea @ina. and, just to highlight the rich poor- sosy guilty thing: A friend just told me a former boss would always delightfully shriek “wow, miswa & Ligo sabaw, luvv it!” would she if that was all there was to feed six mouths for days on end?
miswa & Ligo sabaw was a novelty for her boss, so she can affor to luv it on the rarest occasions. well, jim’s crowd gloried in the discomfiture it caused. makes me sick.
Oyea. Nagalit ang mga low level narcissists: ang mga blogger. Go ahead and shout all you can, who’s gonna stop you? and pustahan tayo ni hindi nga to makakarating kay Jim eh. Tama ka nag aksaya ka nga lang ng panahon malamang wala ka magawa sa bahay nyo no? At malamang sa hindi anak mayaman ka din and wag ka magsalita na parang alam mo lahat ng nangyayari sa Pilipinas, kasi sa totoo lang: WALA KA DIN ALAM
@karie: nakarating na. sumagot na nga siya diba. at kung magbabasa ka pa mapapatunayan mong mali lahat ng judgment mo tungkol sa pagkayaman ko at ng maraming ibang blogger. narcissism isn’t in the form of a blog, as it is in the content.
O ano nangyari sa pinost ko binura mo? Bakit? Tinamaan ka?
hinde, Levi, don’t even begin to think that you’re worthy of my offense. nagmumura ka at nambabastos sa comment mo: may simpleng etiquette at common decency sa blogging at virtual world, tulad ng sa totoong buhay.
kanya kanyang pananaw lang naman yan kung si mr.paredes nag comment ng ganun at may tapang na mag salita ng ganun dapat inisip din nya na marami syang masasagasaan.at syempre sasagutin din sya.hirap sa inyong maka dilaw e kayo lang ang may karapatang mag react.pag di nyo nagustuhan kinukuyog nyo pa.
Well said.
I have no problem with chairs, computers, clicking the like buttons, contributing to the discussions, LIking the pro RH Bill posts, blog etc.
Of course, just because I retweeted I’ve already helped. Duh.
Why? You think, just because “you went out the the streets,” you already helped?
Helping is a lifestyle. A way of life. It’s an art. For each, his own. Different strokes for different folks. Some help by singing, some by drawing, some by writing, some by taking the streets. Some by merely clicking that like button.
What’s really a turn off is carrying one’s own chair (nagbubuhat ng sariling bangko) as if siya lang ang magaling.
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odolfo Vera
excuse lang iyan ng mga nag-fefacebook at tweeter. na kapag nag-click sila naibsan na ang kunsensyang pambayan nila. hindi mangyayari ang kahit anong edsa kung wala duon ang mga tao sa edsa. may facebook man o tweeter. sure, masarap makaram…dam ng may nag-like sa advocacy mo. pero that doesn’t translate into anything. at kung para kay radical chick that is already doing something, e ok, masaya na siya sa ganun. pero kahit saan ka tumingin: egypt? libya? pinas 86? ang facebook at tweeter ay tulong lamang. still the forum for action, real and not virtual action, is out there. at saka ke may ginawa si jim o wala– walang kinalaman yun sa kung may nagawa SIYA o wala. the fact na nanghamon ang mga tulad ni jim- sana nagising siya, e hindi. pinagtanggol pa niya yung ginagawa na lang niya nuon pa. E ano yun? hinamon kang to do more tapos ang sasabihin mo “Huwag ka makialam, ito lang ang kaya ko, tapos!” Ganyan din ang galit kay Rizal noon ng mga ilustradong peke nang himukin niya ang katamaran ng mga ito.See more
9 hours ago · 1 personLoading…
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Nor Domingo @Rody – So maari nga na hindi nangyari ang EDSA I kung meron na nitong FB at Twitter nuon. Kasi majority nang tao ay malamang hindi na lumabas. Ang balita nga sa Egypt ay dumami ang tao sa kalye nung shinut-down ni Mubarak ang internet access ng buong bayan! Hayun, naglabasan sa kalye ang mga tao? Yung kaya ang source ng outrage nila? Hindi na sila makapag-FB? Hehe
7 hours ago
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Tinted Spirit
“Social networks are particularly effective at increasing motivation,” Aaker and Smith write. But that’s not true. Social networks are effective at increasing participation—by lessening the level of motivation that participation requires.
ht…tp://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2010/10/04/101004fa_fact_gladwell?printable=true#ixzz1FbAZtLVi<—–thanks Nor and Kuya Rody, na-POKE tuloy ako sa pinag-uusapan n'yo. heheheSee more
6 hours ago
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Mel P. Bernardo
Nor: mangyayari pa rin ang EDSA I kahit may FB, o anumang social network meron…ang kahirapan, repression, summary execution, militarization ang sanhi ng anumang pag-aaklas ng taumbayan…hindi maaaring maging passive ang taong niyuyurakan… ang karapatan sa mahabang panahon…merong mga taong mag-oorganisa at manghihikayat para kumilos…ng walang takot, kayang isakripisyo ang uri, ang yaman, handang makulong o mapatay…hindi humihingi ng katanyagan o kelangan munang sumikat…. at nagpapasikat at nagyayabang e hindi naman naharap sa panganib ng isang lehitimong pakikibaka o nakaranas man lang ng marahas na dispersal, usok ng teargas, hagupit ng truncheon o tama ng balaSee more
6 hours ago · 1 personLoading…
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Rodolfo Vera
at saka nangyari naman ang sandamakmak na taong sumaludo kay Cory sa kanyang funeral march, di ba? inabot nga ng 11 oras bago siya umabot sa sementeryo dahil sa dami ng taong kumaway, umiyak. kaya nga natakot nang kaunti si GMA nuon. May f…acebook na nun, di ba? At hindi iyun nilunsad ng facebook!!!! At saka sino ba ang nagfe-facebook? ilang milyong pilipino lang ba tayo dito? kumpara sa 90 million? At saka ano'ng porsyento ng masang pilipino (that radical chick ostensibly claims to represent) ang nagbabasa ng blog, etc etc?
at kung tutoo nga'ng ginagawa tayong lampa ng facebook (@tinted spirit), aba, e di lalong dapat i-confront iyang si radical chick dahil akala niya ang dami-dami na niyang nagagawa para sa bayan, e click lang pala siya nang click! haaaay. it's just so middle class, her plea for understanding. I mean, ok, mag-facebook ka pero to claim that you're doing your part in nation building because you liked or disliked something???? di ko maintindihan iyan. nyeta. ang ipagmalaki mong nakatulong ka sa bayan dahil sa isnag tapik ng iyong hintuturo… por diyos por santo. ang kapal naman.See more
6 hours ago · 1 personLoading…
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Mel P. Bernardo nakaka-init ulo di ba rody! ano keber ng mga squatter at ng mga walang trabaho at makain sa tweeit nila…para silang mga ibong huni ng huni…twit twit twit
6 hours ago
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Rodolfo Vera ang hindi ko pa ma-take ay yung tatarayan niya ang mga NGO dahil sa mga ginagawa nila to defend her own shallow pursuits. kesyo we are in another boat daw. E ano ba ang boat niya? iyun ang hindi nakakatawa, Mel. Kung iyan ang representation ng kabataan ngayon e aba lumabas tayong mga matatanda na may dalang yantok at kailangan nila ng isang nationwide SPANKING! Bwiset! kakainis.
6 hours ago · 1 personTinted Spirit likes this.
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Mel P. Bernardo ang yayabang…..di pa nakakaranas ng malupit na repression ke-yayabang….yan ang epekto ng facebook at mga social network sa mga matatalino o kung may talino talaga sila…maging ampaw ang laman ng utak, umupo na lang magmasid at pumindot ng comments….IKULONG ANG MGA YAN SA ISANG KWARTONG WALANG BINTANA AT HAGISAN NG TEARGAS…tignan natin…baka di pa sumasabog ang tear gas….nagtititili at umiiyak na….
6 hours ago · 1 personLoading…
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Rodolfo Vera
raical chick hides her apolitical stance (or is it apathy???) by claiming that she's doing her part through facebook and tweeter and that for people like her, that should be enough. it is precisely this that makes the struggle so difficult!…!! It took 14 years (since Martial Law) for Pinoys to get rid of Marcos. It took 30 for Egypt to get rid of Mubarak and it's taking 40 (and counting) for Libya to oust Khaddafi. And facebook is not to blame for that. Ngayon nakahanap itong si radical chick, hay naku. tama, mel. ampaw. Matatalinong ampaw!See more
6 hours ago
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Mel P. Bernardo
SHAME, SHAME, SHAME…di ba niya alam na sa likod ng mga struggles na ito..ng Pinas, Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, Yemen, Jordan ngayon Saudi…na may mga NGO's, student orgs., cultural workers at religious peoples (regardless of beliefs) ang nag-…oorganisa, nagmumulat…hindi ginagawa ng facebook at twitter yan..ang media nga nung martial law maliit lang ang naging papel (meron pero iilan lang ang nangahas)…mga pagkilos at pag-organisa ng taumbayan ang nagtulak sa EDSA I….at ng may pagkilos sa EDSA saka lang tumutok ang malalaking media networks kasi sensational……kikita silaSee more
5 hours ago
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Mel P. Bernardo dapat sa mga katulad ni radical chick na twitter ng twitter at blog ng blog…dapat di pansinin at wag magreact…kasi sa karereact akala niya effective na siya…pag walang pumpunta o pumapansin sa blogs niya isasara na niya yan kasi di siya pinapansin…hahahaha
5 hours ago
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Jon Mathay
Nor, I believe that if we had these social media then, more pepole would have gone to Edsa, Luneta, Liwasang Bonifacio etc. They would have been more informed of the happenings around us. They would have done the same things raising their… arms as support or in protest. To be in the red or yellow side.
Syempre hindii ka magpapahuli sa iba.
Just imagine if you were not out in the streets, wala kang pictures and walang mag-tag sa yo sa facebook.See more
5 hours ago · 1 personLoading…
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Nor Domingo
@jon – Hahaha. That's enough motivation for the middle class to come out to the streets! Anyway, tama kayo. Another example would be the outpouring of help and volunteers during the Ondoy tragedy!
@Mel and Rody – I like where this conversat…ion is going! Paano ko kaya mata-tag si radical chick dito para mabasa niya?See more
4 hours ago · 1 personLoading…
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Tinted Spirit
hehehe, tama ka kuya rody. ako personally, ay kasalukuyang hinaharap ang sarili kong multo. sabi ko nga, parang di naman ako apathetic, mabagal lang akong intindihin ang mga detalye sa usaping politika kasama na ang iba pang personal hang u……ps. pero, malakas ang aking pakiramdam. at malakas ang pakiramdam ko na may mali sa blog ni Radical Chick. salamat sa pag-articulate dito.
Again, on a very personal level, I use facebook as ONE of the platforms to make sense of what's going on around and by expressing how the world makes sense to me, considering I connect with fb friends whose ideas genuinely resonate how I feel. But I am not claiming it is enough. It is never enough unless it is translated into action.
Tingin ko, absolutist naman kase ang narrative ni Radical Chick, ang lakas ng sense of "rightness" niya tungkol sa social networking. kung nakakaramdam siya na may tama siyang ginagawa sa pagpindut-pindot dito, sana, yun na lang pinagtuunan niya ng pansin. Hindi yung manduduro pa sya sa mga taong alam natin ang kredibilidad kapag karanasan sa buhay ang pinag- uusapan (i.e. Jim Paredes et al.) eh wala sa kalingkingan niya.
at pangwakas, madali naman din makita if one merely wants to show off one's "grammatical theatrics" or one genuinely exposes one's mind. Sinilip ko mga comments sa blog niya, hayun, meron naman ding nagpamukha sa kanya na problematic sinasabi niya. hehehe.See more
4 hours ago · 1 personLoading…
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Nor Domingo @Tinted – Tanya, ako rin actually minsan nagi-guilty na minsan dito lang ako nakaka-vent ng ire kasi rin minsan pag may trabaho, siempre yun ang priority ko kahit pinangako ko sa sarili ko at sa mga anak ko na sila ang uunahin ko(meaning I will help make this country better for them). Pero kailangan ko rin sila pakainin. The dilemma of the peti-burgis ba ito? Tapos kung pwede naman ako pupunta ako sa mga indignation rally during GMA's term, nadidismaya ako sa konti ng tao pero ang dami namang galit sa FB.
4 hours ago · 1 personLoading…
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Rodolfo Vera
pinadala rin niya sa plaridel yahoogroups. hindi na ako nakatiis, sinagot ko na:
e kaya nga himihimok ka ng mga katulad ni Jim Paredes, para you can go out of your comfort zone. and I know it takes such a huge effort AND RISK to do that. And… not everyone will do that, at the same time, at the same place. Kaya nga napakahirap gumawa ng EDSA at one click. Akala ng marami, nung EDSA 2, all you needed was to text everyone and people will follow. Uh-uh! Nagkataon lang pala yun. At ngayon akala ng marami sa Facebook at Tweeter nababago ang mundo. Uh-uh. sorry. for any change to happen, you'll just have to get out of your armchair or whatever it is you're sitting on.
I'm not defending Jim paredes. I think he's old and good enough to defend himself. But to take a potshot at NGOs meaning to go beyond facebook??? Aminin mo na lang kasi— facebook and tweeter have done nothing by themselves. You should be smart enough to realize that facebook and tweeter are good means of marketing your ideas– revolutionary or not. And if they are revolutionary ideas and they catch on to people– it will necessarily have to go beyond the confines of one's bandwidth.
Frankly, hindi ko maintindihan kung bakit galit na galit ka sa mga taong nagsasabing hindi sapat ang facebook sa pagkilos. you just really have to go out there and do something instead of clicking that mouse. don't even use the "I'm working and need to earn to survive" excuse. simple lang, Ms Katrina. Kung hindi ka marunong lumangoy, you cannot just simply click "Dislike" and expect the problem to go away. You have to get wet. In the same vein, do not feel that you have satisfied your conscience by clicking yes to RH Bill, or no to Corruption. Or click something to your own convenience. That doesn't really constitute anything especially if it stays that way. Don't lower the standards of what social activism really is. Just be honest enough to admit, "Yes, I may care but I don't want to act on it kasi it's so hard, e." and acknowledge that contradiction like a good old petiburges. Marami tayo. but a petiburges like me would probably be the first one to tell you don't go so far as to defend your own insignificant clickings because no matter how many times you click away, hanggang doon na lang yun UNTIL you stand from that chair and do something. And that doing something requires commitment, and real action. (Nilo Tayag, asan ka na ba?)
I beg to disagree with you, Katrina. clicking like or dislike in facebook hardly constitutes anything. do not confuse your facebook friends with your REAL friends. And, ergo, do not confuse your tweeter world with the real world out there. Kahit na isang bilyong dislike, kung ayaw umalis ni Khadaffi, hindi siya aalis. and it will take a lot more than tweeter to do that. so goes with Merceditas, and as we have seen, kay GMA. and so forth and so on. blogging may inspire others but then again– inspire others to do what, exactly?
Face your own apathy and ask yourself, have you done enough? You wil soon realize, it is never enough. And that should in fact raise your motivation to something further than a machine that goes off when Meralco comes to ask for more.
Sheesh.See more
4 hours ago · 1 personLoading…
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Tinted Spirit amen.
4 hours ago
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Jon Mathay Nor, follow the link of her post. Youll find her in facebook.
4 hours ago
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Mel P. Bernardo MABUHAY ka KA RODY VERA!
4 hours ago · 1 personLoading…
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Tinted Spirit mabuhay ka din itay! :D
4 hours ago
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Mel P. Bernardo MUSTA Na tany! pa-tinted tinted ka pa….di bale full of spirit ka naman…
4 hours ago · 2 people
on armchair revolutionaries, by Marne Kilates:
http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=10150147795973055
on armchair revolutionaries by Marne Kilates
Hahaha! Didn’t read Jim’s tirade. But let me say something about armchair revolutionaries and the like. Or maybe just revolutionaries.
The best “armchair” revolutionary was Apolinario Mabini himself, the former hero of the Apo Hiking Society before they gave up the name after being intimidated (yata) by one of their straight-laced history teachers who probably had funny notions about how to revere national heroes.
And of course, before Atty. Mabini, there was Dr. Rizal who refused go into revolutionary action. His novels, of course (written perhaps while he was sitting on an armchair), caused the Revolution itself. And then there were Bonifacio and Jacinto after them, who had to sit down (probably in an armchair) to write the Kartilya, and the Kung Ano and Dapat Malaman ng mga Tagalog, the best revolutionary tracts that finally lit the fuse of Revolution all over the Islands.
All these people were “doing nothing” when they started the Revolution. All revolutions are caused by ideas. Ideas are born when people think. When people think they are usually still (parang walang ginagawa kung ignorante ang nakatingin), or sometimes they walk around.
Then sometimes they sit down and write, or surf the Net, or comment on Facebook, or write briefs, or manifestoes, or songs, poems, stories, novels, which dream of change and revolution. Or just a safer, more human world.
There are people who work with their minds, who do not want or need to be Generals or warriors, because for them to think (and to write, to use words, to generate ideas) is already to act.
The reason we keep on stumbling after Edsa (I) is there are fewer and fewer of us who think (who use words and trade in ideas), and most of us always want to up and go and grab at anything and rush to wherever. We should all stop and think a bit how we dug ourselves into this hole.
But let this not be an insult to people who really act, such as those who spring into action when their fellows need their help. These, too, as you say, are the people who make the Filipino nation, wherever they are in the world. But I suspect that these people act in such a manner precisely because they think.
Marne
via plaridel_papers@yahoogroups.com
posted with permission
isnt it more than a little misleading to equate blogging/tweeting to what mabini and rizal did?
they werent passive consumers and passers of information. they made things, new works of art, formed groups that did stuff, didnt they?
[…] about “armchair revolutionaries on Facebook and Twitter” – a must-read is Ina Stuart-Santiago’s piece on the matter, but nevertheless, I’d like to contribute to […]
Thanks for this, Katrina! Thoroughly enjoyed reading this post.
Amen, Ina.
I am also an armchair analyst but without a chair. Nabubutas ang upuan ko sa tagal ng kauupo ko.
In this world, there are thinkers and doers. They complement each other. One analyzing and giving some sense of directions while the doers are putting the ideas in action.
Some of the armchair analysts that he may be alluding to not going out of their comfort zones to do something aside from tweeting and facebooking may be helping others in their own way. When he claimed that he set up a donation center for Ondoy victims, did he ever think that the armchair analysts may have sent some money to help but just did not publicize their good deed? Siya ngawa kaagad kung anong ginawa niya.
Isn’t it what charity all about? sabi nga sa bibliya na hindi ko puwedeng hawakan dahil baka bigla akong umusok…
“But when you do alms, let not your left hand know what your right hand does: … Let not thy left hand know – In many cases, works of charity must be hidden .”
It is true that he composed a song for EDSA 1 but that was an opportunity for him as a singer and composer to use the event for a project where he will make money. I am not just aware if he contributed the proceeds to the charities. If he did, then I salute him.
kumikita na siys sa seminar niya, nag-eevangelize pa siya or this intriguing article that he wrote is meant to create awareness for his projects to reinvent himself after retiring from show busines?
“Some of the armchair analysts that he may be alluding to not going out of their comfort zones to do something aside from tweeting and facebooking may be helping others in their own way.”
isnt this his point. do something, beyond tweeting, in your own way?
siguro mainit lang ang ulo dahil baka sa haybols nila (nagdala nga pala kami ng mga niluto naming pagkain dun nuong Ondoy ng isang katropang sa FB at Twitter ko hinagilap), wala nang ibang ginawa ang mga kasambahay nya kundi mag FB at Twitter. Mang Jim baka may mga fake accounts sila at di ka nila sinasali hahahaha!
peace
siguro ‘yung mga kasambahay niya ang nagTweet sa amin at nagudyok para tumulong…
Hi all,
Kung ako ba ang nagTweet at nagsabi ng mga sinabi ni Jim Paredes papansinin niyo ba iyon? May masasabi ba kayo sa pagkatao ko?? May bibilangin ba kayo at ikukumpara sa mga nagawa ko sa nagawa at ginagawa ninyo?
Thanks all.
ibig nyong sabihin gusto nyo ng guluhin ng mga armchair activists ang bansa?yun ba ang gusto nyo nina jim paredes mag antay mangyayari din yun.ang egypt sa social network nag umpisa ang rebolusyon dun.
@gabby d: you said: “i fail to connect your comment to his. if all he said was “dont just tweet, act also”, how is that failing to take into consideration what has been done, continues to be done, etc…? is he factually wrong? are people doing actions beyond tweeting?”
ohmygad, gabby d. oo naman! people are volunteering, doing activist work, organizing people into functional organizations as we speak. they always have, they’ve always been there, pre-Ondoy, post-Ondoy, in the face of tragedy and just the ever day. and who’s to say that even as we write and tweet and put up an FB note or status that not a few more people ACTUALLY change their minds about the world as well, and become ripe for organizing?
@rah: you said: “I have no problem with chairs, computers, clicking the like buttons, contributing to the discussions, LIking the pro RH Bill posts, blog etc. Of course, just because I retweeted I’ve already helped. Duh. Why? You think, just because “you went out the the streets,” you already helped? Helping is a lifestyle. A way of life. It’s an art. For each, his own. Different strokes for different folks. Some help by singing, some by drawing, some by writing, some by taking the streets. Some by merely clicking that like button.”
i think the value of going out to the streets is one that’s tried and tested, if only and sometimes because it only makes for media mileage, and that’s really a judgment on our media and not street parliamentarians. having said that, it would be interesting to see how much social media retweets and likes and dislikes actually affect public policy, if at all, how it is at the very least seen as or trusted as a measure of what the public thinks. magandang pag-isipan / pag-aralan.
@Desiree Guasch: you said: “A friend just told me a former boss would always delightfully shriek “wow, miswa & Ligo sabaw, luvv it!” would she if that was all there was to feed six mouths for days on end?
miswa & Ligo sabaw was a novelty for her boss, so she can affor to luv it on the rarest occasions. well, jim’s crowd gloried in the discomfiture it caused. makes me sick.”
ah, you hit the nail on the head. :) thank you!
@amie: salamat sa pagpost ng thread na ito.
@gabby d: you said re Sir Marne’s piece: “isnt it more than a little misleading to equate blogging/tweeting to what mabini and rizal did? they werent passive consumers and passers of information. they made things, new works of art, formed groups that did stuff, didnt they?”
ah, you missed the point entirely.
thats not marne’s point? but she/he said “All these people [Mabini, etc] were “doing nothing” when they started the Revolution. All revolutions are caused by ideas. Ideas are born when people think”
and my point is that they did much more than spread ideas. they pushed them, created them. organized groups to talk and act on them.
di ba?
@The Ca t: true. that is now Jim’s defense, that he meant for both to exist. or something to that effect.
@PeterPaul: you said: “Kung ako ba ang nagTweet at nagsabi ng mga sinabi ni Jim Paredes papansinin niyo ba iyon? May masasabi ba kayo sa pagkatao ko?? May bibilangin ba kayo at ikukumpara sa mga nagawa ko sa nagawa at ginagawa ninyo?”
mahalagang aspekto ng diskusyong ito ang pagiging celebrity ni Jim Paredes, pagkakaroon ng maraming followers at believers, at lalo’t higit pagkakaroon niya ng media mileage. ulitin natin na sinabi niya ang mga statements na ito sa isang interview sa mainstream media outlet na GMAnewsonline. kung ikaw, o ako for that matter, ang nagsabi ng statements na ito, wala naman tayong kakayahang mailagay ito sa mainstream media at maipalaganap hindi ba. pero siya merong ganong kakayahan dahil siya ay siya. yun din naman ang nagtatakda na mas delikado pa ang mga statement na ito mula kay Jim.
E di mas ok. Nagamit niya ung mainstream para mapaabot sa marami ang point niya. Pwede rin naman na ganito ang gawin ko,
“Jim, pakiTweet naman nito sa Tweeter mo…(talking about what he have said).” Dahil marami siyang follower, marami ang makakabasa sa gusto ko ipasabi. Tama diba?
Paano magiging delikado? Just let his words be a challenge for us. Not a threat.
Kung naiintindihan talaga ng isang tao ang isang bagay, alam niya kung paano ipagtanggol ang magkabilang panig. Hindi ung iisang side lang.
:)
@erwin: right back at you!
have you hibernated? missing you from the virtual world, though i imagine you are still sitting in your armchair. :)
I honestly think you’re making mountains out of molehills here.
Its a simple call to action. you’re putting malice where there is none
Thanks for writing this. Social media helped me become more interested in politics. It started when my friend shared a link about the AFP corruption. It actually made me go and research about our gov’t when before I couldn’t care less. From then on, I got more curious and hungrier for news about the world. It lead me follow the stories on Egypt, the Senate Hearings and to the understanding of what an ombudsman actually does (yes, I honestly didn’t know because, again, I couldn’t care less then). I was one of those who’d rather listen to music and talk about American TV shows until that one fateful night when I actually read that link my friend shared. It was life changing. I suddenly found myself caring about my fellow Filipinos, about our poorly equipped military, about those affected by the NZ earthquake and, before I know it, my compassion and empathy extended to the people outside of my country. I felt compelled to reach out. I found myself becoming a so-called “armchair revolutionary myself”. Yes it takes a lot of my time because I do make sure the things I post are accurate. It isn’t easy giving up hours of your life just to share to people things you know they are simply apathetic about. But you do so anyway in the hopes that like you, they’d be transformed too; that they’d start caring about their country too. It isn’t easy considering I, like Ina, also need to “earn my keep”. Needless to say, I think the people here who do not feel as slighted as I did about Jim Paredes’ “armchair revolutionaries” tweet have absolutely no idea what sacrifices, menial as they seem to be, those “armchair revolutionaries” have made and what power they have in their “armchairs” and respective computers.
@tina: ang ganda naman ng kuwento mo. ako, i can’t pinpoint when it was that i began going online, and sharing and resharing, tweeting and retweeting, but i always thought there was value in any form of information dissemination, that in many ways, these are things that keeps us thinking about, if not moving towards, a goal. :) salamat ng marami! :)
[…] So he achieves it then: becoming that protagonist you hate because, let’s face it, we can relate to him. Or at least, I could. There’s really no life, after all, that is not historical, because every milieu moves on its own quietness and loudness of events. But so many things pass us by, I think, even when, because we are hampered by jobs or money or distance, we try alternative means to get involved–Twitter, Facebook, whatever. And still somehow there is this feeling that we are missing out, that history passes us by. And isn’t that queer? Because no matter the revolution and its medium, we are no less involved. […]
[…] since this open letter from 2011 I have not found the energy to make patol Jim Paredes at length. Maybe because I just […]