A Path With A Warrior’s Heart

I began this blog exactly a year ago with an entry Pursuing My Personal Legend when I was still in KL. Now that I have gone back here in Manila on August this year, with a masteral degree and a new job, I am still figuring out which path to take so as to pursue my personal legend. But I understand that the first question to ask is ‘what is, or what should be, my personal legend’? Should I examine this question at all? Or, am I asking the right question?

For several weeks now I’ve been pondering on the thought shared by a local artist in a television interview where he said that we should have pursued our childhood dream/ambition. I think he is right because when we were a child it was when our intentions were pure and pristine; and our inner courage was whole and intact. All of us still know our childhood dream, which - for one reason or another - many of us have now been alienated from. In fact, we have several reactions every time we are reminded of that childhood dream. Perhaps some of us feel sad of being reminded of it out of frustration or resentment. But for some, I included, being reminded of this dream succeeds in drawing a smile from the heart - what a lovely feeling this is indeed. From time to time, I find myself happy seeing and being with kids, especially babies. With their innocence and charming smiles, they never fail to give me strength, energy, inspiration, and happiness. At a personal level, I ask myself: can I still attain my childhood dream? Kaya pa, at kayang kaya! (Or, in the Malaysian English way of putting it: still can, and very much can!)

I, too, must admit though that I’m suffering from this seeming personal alienation, of a detachment from my true self. I am now in the process of re-discovering, and hence re-uniting, with this true self, hoping that soon I will wake up with my inner courage that knows no fear and be re-united with it.

I first learned this concept of alienation from my reading of Western political philosophy in the works of the romanticists Rousseau and Marx in their respective views on the essence of a human being whose true self and passion have been misdirected due to the evolution of the structural constraints and the values that come with it in the historical social structure. This learning has truly been helpful. But these days I appreciate this thought more deeply and at a more personal level by discovering Eastern philosophy - in particular, from the ideas of Buddha on anicca (impermanence), happiness, courage, contentment, mindfulness, enlightenment, and emptiness.

Indeed, I’m playing a relatively new game and venturing into a new path. But we can only play ‘a good game’ in life if we play it, and pursue its path, with a heart - in particular, a warrior’s heart, yet full of loving-kindness and happiness.

Conversation With A Fellow EDSA II Activist

My life seems dry at this twilight moment of my MA programme here in KL. I am feeling some form of alienation which I, unfortunately, don't have the courage to write here. Nevertheless, I would have wanted to write a thoughtful piece on the current political crisis in the Philippines but my programme is nearing its end, and hence, there are so much academic requirements to deal with.

I owe a lot of friends responses from the e-mails they have sent me and the comments they have posted here in this blog. These days they have been urging and asking me to write about the ongoing political crisis in the Philippines. Of late, one of my ka-blogistas, Ang Kape Ni LaTtEX, mentioned me in his recent post entitled ‘The Definition of Elite Rule’ referring to my 12 July 2005 post here expressing my solidarity to the Laban ng Masa outcry to put an end to elite rule through a transitional revolutionary government. (Please also see a recent comment by an anonymous ka-blogista on a previous post here on 2 February 2005 entitled ‘Another Philippine Society is Possible’.) Thank you for all your notes. I'll find time to write here soon a discourse on elitism that is so well-entrenched and pervasive in the Philippine society in political, cultural, and economic terms. In particular, I hope to address this problematique: why, despite its internal crises and contradictions, elitism thrives and survives in our society?

In the meantime, I am pasting below an excerpt of my last week's (10 July) Yahoo! Messenger conversation with Ryan, who is a fellow EDSA II activist and who is currently a bar reviewee, in which we had a brief chat on the current Philippine political crisis. Ryan was the Chair of the UP Diliman College of Social Sciences and Philosophy (CSSP) Student Council during EDSA II in 2001. I was then Representative of the Department of Political Science to the Student Council. I hope that my ka-blogistas could somehow follow the discussion below, bearing in mind of the informality of an on-line chat. Too, I hope Ryan does not mind posting this unedited conversation....

(Chat between Bonn Juego and Ryan Tan [aka 'bradpwitt'], 10 July 2005, around 3pm)

bonnjuego: pare!
bonnjuego: kumusta na?
bonnjuego: ayos lang ba sa review?
bonnjuego: all the best to you atty!
bradpwitt: very distracted by the state of affairs of the country. I am sure you miss being here hehe... di ba dapat nasa tabi ka ni ka dodong?
bonnjuego: well, sinabi mo pa!
bonnjuego: hehehe
bonnjuego: am bored here!
bonnjuego: am in the wrong country at the moment!
bradpwitt: hehe... ewan. bakit kasi ngayon lang ako nagbar hehe...
bonnjuego: ka randy david wrote to me when i was in europe... he said everything is collapsing in our country
bonnjuego: but this should not despair me... i should enjoy my stay in europe hehehhe
bonnjuego: true.. too bad... still the perpetuation of elite rule as i see it...
bonnjuego: gma has to go soon but elite compromise has already been made... this is my fear..
bradpwitt: i am not in total agreement with Randy David. But I see that he is very disappointed to point of giving up
bonnjuego: randy is not giving up... as for him, cynicism would be the worst state of mind for a nation....
bonnjuego: suwerte pa ni gma.. umuulan hehehe
bradpwitt: hehe... are the civil society groups united? parang hindi eh
bonnjuego: i'm just waiting for the momentum.. i believe in the power of numbers.... sana mabuo ni bro. eddie iyong million niya uli... pero.. nakatatakot gagamitin lang as canon fodders ang masa ng mga eliltista
bonnjuego: as always, civ soc is not united..
bonnjuego: this will be a politics of compromise and negotiations na naman among various actors.....
bradpwitt: i am threatened by the instability... FVR is putting his mark really good.
bonnjuego: .but i do hope.. jp captures this moment... and that he must use kule as an instrument for social change......
bonnjuego: as always si FVR...
bradpwitt: ive been telling him that. he has a mind of his own. Yeah, its his time to shine...
bonnjuego: come to think of it... these elites would rely on the instability and even violence that must be created by the masses and civ soc in the streets... without this violence the incumbent will be very complacent
bonnjuego: i'm in touch with JP lately... he wrote to me when i was in denmark last month... binabanatan pa rin pala siya nitong mga RA
bradpwitt: kaya naman nya yan. Tell me what bonn... Do you agree with ka-dodong's position?
bonnjuego: yeah.....
bonnjuego: this is the most daring call you could have at the moment
bonnjuego: when you ask people... kung ano problema ng bansa.. laging sagot ng halos lahat na sensible na tao... sistema...
bonnjuego: ngayon.. ito na... kung kailan systemic change ang tawag ayaw ng tao...
bonnjuego: practically pare.... mahirap talaga... building institutions has never been easy... but it must start somewhere....
bonnjuego: na-overshadow nga ng grupo ni ka dodong ang mga CPP-NPA... medyo na-insecure sila... as ever, daring si dodong eh.. unlike them, tinatago pa nila sa 'national democracy' ang hangarin nilang komunistang lipunan!
bradpwitt: I have only one critique though... Kelangan nyang magcompromise with FVR group... That is also systemic change, in a way. We have to ground it in strict legal terms to facilitate the changes we want... Compromise... that is the only way I see how we will get ka dodong's plan into action...
bonnjuego: yeah... ka dodong knows it.... whether we like it or not the elite is so well-entrenched in the society... this is now a matter of political will, a question of political skill... i hope the masses won't lose their ground....
bonnjuego: fr. bernas' discussion of constitutional and extra-constitutional discourse is interesting
bonnjuego: i hope u buy fr. bernas' idea
bradpwitt: I hope the demons... the dark force of the elites won't sway the masses. Mabuti na lang fragmented ang Estrada group.
bonnjuego: btw, had the chance to be taught by bernas?
bonnjuego: problema rin tol.. ang media.. elitist pa rin ang framework...
bonnjuego: incumbent vs opposition pa rin ang tingin ... pati alternatives - boil down pa rin noli, susan, etc...
bradpwitt: Yup. He's my guru. I know where he's coming from. It is not really totally different from Dodong and FVR proposal. Playing safe lang
bradpwitt: elite will always be elites bonn
bradpwitt: you know that..
bradpwitt: but i know u havent forgotten that elitism has several categories
bradpwitt: where are the intellectual elites?
bradpwitt: the moral elites?
bradpwitt: it seems they are not in agreement still...
bonnjuego: i know .. still ... basic for us politics students.. iron law of oligarchy........
bradpwitt: but that is the political terrain. this is the political space we operate on... i see only one soution... take the common denominator...
bonnjuego: i fear that this will once again be a circulation of elites..... the now counter-elites will soon be elites, and vice versa
bradpwitt: that is the political terrain. this is the political space we operate on... in fact that is the operational definition of "elite" di ba, hehe... i see only one solution... take the common denominator...
bonnjuego: sometimes i feel bad on what we did for edsa 2... wen we were so passionate to oust erap... but we have replaced him with a cheater and a lame duck leader for a hopeful nation
bradpwitt: common denominator is constitutional change. every sector in society should come into terms as to how we shall draft the fundamental law...
bradpwitt: don't despair... time has come to realize that systemic change must be done... asap
bonnjuego: maganda sinulat ni randy ngayon:
bonnjuego: 'It is one of the supreme ironies of our time that it may sometimes be necessary to step out of the Constitution's iron grip in order to preserve its spirit.'
bonnjuego: but as always, i do hope that when we struggle we should not only struggle politically, but economic-wise as well....
bonnjuego: it is this tremendous material inequality that perpetuates elite rule and grinding poverty
bradpwitt: good luck na rin sa atin pare hehe...
bonnjuego: galingan mo atty!
bonnjuego: maghihintay ako sa top 10 ha!
bradpwitt: sana nga makaconcentrate... i suddenly realized that politics is still closer to heart hehehe

I thank Ryan for a conversation like this which I truly miss. I miss the Philippines amid its contradictions, and I am looking forward to be back home soon. But I miss my friends even more. As the description of this blog - quoted from Will Durant - goes, ‘Friends are helpful not only because they will listen to us, but because they will laugh at us; Through them we learn a little objectivity, a little modesty, a little courtesy; We learn the rules of life and become better players of the game’.

In Solidarity...

...to the most daring and urgently needed political project at this historical juncture in the Philippines: END TO ELITE RULE!

The masses will march to the streets tomorrow not as canon fodders of warring elites but as a force for structural change. We demand the legitimate call of ousting the illegitimate political leaders - GMA and Noli - now holding office in Malacanang! Laban ito ng masa tungo sa isang transitional revolutionary government!

'A Good Game' in Europe

No. 'A Good Game' is not signing off despite of the recent surveillance conducted on to this site by the US State Department and the World Bank. The site meter of this weblog has noted and recorded the respective visits of these institutions, which I call global panopticon. They must have detected in their powerful search engines the previous post here on 'The Emergent Bush-Wolfowitz Project'. It is nice to be visited by these global surveillance institutions, and to know that 'A Good Game' is serving its purpose as a tool to critically analyse and discuss the dynamics of contemporary global political economy.

The struggle and resistance continue. At the moment, 'A Good Game' is in Copenhagen at the Nordic Institute of Asian Studies (NIAS) studying yet another dynamics of resistance: 'Emerging Oppositions to the Liberal-Conservative Malaise in East and Southeast Asia'. Click here for the news. I hope to blog more on this soon.

The Emergent Bush-Wolfowitz Project: From New Imperialism To 'Post-New Imperialism'?

There is an emergent Bush-Wolfowitz Project. The White House has nominated US Deputy Defence Secretary Paul Wolfowitz as next head of the World Bank to replace James Wolfensohn. This development has implications for the rest of the world. Surely, nothing much substantial will change in the global political economy of development as capitalist market-led development shall continue anyway. But the changing of the Bank's leadership may also mean the changing of the strategy in managing the global capitalist system and its contradictions as well as in promoting continued capital accumulation.

In the essay I submitted a few months ago to Professor J. Gabriel Palma of Cambridge University, entitled 'Governing Global Capitalism: The Politics of Ideology and the Economics of Information', I argue that it would be analytically useful to think of the Bank, in partnership with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), as ‘problem-solving institutions’ geared at the management of the general conditions for capitalist accumulation and at resolving the contradictions capitalism induces. ‘Problem-solving’, in this sense, does not adhere to Robert Cox’s narrow conception of a ‘problem-solving’ orientation as the management of the status quo, which appears to be uncritical and unreflective of current realities. This is because, as Paul Cammack rightly points out, ‘there is no moment at which a “problem-solving” orientation aimed at maintaining the status quo is enough. The managers of domestic and local economies need just a “critical” a perspective as their opponents, if by “critical” we understand an analytical perspective which is mindful of complex processes of change, the clashes of interest they provoke, and the need to find innovative responses as new situation arise’. Beyond their own triumphalistic rhetoric, the global managers of globalising capitalism – the Bank and the Fund – are all too aware of capitalism’s contradictions and crises. It is for this reason that globalisation is presented not only as a blueprint for continuing development through the market but also as a project of crisis management.

The Bank and the Fund are not welfare institutions that prioritise distribution function. In reality, they cannot anymore also be viewed as Keynesian institutions prioritising stabilisation function because they have become bastions of neo-liberalism as they call for, if not forces, the restructuring of the world economy, targetting the policies of welfare and developmentalism along the conditions that satisfy capitalist profit. Neither the view that the Bank and the Fund are regulatory institutions – which prioritise regulation function of correcting market failures such as monopoly, negative externalities, and asymmetric information – would be adequate in analytically capturing the complexity of the governance of global capitalism.

There are at least two models of neo-liberalism that have emerged since the early 1980s: the Washington Consensus (1980s - early 1990s) and the post-Washington Consensus (mid-1990s - present). The two models contrast not along the ‘state versus market’ debate as active state involvement in making markets work has always been present in the history of political economy. The contrast lies in their respective strategies and focus in the management of the global capitalist system and the drive for accumulation. The Washington Consensus focused on an ‘open market economy’ through macro-economic structural adjustments in the policies of privatization, deregulation, and liberalization. The post-Washington Consensus, on the other hand, focuses on ‘competitiveness’ through a comprehensive institutionalization of ‘competition cultures’, especially on labour market reforms and the development of ‘human capital’. This post-Washington Consensus is the so-called Wolfensohn-Stiglitz project. Wolfensohn is the outgoing head of the Bank to be replaced by Wolfowitz. Joseph Stiglitz, former chief economist of the Bank, is a nobel prize winner for his 'economics of information' scholarship. This Wolfensohn-Stiglitz project focuses on the use of institutions (including the state), policy coordination, and the ‘information-theoretic approach’ as the strategy pursued by the Bank and all pro-capitalist political forces in the management of global capitalism, in particular the utilisation of non-market responses (that is, not merely setting prices right and the faith in the magic of the invisible hand) to address market imperfections.

The world now awaits for another neo-liberal offensive to be carried out by a military hardliner defender of American interest. My fear is that ‘new imperialism’ may be transformed to what I would call 'post-new imperialism'. New imperialism, as depicted in the process of globalisation, is a unique way of capital to dominate without exercising direct extra-economic power such as the political institutions and the military. Under new imperialism, uneven development does not anymore mean a system of the rich robbing the poor. All that is done is to subject and subordinate the workers and poor countries to capitalist market, and hence in a geography where majority are proletarianised and impoverished, and where both capital and labour are dependent on the market for their survival and self-reproduction. Post-new imperialism may go back to the old, pre-capitalist system of appropriation where capital accumulation is carried out through direct ‘extra-economic’ coercion.

The emergent Bush-Wolfowitz Project is about imposing the imperial hegemony of the US in particular and global capitalism in general through the subjection of everyone to the imperatives of the capitalist market that is sustained by direct extra-economic power of imperial political coercion and military rule. What Wolfowitz and the pro-capitalist forces are about to face is how to protect the interest of American capital in particular vis-a-vis the fastest-growing and strengthening economies of China, the European Union, and East Asia, and how to manage global capitalism in general vis-a-vis the increasing rage of the billions of people in misery around the world.

A Student's Tribute To Ka Dodong

I just watched the on-line video of a tribute to President Francisco Nemenzo (PFN), the outgoing 18th president of the University of the Philippines. It is a tribute by people who have worked with Ka Dodong for over 40 years in the University. Not a single student was however interviewed to share a story how great a teacher Ka Dodong is. As a former student of Ka Dodong, I would therefore like to pay tribute to him as he retires from UP and as he leaves his post as president today, his 70th birthday.

Ka Dodong is perhaps the most influential person to my continued passion for political science. I was his student in Political Science 11 (Introduction to Political Science) in 1998, and in Political Science 190 (Practicum on ‘Citizen Participation in the Legislation Process’ when we lobbied for the passage of the Clean Air Act) the following year. He is the only professor I have given ‘the best’ commendation in the Student Evaluation for Teachers (SET). I cannot imagine myself having this obsession in the discipline of political science had he not been my professor in the introductory course. I learned from him the basics of politics with analytical astuteness and conceptual clarity. It’s really a great achievement having his signature in two of my undergraduate classcards as well as in my diploma. He is a very engaging teacher whose diction is too powerful to behold. He welcomes debates and constructive criticisms. He always succeeds in exciting the students with ideas. And he comes to class well-prepared, always with a computerized lesson plan uniquely crafted for each and every session.

I learned from Ka Dodong the values of critical thinking and intelligent activism, the basics of Marxism and especially the humanism of Marx, the significance of political theory, and the power of the ‘word of mouth’. He made me realize more that my youthful idealism must be guided by wisdom.

I am proud to say I made the right decision of supporting him when he was nominated to be UP president six years ago, leading UP into the 21st century. No regrets at all. I had then several disagreements and even confrontations with fellow activists and students over harsh and unfounded criticisms thrown at him, especially when I supported his administration’s modernization programme and when I co-convened the UP4RGEP in support of the Revitalized General Education Program.

Ka Dodong is a visionary leader who lives up to the principles of democratic governance where people have access to the corridors of power. A few years ago, I learned of the cry of the janitors and personnel in Palma Hall who were being unjustly compensated by their agency. I organized these people, sought the help of Ka Dodong, and without any hesitation Ka Dodong himself found time to meet up with them. After the meeting, these workers told me they were touched by the simple humanism of Ka Dodong who earnestly let them speak up their concerns right in the Office of the President, who sincerely listened to their call for justice, who swiftly acted on their legitimate resentments, and who made them feel as human beings whose work are truly regarded with value.

Yet, far more than his greatness and brilliance as a teacher, Ka Dodong is a very endearing human being who is unconscious of his charisma. I truly appreciate and admire his simple thoughtfulness, humility, and good sense of humour. He finds time to reply to text messages and e-mails of his former students. I was touched when I received a personal, congratulatory text message from Ka Dodong, the UP president himself, just before I marched for my graduation. He is a simple academic who continuous to live a humble and modest life. He does not resort to the outmoded values of clientelistic relations that is still sadly practised by many senior academics.

His sense of humour is also remarkable. A few months ago, he came here in KL to attend the EU-ASEAN Rectors’ Conference. Together with Joe, we welcomed Ka Dodong in the KL International Airport. He was on a backpack. (Yes, the president of the country’s premier university in a backpack! Cool!) After checking-in in his hotel we went out to eat late at night. Ka Dodong does not fancy eating in posh restaurants. He likes eating at the sidewalks, in hawkers’ stalls. We went to Jalan Elor, a busy street of Chinese food hawkers. A Chinese vendor approached us speaking in Chinese, sounded like he was convincing us to eat in his stall. Ka Dodong spoke to him in Tagalog for quite awhile. They had a Chinese-Tagalog conversation. After the conversation, I asked Ka Dodong, ‘Kinausap n’yo po ng Tagalog?’ He replied to me, ‘Oo. Pareho lang iyon. Kahit mag-Ingles ako hindi rin kami magkakaintindihan’. We burst into laughter. Ka Dodong is impressed of ‘street smart’ people. Actually, he is a street smart himself.

To Ka Dodong, thank you so much for everything. Thank you for the learning I got from you and the meaningful moments I shared with you, learning and moments that could last for a lifetime. Thanks for the kind words in your recommendations to me. Thanks for always being supportive of me – for supporting my successful flagship project, the ‘Political Discussion Series’ when I was Representative of the Department of Political Science to the College of Social Sciences and Philosophy Student Council; for attending the Anniversary Night of the UP Samahan sa Agham Pampulitika (UP SAPUL) when I was its Chair; for supporting the Department of Political Science Debating Team when I was its coach during the Centennial of the Silliman University; and for keeping your lines open to all my social and personal concerns and advocacies.

A few days before I left for KL on September 2004 to pursue my graduate studies, I visited Ka Dodong in his office to thank him for everything, and to wish him well in his future endeavours. I know that he is looking forward to this day when he can now spend more time reading, writing, travelling, and sharing precious moments with his beloved family and friends. Yet, I think that he deserves to be professor emeritus, and he should be, so that many more students will enjoy a truly wonderful and inspiring learning experience with him in a classroom – and even in a cyber classroom – from time to time.

In solidarity, I join the people gathering today paying tribute to Ka Dodong at the Abelardo Hall, University of the Philippines Diliman Campus in singing ‘The Internationale’:

Arise ye workers from your slumbers
Arise ye prisoners of want
For reason in revolt now thunders
And at last ends the age of cant.
Away with all your superstitions
Servile masses arise, arise
We'll change henceforth the old tradition
And spurn the dust to win the prize.

So comrades, come rally
And the last fight let us face
The Internationale unites the human race.
So comrades, come rally
And the last fight let us face
The Internationale unites the human race.

No more deluded by reaction
On tyrants only we'll make war
The soldiers too will take strike action
They'll break ranks and fight no more
And if those cannibals keep trying
To sacrifice us to their pride
They soon shall hear the bullets flying
We'll shoot the generals on our own side.

No saviour from on high delivers
No faith have we in prince or peer
Our own right hand the chains must shiver
Chains of hatred, greed and fear
E'er the thieves will out with their booty
And give to all a happier lot.
Each at the forge must do their duty
And we'll strike while the iron is hot.

I know that Ka Dodong does not want to be reminded of his birthday. But people like me whose lives he has dearly touched love to be reminded of one of our lives’ most valuable moments – the birth of a truly good human being, Francisco Nemenzo. Happy Birthday, Ka Dodong! Maraming salamat! Mabuhay ka!

Another Philippine Society Is Possible

The method of dialectical reasoning is perhaps the most neglected, yet very useful, revolutionary ideological tool of our time. It starts from the proposition that everything changes, except the necessity for change; and that a theory about social change must therefore change with changing times. What Marx wrote over a century ago still holds true today: 'the present society is no solid crystal, but an organism capable of change, and constantly engaged in the process of change'.

Over a month ago, I posted here 'The Nightmare of the Philippine Left: The History of All Dead Generations' as a wake-up call to the Philippine Left, especially to the dominant Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), that suffers not only from the living, but from the dead generations. It is so sad to think that alongside the modern evils of globalising capitalism and increasing elitism in the Philippines, the Left and the people it hopes to liberate are oppressed by the whole series of inherited evils, arising from the endurance of outmoded forms of struggle and thinking. While the CPP continues to bully and threat the groups and individuals it tags as 'counter-revolutionaries', the forces of capital are celebrating their orgies and the political elites having a laugh, and the masses in deep misery.

It is pathetic that the ongoing debate within the Philippine Left has become a discourse that could somehow signify a sense of 'insecurity' among progressive forces -- that is, 'who are the real agents of change?' A statement of concern on the threat of violence in the resolution of political difference has just been issued by the global civil society, World Social Forum (WSF), to which I am in solidarity with:

The last few years have seen a very large number of diverse groups and organisations coming together in spite of their differences to confront neo-liberal globalisation. However, we are deeply concerned that there are still some groups in the world today that attempt to deal with political differences using physical attacks and death threats. A recent example of this is the situation which has emerged in the Philippines where a number of individual intellectuals, activists (Walden Bello and Lidy Nacpil) and organisations engaged in various forms of struggle against militarism and globalised capitalism have been listed by the international department of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) as 'counter-revolutionary' and as 'agents of imperialism'. Some individuals named on this list have already been assassinated and, based on past experiences, this list constitutes a credible threat of assassination.

Therefore, those of us gathered here in the World Social Forum in Porto Alegre, Brazil and others in the world, inspired by the pluralism and inclusiveness of this global process, believe that when the security of activists is at stake we cannot act as if the problem is a local one. In our efforts to consistently build an international movement for fundamental transformation we strongly reiterate that the resolving of political differences must be done through the struggle of ideas and democratic dialogue and not through the politics of individual assassination.

We call on everyone within the global justice movements to re-assert this principle and express solidarity with all those who are victims of such threats.

This statement has been signed by respected left intellectuals and activists around the world such as Alex Callinicos, Leo Panitch, Naomi Klein, Susan George, and Tariq Ali.

I could imagine the CPP labeling the WSF as another international 'counter-revolutionary' (reactionary) movement. This thinking is plain and simple dogmatism. Wake up, CPP! The world has changed! The WSF may not have the blueprint for a utopian alternative world order, but we must be united in the essential common task of resisting the inhumanity of capitalist globalisation. Mao may have been right to say that 'political power grows out of the barrel of a gun', if and only if political power is understood as coercion, fear, and terror. In the long run, however, it is ideas which are more powerful than guns. Guns may kill people. But ideas can only be killed by a better and an overwhelming one.

While I am aware of the objective and necessity of armed struggle, the CPP however has the history of using its arms a la criminals. An armed struggle, I believe, must be guided by this dictum: 'Peacefully if we can, violently if we must'. Indeed, another Philippine society is possible as much as another world is possible; but this could only be realized through a passionate struggle of organized and unified progressive movements that are founded on the principles of humanism, justice, and democracy.

Reminders For The New Year

It’s been exactly a week now since we entered the new year with renewed promises and resolutions to ourselves. Yet, for some of us there’s nothing new in the new year, but only the continuation and perpetuation of old, vicious habits. There are some however who are determined to live up to a renewed commitment to liberate the inner self from boring and unproductive routine. I admire those people who have this discipline. As the saying goes, ‘before you conquer the future, you must first be able to conquer yourself’. What is the way out then of outmoded habits and repressive routines? Since nobody has the right to compel the way we are supposed to live our lives, it is perhaps helpful to be ‘reminded’ of some of life’s important lessons from people we admire - from our parents, family, friends, and teachers - aside from our own personal learning. Reminders have liberating force. They are aids to free us from our habitual incarceration from debilitating routines. Hence, I would like here to share these very inspiring ‘Fifteen Reminders’ from my comrade and former professor in sociology, Randy David - who, I think, is celebrating his birthday today. I have already heard most of these thoughtful reminders from him in our class in the Sociology of Post-Modernity three years ago and in his various writings and speaking engagements over the years. I learned from Ka Randy the sensibility of balancing the quest for personal perfection and the commitment to social solidarity.

1. Though our lives may be limited by circumstances not chosen by us, we nevertheless make choices all the time. Doing nothing, letting events dictate our lives, is also a choice. Be mindful of the choices you make. Do not abandon your actions; answer for them.
2. It is necessary to look after our selves. Try to look good always so you don't add to the world's gloominess. But do not forget that you also have a duty to live well with others. Give cheer, offer solidarity. Never be the cause of another person's humiliation.
3. Take care of your body, listen to its needs. It works in powerful ways, but it is not infinite in its capacities.
4. We each have our goals, big and small. Our goals are a mirror of our values. Always be conscious of what your goals are, and what it takes to achieve them. Do not hesitate to review and revise them by going back to the context that gave rise to them.
5. Living is essentially problem-solving. The solutions that work are often formulated from new ways of looking and describing. Observe how others look at life. Read and expand your moral vocabulary. Re-describe your life.
6. To understand a thing, science says, is to measure it against a standard. It is also to comprehend the context from which it sprang, and to know its uses. But remember: not everything is worth knowing.
7. Everyone has values. We acquire these in the course of our lives. Make sure your values serve you well; treat them as your "personal defense and necessity." Once you've settled on your values, live by them relentlessly.
8. The main purpose of living is to turn yourself into a beautiful and strong human being, a worthy link in the chain of generations. Each one of us is given a chance to be an artist: our selves are our first raw material.
9. Too often we become the slave of habit. Take time to pause and be silent, so that you can hear the voice of the inner self that may be struggling to free itself from mindless and debilitating routine.
10. There is no sure-fire formula for achieving anything. Armed with knowledge, you may also draw strength from having a lot of hope.
11. Live without resentment and guilt.
12. Love unconditionally and without expectation.
13. Be mindful of the world around you, and learn from Nature.
14. See clearly and act with grace.
15. Face each day with cheer.

May these reminders perpetually refresh our consciousness each and every day. And may this new year ushers in a much more caring world for all of us. Happy New Year everyone!