Cobra Kai and holding grudges

If there's something I learned from Cobra Kai, it's that we should avoid holding grudges. Holding a grudge, that lifetime resentment of yours, would not do anyone any good. It affects everyone around you--your family, your friends, and even the community.

Well, yes, it's just a television show, but the parallelisms in the real world is glaring.

It happens.

Art imitates life.

We hold grudges. Most people do. It's probably human nature. And more often than not, it's petty.

Imagine if people would just listen to what the other has to say. Talk to and with each other. Imagine if Daniel and Johnny just talked and listened, their rivalry would have not escalated like it did. Imagine if people STOPPED assuming like they know everything or what everyone's going through, we would probably be living in a more peaceful world.

Just imagine.

Change.

Think about it. Is change an individual effort that we should "change from within"? Or, are we the type of people driven by our leaders, our society, our culture? Is change, considering these factors of leadership, society and culture, a collective effort? Should we be willing to change ourselves or should there be a driving force for us to change? Or, both?

They say, real change starts from within. Does it, really? Do we simply decide that we change for the better? Or, do we decide to change because it's what our leaders, our society, and culture demand from us? Or, is it simply demanded by these changing times? 

Do we drive change? Or, are we driven by change? Are we the type of people who choose to follow? Or, are we a society of leaders? Are Filipinos the "change from within" type of people? Or, are we "leadership by example" kind of people? Do we follow our leaders because we want to? Or, do we follow our leaders because we need to? Want, need, or both?

Change, change, change.

"We want change." The most overused "battle cry" during elections.

Change. What is it, really? From whom? For whom?

An Objective Analysis of History

Is that too much to ask for? Aren't historians supposed to objectively analyze historical events? To at least have an unbiased way of presenting history.

I did not live through Martial Law. I know people who did and their stories vary. I lived through Agoncillo and Zaide though, especially Zaide. There's the anti-Marcos media, too. The kind of media that still exist up to this day. So, I take offense when the anti-Marcos crowd label us who support Bongbong Marcos (or, have a balanced view on Martial Law or the allegations of corruption, or even the Marcoses as a family) as "ignorant", "stupid", or "having no sense of history". Is that how simplistic these anti-Marcos people are?

Asking for an objective analysis of history especially the controversial ones, does that make me stupid? Does that make me a loyalist? Does that make me a blind follower? Does that make me a revisionist?

I don't think so.

When I say an objective analysis of history, I speak of Philippine History in general. It's not a specific time, date, event or person. A history not written by the victors, but one which has been thoroughly studied and analyzed by objective and non-partisan historians. Isn't that what historians are for? To have an objective analysis of our history.

Imagine if our historians did just that. We wouldn't have considered Emilio Aguinaldo a hero, right? Or, maybe we still would. You simply have to consider everything--the time, the laws, the circumstances, the existing ideologies, world events, the two sides of the story. It's easy to ignore facts when it wouldn't fit your narrative. This is exactly what are "historians" did. They have made up their minds. This is how they thought history should be presented. Their way.

It is only now that more and more people have actually realized that our history as it is written have not been telling us the whole story. For years! Half-truths. Half-lies. This is why we have never really learned anything as a nation. And now, we demand an objective analysis of our history and the anti-Marcos crowd call it revisionism?

Facts, backed up not only by documents but also by existing realities, want to be known. Stories by people who also lived during those times want to be told. The victors chose to ignore these facts and these stories. And now, it's coming back to life--haunting them.

I believe Mulder when he said,

"...the truth will out and that no one lie can live forever. I believe it still. Much as you try to bury it, the truth is out there. Greater than your lies, the truth wants to be known. You will know it. It'll come to you, as it's come to me faster than the speed of light."

History is neither black nor white.  So, it is truly wise to keep an open mind.

I hope they have it in them.

SPIN.

December 05, 2014

The internet has become a lot of "used-to-be's". It used to be a tool to express one's thoughts, ideas, or opinions in a very civil and respectful way. Internet forums and message boards used to encourage intelligent discussions. Respect meant something. There were critiques instead of critics. People wanted to make a point rather than spread hate. It was used to inform, not shame people. 

Today, all these have been used to be's.

You know how good people are made to look bad, and vise versa? How a great moment turns into a bad moment? Or, how bad moments are used to shame people? I call this spinning. It's all about spinning. Positive spin. Negative spin. You choose. 

More often than not, negative spin wins. This is how the internet has been used nowadays. This is how people in the internet, or "netizens" as the proudly call themselves, have become. Of course, there's that disclaimer that not all have become the people we despise, but there are a number of them--a great number of them.

Social media has particularly become the world of spin. If you don't like a politician, a musician, or a celebrity, or even an ordinary individual or group, there's social media for you. It has been a platform to shame people. A tabloid-like tool for hateful people. In that world, they win. It is, after all, their world, not ours. 

It shouldn't be ours.

Now. 

Your move. My move. OUR MOVE.

.