SociologyMall168

Recall - Letters

2012-01-24T22:17:00.001-08:00

Recall of letter addressed to parents ("Divisoria challenge"). Please return these letters for proper signatures this coming Wednesday. For SO 101 students only. Salamat po.

Divisoria Challenge, Bulletin 01

2012-01-24T01:16:00.000-08:00

The main concept of Divisoria Challenge (DC)is to test out your skill on how to live in a group.The activity:1. You will be grouped into a 5-member team.2. Each one shall contribute P100 to the group and you will plan on how you can maximize your purchase for your own use or for your plan to re-sell them. The post activity of the DC will be scheduled in our class day. Appoint your group reporter. You are encouraged to document your experience.3. This plan will see fruition this coming 26 February, Sunday. We are going to Divisoria. Groups will be assigned to the following: 168Mall, and Tutuban Center.4. Thus, you can organize your group and plan out your strategy when you reach these shopping area.

Final Exam

2012-01-16T04:58:00.001-08:00

Final Exam, SO 101, Film Analysis1. This is your final semester exam. The weight of this work is 100 points.2. You are to group yourselves into 3 person per group. You can do an individual work or in tandem.3. You are to select a film of your choice (to be approved by your teacher) in which you are going to analyze the film and using sociological terms that you have understood in our discussion.4. A minimum of 25 sociological terms and maximum of 50 will be used in your film analysis.5. Parts of your work: A - Title Page which contains the groups member's names, section and schedule. B - One page summary of the film. C - Film Analysis an essay tackling the film's theme, the problem or conflict involved or how was it resolved. D - Individual reflection of the members on how it is working with your group mates. E - Trivia of the film. F - Expenses in coming out with the production of the film analysis.6. You can select any English or Tagalog film available at the market. The CD will be submitted with the film analysis and will not be returned. Thus purchase a CD that is affordable.7. Deadline of the film analysis will be TTh -... , WF ... will be announced.8. Ask for the model of the film analysis from your teacher. It is available for you to view.

Final Exam

2012-01-16T04:52:00.001-08:00

1. This is your final semester exam. The weight of this work is 50 points.
2. You are to group yourselves into 3 person per group. You can do an individual work or in tandem.
3. You are to select a film of your choice (to be approved by your teacher) in which you are going to analyze the film and using sociological terms that you have understood in our discussion.
4. A minimum of 25 sociological terms and maximum of 50 will be used in your film analysis.
5. Parts of your work: A - Title Page which contains the groups member's names, section and schedule. B - One page summary of the film. C - Film Analysis an essay tackling the film's theme, the problem or conflict involved or how was it resolved. D - Individual reflection of the members on how it is working with group mates. E - Trivia of the film. F - Expenses in coming out with the production of the film analysis.
6. You can select any English or Tagalog film available at the market. The CD will be submitted with the film analysis and will not be returned. Thus purchase a CD that is affordable.
7. Deadline of the film analysis will be TTh -... , WF ...
8. Ask for the model of the film analysis from your teacher. It is available for you to view.

Celebrating Maryknoll's 100 years presence

2012-01-05T22:29:00.000-08:00

Prelims - Essay Second Semester

2012-01-04T01:27:00.001-08:00

This will be part of your prelims that receives 50 points.Instructions:1. Select one topic that you think you can relate on this blogspot. Reflect on that article and write an essay on how does it affect you.2. It should be double space with a maximum of 3 pages.3. Deadline is a 7 days after the written prelim exam. (Written prelims= 50 pts. plus essay = 50 points.Queries at: leonidas.jose@yahoo.com

The Hermit Kingdom

2011-12-25T15:16:00.001-08:00

North Korea is one of the most secretive country in the planet. It is organized in emperor worship and blood lineage leadership. Watch this document and observe their life comparing to your own.Click on the colored link.Assignment: 1. Retain your latest grouping (Video Festival) and submit a paper pointing our the difference between your life in the Philippines and life in North Korea. Two pages only. Deadline January 10 and 11 on class days.

Birth of universe, part 2

2011-12-24T05:57:00.002-08:00

Birth of Universe

Birth of the universe

2011-12-24T05:37:00.000-08:00

Birth of the universe.

SO 101, Please view the post Birth of the Universe

2011-12-22T23:48:00.000-08:00

Birth of the universe is a four-part series on explaining how the universe came to be. Just go to the post below this.

Birth of the Universe 1-4

2011-12-22T23:18:00.002-08:00

National Geographic presents a four-part series on the birth of the universe.http://youtu.be/phV-Zpy1BeM

Plus points for SO 101

2011-12-18T15:36:00.002-08:00

You are given 5-extra points but you have to work for it. How? you can submit trivia paper which get a point. Trivia papers will not be returned. Just ask for the points that you got and record it. Five points is the only limit.

MC GotTalent, Orientation

2011-12-18T15:04:00.003-08:00

MC GOT TALENT is a showcase of talents by individuals or groups. They can render songs, dance, poetry reading, showing of their self-produced video, poetry reading, published short stories, art works.

Each section is assigned an organizing committee. If you have talent to share contact the assigned committee.

MC Got Talent Schedule, SO 101, NSTP

2011-12-18T15:02:00.002-08:00

TTh 7:30 am - 13 March
TTh 9:00 am - 06 March
WF 7:30 am - 29 Feb
WF 9:00 am - 2 March
NSTP 12:00 - 22 February

WF 7:30 AM Grouping Video Festival

2011-12-18T14:54:00.002-08:00

03 February 2012 Groups 1-5

Group 1, Takai, DeRamos,Delovino, Umali
Group 2, Johnson, Luces, Trinida, Barraza
Group 3, Cheng, Inoferio, Paitan, Torio
Group 4, Pahate, Samonte, Sadi, Virtudazo
Group 5, acosta, Zarragoza, Kasingsing, Barnachea

08 February Groups 6-9

Group 6, Aquino, Chua, Devera, Mangulabnan
Group 7, Tan, Pandela, Quinagoran, Go
Group 8, Calderon, Rivera, Basa, Sosa
Group 9, Alunan, Perdido, Beltran

WF 9:00 am Video Festival SO 101

2011-12-18T14:49:00.002-08:00

Schedule for 03 February, 2012 Groups 1-4

Group 1, Acerden, Asuncion,Camello, Cruz Denize
Group 2, Puyo, Minji, Sijin Kim
Group 3, Datu, Aman, Delacruz Allana, Del Rosario
Group 4, Cueva, Arugay, Devela, Cirineo

07 March 2012 Groups 5-8

Group 5, Amper, Apacible, Berro, Chua
Group 6, Delluza, Carpio, Dejesus, Justalero
Group 7, Park E, Advincula, Batangantang,Sobue
Group 8, Nipa, Argus, Abat, Relova

Understanding Janet Mock, on Transgender

2011-12-14T20:05:00.001-08:00

Understanding Janet Mock, on Transgender.

On Mass behavior in Wukan, China

2011-12-14T13:34:00.002-08:00

SO 101 & NSTP students read on this mass behavior phenomenon.

The conflict in Wukan, a coastal settlement near the country’s booming industrial heartland in Guangdong Province, escalated on Monday after residents learned that one of the representatives they had selected to negotiate with the local Communist Party had died in police custody. The authorities say a heart attack killed the 42-year-old man, but relatives say his body bore signs of torture.

Assignment 2011 - So 101 January 2012

2011-12-14T01:19:00.002-08:00

1. Retain your grouping from the Video Clip Festival.
2. You are to submit at least 15 newspaper clippings on the "Impeachment of Corona"
3. Answer this question/s, a. Do you think the government has a case against Corona? If yes, why? If no why not. b. Will it produce the so-called "Constitutional Crisis?" If yes, how? If no, why not? Develop your essay response to this. Double space. Same format.
4. Deadline, 10 and 11 January 2012.

TTh 7:30 am Video Film clip festival

2011-12-13T01:52:00.002-08:00

Groups 1 - 4, 01 March

Group 1 Hernandez, Diaz, DelaFuente, Briones
Group 2 Garcia, Elomina, Bowe, Felizardo
Group 3 Domingo, Cruz K, Dospueblos, Carlos
Group 4 Balmaceda, Centeno, Menciano, Tapiador

Groups 5 - 7 06 March

Group 5 - Gonzales, Bautista, Fallaria, Alfonso
Group 6 - Castillo, Chavez, DeJesus, Cruz
Group 7 - Deleon, Gregorio, Espenida, Alejo, DelosReyes

Group TTH 9:00 am SO 101 Video Film Festival

2011-12-13T01:17:00.003-08:00

First Batch Video Film Clip Festival Date 23 Feb
Group 1, Gonzalo, Perez, Gandionco, Adap
Group 2, Bunyi, Calaquian, Dumaguing, Edades
Group 3, Alegre, Escalante, Kabigting
Group 4, Inguilla, Inocentes, Jardin, Santana
Group 5, Gumaru,Homillada, Javier, Moscare

Second Batch Video Film Clip Festival Date 08 March

Group 6 - Relova, Mistica, River, Salapantan
Group 7 - Dacudao, Gapasin, Manuel, Sanchez
Group 8 - Casumpang, Dayao, Bandiola, Lu, DeGuzman
Group 9 - David, Gungon, Aman, Zalamea

Announcement: On Lamangan & Bonifacio article

2011-12-09T04:35:00.005-08:00

If you can't access the data do not do the assignment. Naturally. I will get another accessible one. Thanks.

Video Film Clip Festival SO 101

2011-12-09T04:18:00.002-08:00

Video Film clip Festival SO 101
1. Organize a group with 4 members.
2. Your objective:
a. Select a video clip from YouTube having the following topic or subject: Philippine values, Cooperation, Conflict, Funny-human incident local or foreign, weird cultural practice, weird or exotic food, religious groups or religious practice, the elderly, new knowledge, the internet, and helping in times of need.
b. A video clip should not exceed 3-minutes. A total of 5-video clips will be presented which include a closing song that the group will agree on.
3. Your schedule:
WF 9:00 am 03Feb and 07 March
WF 7:30 am 03Feb and 07 March
TTh 9:00 am 23 Feb and 08 March
TTh 7:30 am 01 March and 06 March
4. Your group will be given a number to know your schedule of reporting.
5. Inquiries shall be sent to: leonidas.jose@yahoo.com

Empire of Illusion and Pyschosis

2011-12-07T03:22:00.001-08:00

By Chris Hedges

Our culture of flagrant self-exaltation, hardwired in the American character, permits the humiliation of all those who oppose us. We believe, after all, that because we have the capacity to wage war we have a right to wage war. Those who lose deserve to be erased. Those who fail, those who are deemed ugly, ignorant or poor, should be belittled and mocked. Human beings are used and discarded like Styrofoam boxes that held junk food. And the numbers of superfluous human beings are swelling the unemployment offices, the prisons and the soup kitchens.

Click colored link above.

Announcement : Reporting teams SO 101

2011-12-06T06:51:00.001-08:00

Please submit your report via email at leonidas.jose@yahoo.com
Also add the links of your video presentation.
Thanks.

The last Bo.

2011-12-05T23:15:00.001-08:00

The last member of a 65,000-year-old tribe has died, taking one of the world's earliest languages to the grave.
Boa Sr, who died last week aged about 85, was the last native of the Andaman Islands who was fluent in Bo.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1248754/Last-member-65-000-year-old-tribe-dies-taking-worlds-earliest-languages-grave.html#ixzz1fjj6qUab

Reminders to Reporters

2011-12-02T00:58:00.002-08:00

Reporters should rehearse their delivery. Members should be responsible to review the text to be project. They should be early in the class to fix the technicals. They should have the lap-top, LCD project, a audio machine for your audio-visual material.

Reports should be sent to leonidas.jose@yahoo.com you can also add the link/s.

SO 101: Announcement

2011-11-23T19:48:00.001-08:00

SO 101 students of SY2011-2011 are required to view French Revolution part 1, Discovery channel, You Tube.

The 7th billion baby was born at your village

2011-11-23T19:45:00.001-08:00

The 7th billion baby was born at your village. Now what will that baby expect from you environment?

Opinion on Ramgen Revilla's murder

2011-11-12T18:22:00.002-08:00

For SO 101 and NSTP student's material. Please read the article for discussion.

Per our Supreme Court, “Flight means the act of evading the course of justice by voluntarily withdrawing oneself to avoid arrest or detention or the institution or continuance of criminal proceedings. The unexplained flight of the accused may, as a general rule, be taken as evidence tending to establish guilt.” (People v. Ayupan, Feb. 13, 2002)

Please click on red link above.

Power point presentation, Chapter report SO 101

2011-11-10T04:24:00.003-08:00

As I have given instruction on the chapter reporting you can use power point presentation. You can add a video/s presentation within the power point.

Then present a song that you think that can go with your report.

Lastly, you can share to the class a video of interest that you found which is around 2-3 minutes.

Announcement: Review this video for power point presentation

2011-11-10T04:16:00.004-08:00

Power point presentation. Must see.

Chapter reports have 100% weight points.

Announcement: SO 101

2011-11-10T02:46:00.001-08:00

Students are required to view the two videos posted below this window. Big Bang Theory and Human Evolution videos will be our material for discussion.

Big Bang Theory, Human Evolution

2011-11-10T02:42:00.002-08:00

Big Bang Theory

Human Evolution, Animated.

Human Evolution - Animated

2011-11-10T02:27:00.001-08:00

Watch and study how we evolved from simple organism to complex celled organism.

Out of classroom activity SO 101

2011-11-09T22:27:00.003-08:00

Instructions: (This out of classroom activity will be on the 17th and 18th November).

1. You are to retain the same group that you have formulated when I gave you your first written assignment.

2. Your group shall be able to submit a paper (1-2 pages, same agreed format) on:
a) Observations of patterns of behavior in a school (eg. observation at Miriam College).
b) Discussion of the group on observations of patterns of behavior in a family.

You have the option to work on an individual basis.

3. As scheduled this will be submitted this coming 24th and 25th November respectively.

4. Should you have any querry, please email me at leonidas.jose@yahoo.com

Welcome Freshmen, Second Semester 2011-12

2011-11-08T05:16:00.002-08:00

Hellow!

Welcome to a new world and space of learning. Now, via this blogspot or we may call it the cyberspace I hope I can provide you with the reading and viewing materials for the Introductory course on Sociology.

Messages will be posted here, so you have to visit this site for the duration of the semester.

I am inviting you to watch the video on the 21st Century enlightenment just below this post.

If you think there are interesting articles you like to read please do so.

Earn making your own video

2011-10-28T14:20:00.001-08:00

Earn from your video upload, if it goes viral, at YouTube.

9 Ways Christianity battles Science

2011-10-28T13:40:00.001-08:00

Science and Religion… here are two things that do not go together like birds of a feather, or peas in a pod, or pork chops in applesauce. But the two have to live together one way or another seeing as the world is technologically and scientifically developing at nearly the speed of light while the Light of Christ still illuminates the Bible Belt and beyond with the same intensity as ever. The two world views are bound to clash on most of the issues, but perhaps there is some common ground somewhere. Or maybe not. Here are some of the ways Christians try to resist the proven facts of science.

News from Sorsogon State College

2011-10-17T04:02:00.002-08:00

SORSOGON CITY—Wanting in laboratory facilities but blessed with dedicated teachers, a little-known state college here has proven it can equal the finest engineering schools in the country. Its recent graduates have topped successive engineering board exams.
Sorsogon State College (SSC), some 500 kilometers south of Manila, has produced the likes of Joseph Cyril R. Gredoña and Daniel E. Forteza, who ranked first and second, respectively, in the mechanical engineering board exams last month.
Gredoña—a son of a tricycle driver—garnered a grade of 92.70 percent, while Forteza—a son of a farmer/fisherman—got 92.65 percent in the exams.

21st - Enlightenment, a review of the future.

2011-10-16T05:27:00.002-08:00

Reviewing he 21st first Enlightenment. The future is upon us. The future is not of some distant moment but present in the present time that stir our life.

Click on the colored link.

Žižek at Wall Street: “don’t fall in love with yourself”

2011-10-13T00:12:00.001-08:00

Žižek at Wall Street: “don’t fall in love with yourself”

We are not destroying anything. We are only witnessing how the system is destroying itself. We all know the classic scene from cartoons. The cat reaches a precipice but it goes on walking, ignoring the fact that there is nothing beneath this ground. Only when it looks down and notices it, it falls down. This is what we are doing here. We are telling the guys there on Wall Street, “Hey, look down!”

Click on colored link.

Occupy Wall Street! October 2011

2011-10-06T10:18:00.002-08:00

Click on colored link below:

Got Class Warfare? Occupy Wall Street Now!
Thursday 6 October 2011
by: Henry A. Giroux, Truthout | Op-Ed

Protesters from the Occupy Wall Street movement, the United Federation of Teachers and members of other unions at Foley Square in New York, on October 5, 2011. (Photo: Ozier Muhammad/The New York Times)
We're young; we're poor; we're not going to take it anymore. -Occupy Wall Street chant

As thousands of young people are marching against corporate power and rallying in protest against the symbols of Wall Street greed across the United States, the political and economic elites respond by engaging in a form of class warfare and clinging to the celebration of the shark-like culture of casino capitalism, revealing all too clearly their own criminal behavior and how it represents a major threat to American democracy.

Slavery in modern India

2011-10-04T04:05:00.000-08:00

Slavery in modern India.

Evolution, Richard Dawkins, Genes

2011-09-27T13:23:00.001-08:00

Progressive Evolution?

Professor Dawkins’s great intellectual conviction is that evolution is progressive, and tends to lead to more and more complexity. Species, in his view, often arrive at similar solutions to evolutionary puzzles — the need for ears, eyes, arms or an octopus’s tentacle. And, often although not invariably, bigger brains. So the saber-toothed tiger shows up as a cat in Europe and Asia, and as a marsupial in South America. Different species seized on the same carnivorous solution. (He most certainly does not, however, view evolution as progressing toward us, that is humans — were we to disappear, some other species most likely would fill our evolutionary niche.)

Governance

2011-09-07T16:45:00.000-08:00

The new hires, who worked as project head coordinators, executive officers, technical writers, project evaluators, field inspectors, client assistance officers, field coordinators, office aides and area coordinators, were paid from P5,000 to P18,500 each.http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/54813/coa-probes-3000-qc-%E2%80%98ghost%E2%80%99-workers

Francis Fukuyama, Origins of Political Order

2011-09-07T00:50:00.000-08:00

Dr. Fukuyama, a political scientist, is concerned mostly with the cultural, not biological, aspects of human society. But he explicitly assumes that human social nature is universal and is built around certain evolved behaviors like favoring relatives, reciprocal altruism, creating and following rules, and a propensity for warfare.Because of this shared human nature, with its biological foundation, “human politics is subject to certain recurring patterns of behavior across time and across cultures,” he writes. It is these worldwide patterns he seeks to describe in an analysis that stretches from prehistoric times to the French Revolution.http://nyti.ms/pgU3ZM

True to Your Heart - Mulan - YouTube

2011-08-27T18:49:00.000-08:00

True to Your Heart - Mulan - YouTube

Public speaking

2011-08-25T01:07:00.003-08:00

At school students are not just taught to understand concepts. They are also taught how to face and talk to crowds. If you are motivated to take this skill then it is best that you start early.
Look at how Steve Jobs speak to crowds. He knows. Full of confidence. Search also for other speakers with their famous lines. There is this AL Pacino movie, At any given Sunday. He gave an inspirational talk. You can also look at his piece on Scent of a Woman.

Sax - Michael Jackson - You are not alone

2011-08-22T23:00:00.001-08:00

You are not alone.

Effective Power Point Presentation

2011-08-21T02:34:00.001-08:00

Effective power point presentation. Please google or search at You Tube, Effective Power Point Presentation.

Forgetfulness a cult.

2011-08-08T20:08:00.000-08:00

Moving on: the cult of forgetfulness

By: Randy David
Philippine Daily Inquirer
1:01 am | Sunday, July 31st, 2011
Memory is so burdensome to many of us that moving on and not looking back has become a kind of value in itself. The argument is that responding to present challenges is demanding enough, we should not compound it by dredging the past. This attitude, so prevalent in our culture, typically rides on the religious notion of forgiveness as forgetting and freeing oneself of a grudge. I argue that while a sense of forgiveness may lead us to disregard a wrong, forgiving does not mean forgetting.

There are two reasons why we should remember, and they are particularly relevant to our context. The first is quite obvious: many of our present problems are practically the same ones we encountered in the past. They recur because we have not taken them seriously enough – meaning, we do not use them as occasions to affirm our basic values, laws, and standards. We are content to catch the small fry hired by the real culprits. Because of the latter’s power, we stop short of calling them to account, or of punishing them. We seldom take the trouble of determining the nature of these problems so as to prevent their recurrence.

The second reason for remembering is that where there is no recognition of wrongdoing, or where there is no remorse and atonement, there is no duty to forgive. The offense is bound to be repeated, if not by the same person, by others who are emboldened by the community’s lack of will to enforce its laws. But, more than this, when a wrongdoing is unacknowledged and altogether blotted out, and the wrongdoer survives in memory without stigma, cynicism displaces idealism. The community loses its capacity to judge and to distribute social esteem. Before long, the unpunished wrongdoer may even come back to claim esteem. In our forgetfulness, we then wonder why, in the first place, it was denied him.

In his book “The ethics of memory,” the philosopher Avishai Margalit wrote of forgiveness in these terms: “The central metaphor is not erasure but, rather, returning. The sinner who has become distanced from God because of his sin now returns to Him. The first step in correcting the wrongdoing is not God’s forgiveness but the sinner’s act of returning to God.”

This is accomplished, Margalit writes, first and foremost by the offender showing remorse. Why is remorse so crucial to the return of the offender to the fold, and to the reconciliation between the wrongdoer and the community that forgives?

Margalit’s insight is instructive: “Remorse offers us a non-magical way of undoing the past. Although it is impossible to undo what has been done, since the past cannot be changed, it is possible to change our interpretation of the past. By expressing remorse the offender presents himself in a new light, a light that can be projected into the past. His ability to feel remorse attests that he is not basically evil, even if the act that he performed was abominable. The sinner does not deny the badness of his deed, as then he would not be expressing remorse, but his very assumption of responsibility for the deed is supposed to create a rift between the act and the doer. Thus, an offender can be forgiven even if the offense cannot be forgotten.”

Let us apply this insight to two of our past presidents, Ferdinand Marcos and Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who were accused of committing acts considered abominable by society but were never punished. Marcos died in exile before the cases filed against him could be heard and decided. He was defiant till the end and never admitted committing any wrongdoing. A large portion of his wealth was nonetheless pronounced ill-gotten and was confiscated by the government.

A US court declared his regime guilty of human rights violations and awarded compensation to the victims. But the rest of his family had no problem returning to the country from exile after his death. His wife Imelda is now a member of the House of Representatives, his oldest daughter Imee, the governor of Ilocos Norte, and his son Ferdinand Jr., a senator of the republic. Feeling perhaps vindicated by electoral success, they now want a hero’s burial for the former dictator. There is not even a hint of remorse here, no confession, and certainly no atonement. By demanding a hero’s burial for Marcos, they want the nation, in effect, to confess that it had made a mistake in deposing him as president. That is what moving on means in this context.

Gloria Arroyo’s case is slightly different. After claiming the presidency a second time on the back of a highly-disputed electoral outcome, GMA did everything to cover up the criminal acts that went into ensuring her dubious victory at the polls.

The issue came to a head in mid-2005 when recordings of conversations between election operators and politicians, including Arroyo, surfaced. The “Hello Garci” tapes plunged the government into a crisis and prompted the carefully crafted “I-am-sorry” statement of GMA on television. Was this a gesture of remorse that merits reciprocal forgiveness? I think not. This was an attempt at evasion, not atonement. By re-describing her act as merely “a lapse in judgment,” Arroyo sought to decriminalize it. Her subsequent statements were a virtual denial of her participation in these taped conversations.

Now that witnesses have come forward, and the trail of evidence and testimony seems to be leading to the doorstep of the Arroyos, we again hear that tiresome refrain about moving on. It is not forgiveness they seek, but, rather, forgetfulness.
* * *
public.lives@gmail.com

Polygamy, it is stressfull

2011-07-27T03:29:00.001-08:00

Some Malaysian women are up against polygamy.

Economic life of Filipinos during Spanish regime

2011-07-24T20:02:00.001-08:00

Economic life during the Spanish period.

Pre Spanish social classes

2011-07-24T19:56:00.000-08:00

Pre-Spanish social classes in the Philippines.

Social Classes in the Philippines

2011-07-24T19:54:00.000-08:00

Philippine social classes.

History of Internet

2011-07-19T02:10:00.000-08:00

http://youtu.be/9hIQjrMHTv4 Internet history in 8-minutes.

Did you know?

2011-07-19T00:44:00.002-08:00

Students of SO 101 are encouraged to view the video Did you know? What could be the impact of technology in future life?

Did you know 4.0?

2011-07-12T02:26:00.001-08:00

The future is the road we have now. Click on title.

Did you know?

2011-07-12T00:44:00.000-08:00

Did you know?

Evolution

2011-06-28T06:10:00.000-08:00

Evolution

Supplementary reading on geology

2011-06-26T02:07:00.001-08:00

SO 101 students, please see the latest posting on Earth's geological period. Care to read and view the animation.

Thanks.

Earth's geological period.

2011-06-26T02:05:00.000-08:00

Our geological periods.

Earth land masses past, today and future

2011-06-24T20:27:00.003-08:00

Drugs for the brain

2011-06-24T17:55:00.001-08:00

Brain enhancing drugs.

Boon or Bane?

Ecuadorean Villagers May Hold Secret to Longevity - NYTimes.com

2011-06-18T04:04:00.000-08:00

Ecuadorean Villagers May Hold Secret to Longevity - NYTimes.com

Friend finder

2011-06-17T18:44:00.000-08:00

Marriage in late life stage.

2011-06-16T11:15:00.001-08:00

Late life marriage issues.

Flying with A-380

2011-06-16T11:04:00.001-08:00

The future of flying at A380.

2001 Space Odyssey

2011-06-15T02:36:00.002-08:00

Ever wonder the vastness of space? Our universe or multi-verse? Listen to this musice.

FUTURESTATES : Plastic Bag By Ramin Bahrani

2011-06-15T02:12:00.000-08:00

FUTURESTATES : Plastic Bag By Ramin Bahrani

For SO 101 students. Please watch this film. We will discuss this next month.

Cherish, The Association

2011-06-12T00:15:00.000-08:00

Welcome Freshmen

2011-06-10T16:03:00.004-08:00

Welcome Freshmen to a new period of your life.

For starters do visit Carl Sagan's video clips. As a follow-up you can search for the tag "evolution" at the search engine by typing it in.

Carl's Sagan's work may have 12 episodes at YouTube, you can follow it up by viewing them at your free time, which is your choice, and make notes of the questions you have in mind so that we can discuss them in our class.

Sociology as a subject of human study is linked to the origins of humans because we have to answer the question, "Where did we come from?" We have to understand in a scientific way or other tools to understand or origins, our purpose and our destiny as human is this "blue planet" (as seen from outer space).

I encourage you to learn more about this by doing research and by publishing your thoughts about it in your own blogspot.

Enjoy the journey of learning, a life-long learning.

Carl Sagan's Our place in the universe

2011-06-10T16:01:00.001-08:00

Carl Sagan's Our place in the universe.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUF38eHqdxs&feature=related

Carl Sagan, History of Life

2011-06-10T15:45:00.001-08:00

Carl Sagan's history of life.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kOLIHi9pTY&feature=related

Evolution, Carl Sagan,

2011-06-10T15:32:00.001-08:00

Click on link on Carl Sagan's discussion on evolution.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZpsVSVRsZk

Innovation propelled by new technologies

2011-06-06T15:21:00.001-08:00

Innovation is driving societies to become more competitive and survive.

http://cnn.com/video/?/video/world/2011/06/04/gps.johnson.innovation.cnn

Drive towards new innovation

2011-06-06T15:16:00.002-08:00

The move towards innovation propelled by sharp cutting edge technology is being accelerated by societies to make their population competitive and survive.

http://cnn.com/video/?/video/world/2011/06/04/gps.johnson.innovation.cnn

Big Bang, Human Evolution, Simple presentation 4:38 mins

2011-05-05T16:49:00.002-08:00

A video presentation on the Big Bang Theory, rise of replicating DNA, early life forms, evolution, human evolution.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7f7LD1KhddE&feature=fvsr

Filipino wit

2011-04-29T15:39:00.000-08:00

FILIPINO SIGNS OF WIT:

1. The sign in a flower shop in Diliman called "Petal Attraction"

2. A 24-hour restaurant called "Doris Day & Night"

3. Barber shop called "Felix The Cut"

4. A bakery named "Bread Pitt"

5. Fast-food place selling 'maruya' (banana fritters) called "Maruya Carey".

6. Then, there is "Christopher Plumbing"

7. A boutique called "The Way We Wear"

8. A video rental shop called "Leon King Video Rental"

9. A restaurant in Cainta district of Rizal called "Caintacky Fried Chicken"

10. A local burger restaurant called "Mang Donald's" (San Fernando, La Union )

11. A doughnut shop called "MacDonuts"

12. A shop selling 'lumpia' (egg roll) in Makati called "Wrap and Roll"

13. And two butcher shops called " Meating Place and Meatropolis" .

Smart travelers can decipher what may look like baffling signs to unaccustomed foreigners by simply sounding out the 'Taglish' (The Philippine version of English words spelled and pronounced with a heavy Filipino such as:

14. At a restaurant menu in Cebu :

We hab Sopdrink in can an in Batol? [Translation: We have soft drinks in Can and in Bottle].

15. Then, there is a sewing accessories shop called Bids And Pises -
[translation: Beads and Pieces --or-- Bits and Pieces]

There are also many signs with either badly chosen or misspelled words but they are usually so entertaining that it would be a mistake to 'correct' them like.......

16. In a restaurant in Baguio City , the 'Summer Capital' of the Philippines: Wanted: Boy Waitress

17. On a highway in Pampanga: We Make Modern Antique Furniture

18. On the window of a photography shop in Cabanatuan : We Shoot You While You Wait

19. And on the glass front of a cafe in Panay Avenue in Manila : Wanted: Waiter, Cashier, Washier

Some of the notices can even give a wrong impression such as:

20. A shoe store in Pangasinan which has a sign saying:

We Sell Imported Robber Shoes? (These could be the 'sneakiest' sneakers);

21. A rental property sign in Jaro reads:

House for Rent, Fully Furnaced (It must really be hot inside)!

22. Occasionally, one could come across signs that are truly unique - if not altogether odd.

City in southern Philippines which said: Adults: 1 peso; Child: 50 centavos; Cadavers: fare subject to negotiation.

23. European tourists may also be intrigued to discover two competing shops selling Hopia (a Chinese pastry) called Holland Hopia and Poland Hopia - which are owned and operated by two local Chinese entrepreneurs, Mr. Ho and Mr. Po respectively - (believe it or not)!

24. Some folks also 'creatively' redesign English to be more efficient. The creative confusion between language and culture leads to more than just simple unintentional errors in syntax, but in the adoption of new words, says reader Robert Goodfellow who came across a sign.....

House Fersallarend' (house for Sale or Rent). Why use five words when two will do?

25. According to Manila businessman, Tonyboy Ongsiako, there is so much wit in the Philippines. Why? Because we are in a country where a good sense of humor is needed to survive. We have a 24-hour comedy show here called the government and a huge reserve of comedians made up mostly of politicians and bad actors. (Thanks to Mr. George Ma Mon Luk)

EDSA 25th Anniversary, Statement by Former Senior Government Officials

2011-02-28T15:52:00.001-08:00

25 Years of People Power from EDSA Revolution to Daang Matuwid:
Lessons in Democratic Life for Our Nation’s Future
(A Statement from the Former Senior Government Officials)

We, former senior government officials, join our people in celebrating the silver anniversary of the victory of our democratic revolution.

The Filipino people can rightfully be proud that they took the path of people power revolution, a path taken since by many other nations from Eastern Europe to the Middle East, including the latest from Tunisia and Egypt.

Our own people power revolution banished a dictator, defeated takeover attempts by various military factions, ratified a Constitution that guarantee our rights, rebuilt the institutions essential for our democratic governance, gave power and resources to our local governments, and liberated our media, our economy and our society from the many oppressions of authoritarian rule. Many of our countrymen celebrate just surviving another day; surely our people must celebrate making so much history in the first 25 years of our democracy.

We celebrate our achievements but we must be mindful of the monumental tasks that remain. Thus far, our people power revolution has failed to end corruption at the highest levels of our government, failed to lift millions of our fellow Filipinos from poverty, and failed to bring enduring peace to our countryside, particularly in Mindanao. Our democracy is now a 25-year old young adult. It must rise from the exuberance of the EDSA revolution and embrace the discipline of daang matuwid. It has so much yet to learn and do.

What Have We Learned?

1. Our people like to choose their leaders. They often choose wisely. Sometimes they choose liars, cheats, and thieves but bad leaders do not fool all the people all the time. We must never again compromise the integrity of our elections being the only way for our people to choose their leaders.

2. Our country has many honest, competent and courageous people willing to sacrifice for our democratic institutions to function well. We must get more of our best, most decent and brightest people to become civil servants because their service will save our nation.

3. Our laws speak so clearly: a public office is a public trust. We must keep our leaders, particularly those at the highest levels, and our civil servants, including those at the grassroots, faithful to our laws and worthy of our trust. We must make sure those who violate our trust suffer substantial consequences.

4. The exercise of our freedoms and rights is our best guarantee for a secure and prosperous future. Surrendering our liberties for security and prosperity is a fool’s bargain. The greatness of our leaders will depend on the responsibility borne by our citizens. We revere our dearly departed Corazon Aquino not just because of what she did but even more because of what she was able to inspire our people to do.

What Must We Do?

Now we must join the one-year old presidency of Benigno Simeon Aquino to do what he said in his inaugural he would do: “Ilalaan ko ang aking buhay para siguraduhin na ang ating demokrasya ay kapaki-pakinabang sa bawat isa.”

1. We must first rid our government of the leeches and vampires sucking the blood of our people. We need to restore responsibility and accountability in our public agencies. We must finally take the steps necessary to make the Office of the Ombudsman the “protector of the people” that our Constitution intended it to be, instead of the coddler of the corrupt powerful that it has become. Throughout our government, we must make graft rare not common, corruption unusual not routine, and abuse extraordinary not SOP. Our highest officials must become the leaders in honesty and integrity or serve as prime examples of punishment for violations, when necessary.

2. We must invest in improved health and better education to realize the promise of our nearly hundred million people being the true blessings they were meant to be for their families and our country. Our nation has nearly doubled in numbers since the EDSA revolution 25 years ago. Our society and economy has the means to protect all Filipinos from sickness or disability and to enable all to become literate, skilled and productive in a modern technological world. We need to deploy these means sooner rather than later before the growing numbers of the sick and ignorant overwhelm those who are well and educated.

3. We must expand our economy, not just on the obvious vigor of our cities, but also on the growing prosperity of our farmers, fisherfolks and rural communities. Our economy must grow more by creating jobs at home and less from merely spending the remittances of workers abroad. So many of our economic enterprises survive on the exploitation of our workers that we need to re-discover the powerful virtuous cycles possible when workers are lawfully treated so that they become better consumers. We must give attention to employing our young people who are unable to get jobs because they have no prior job experience. Our government and the private sector should start up internships, apprenticeships, on-the-job options and other modes of providing our young mostly unemployed workers with valuable work experience.

4. We must have a government that serves, not constrains, the individual and collective enterprise, energy and creativity of our people. First of all our government must not insult, scandalize or provoke another outbreak of people power by its failures to retain our trust in its integrity and our respect for its competence. We must use the power of the people, not just to oust dictators or plunderers, but also to educate our children, heal our sick, empower the powerless, and uplift the lives of all. Our government must mobilize our citizens, not just in protest of its mistakes or in the election of its replacements, but also in strategic and sustained participation in governance, enterprise and development.

5. We must build an inclusive and just peace everywhere conflict and insurgency prevails. We should support prudence, perseverance and good faith in the political negotiations between the government and the major insurgencies afflicting our countryside. We should also accelerate the delivery of missing public services, expanded economic opportunities and more knowledge and information to communities long isolated by armed conflict. We urge our political leaders to provide political solutions to our very real problems that continue to kill Filipinos and keep those who survive poor.

Our democracy has the capacity to perform far better than it had done thus far. Whatever imperfections our democracy might have, we can make it work better if we strive daily to strengthen our institutions and if more of our people become responsible citizens. Our most important task is the elimination of the worst miseries of poverty and the lessening of inequities that are the root of all unrest and instability in our beautiful land. Let us dedicate this silver anniversary celebration to our people power revolution’s eventual attainment of this task.

For Reference:

Jesus Estanislao
Former Secretary
Department of Finance
Mobiline: 0918 934 1038

Vicente Paterno
Former Minister
Ministry of Industry
Mobiline: 0917 795 7974

Sixto Roxas
Former Chairman
National Economic Council
Mobiline: 0928 520 3301

Leticia Ramos-Shahani
Former Undersecretary
Deparment of Foreign Affairs
Mobiline: 0915 487 1877

Have I told you how to get rich?

2011-02-26T20:52:00.001-08:00

Want to build some wealth in 2011? Revisit those New Year's resolutions.

You probably haven't thought about your pledges in more than a month. But odds are at least one of them involves getting rid of debt, increasing your income or building some financial security.

http://finance.yahoo.com/retirement/article/112185/9-ways-to-build-wealth-in-2011?mod=retire-planning

Pia's bill on no age discrimination

2011-02-23T02:56:00.001-08:00

MANILA, Philippines—A bill that seeks to eliminate age discrimination in employment by prohibiting and penalizing any employer, labor contractor, and organization that will deny any individual jobs because of age has been filed at the Senate.

In filing Senate Bill 252, Senator Pia Cayetano noted an emerging discrimination against older people especially with a number of fresh graduates joining the labor force.

Philippines fails to industrialize, women as drug mules

2011-02-20T15:55:00.001-08:00

MANILA--"Maid in the Philippines" was how its top export commodity used to be known, with millions of women from the impoverished country hired abroad as domestic workers.

But as menial jobs vanish in the global recession and opportunities fail to materialize at home, more and more desperate Philippine women are resorting to something far more dangerous -- smuggling drugs as mules.

http://globalnation.inquirer.net/news/breakingnews/view/20110220-321282/Women-drug-mules-pay-as-Philippines-fails-on-jobs

Rural situation, Philippines

2011-01-22T15:51:00.001-08:00

About half of the Philippines’ 88 million people live in rural areas. Poverty is most severe and most widespread in these areas and almost 80 per cent of the country’s poor people live there. Agriculture is the primary and often only source of income for poor rural people, most of whom depend on subsistence farming and fishing for their livelihoods. In general, illiteracy, unemployment and the incidence of poverty are higher among indigenous peoples and people living in the upland areas. Overall, more than a third of the people in the Philippines live in poverty.

Click on the link.

http://www.ruralpovertyportal.org/web/guest/country/home/tags/philippines

Can sleep heal us faster?

2011-01-19T04:42:00.000-08:00

Can sleep heal us faster?

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/18/science/18qna.html?_r=1&src=me&ref=science

Alzheimer's disease affects society.

2011-01-03T15:58:00.001-08:00

Margaret Nance was, to put it mildly, a difficult case. Agitated, combative, often reluctant to eat, she would hit staff members and fellow residents at nursing homes, several of which kicked her out. But when Beatitudes nursing home agreed to an urgent plea to accept her, all that changed. - From New York Times

Population decline

2011-01-03T05:31:00.002-08:00

In some cities of America, population has been declining. Click on the link and read on the article.

History of Education

2010-12-17T07:17:00.001-08:00

For History of Education please click on link.

http://ireadmodule.blogspot.com/2008/09/historical-foundations-of-education.html

2010-12-11T18:30:00.000-08:00

For your parents

2010-12-10T22:57:00.000-08:00

Ten Great Tips For Each Day:

1. Stay out of trouble.

2. Aim for greater heights.

3. Stay focused on your job.

4. Exercise to maintain good health.

5. Practice team work.

6. Rely on your trusted partner to watch your back. Take your time trusting others.

7. Save for rainy days.

8. Rest and relax.

9. Always take time to smile.

AND

10. Realize that nothing is impossible.

This should make you smile:

THE SENILITY PRAYER: Grant me the senility to forget the people I never liked anyway,
the good fortune to run into the ones I do, and the eyesight to tell the difference.

From a forwarded message.

For your parents

2010-12-10T22:29:00.001-08:00

THE TEN COMMANDMENTS FOR THOSE OVER FORTY YEARS OLD

1. Focus on enjoying people, not on indulging in or accumulating material things.

2. Plan to spend whatever you have saved.
You deserve to enjoy it and the few healthy years you have left.
Travel if you can afford it.
Don't leave anything for your children or loved ones to quarrel about.
By leaving anything, you may even cause more trouble when you are gone.

3. Live in the here and now, not in the yesterdays and tomorrows.
It is only today that you can handle.
Yesterday is gone, tomorrow may not even happen.

4. Enjoy your grandchildren (if you are blessed with any)
but don't be their full time baby sitter.
You have no moral obligation to take care of them.
Don't have any guilt about refusing to baby sit anyone's kids,
including your own grandkids.
Your parental obligation is to your children.
After you have raised them into responsible adults,
your duties of child-rearing and babysitting are finished.
Let your children raise their own offspring.

5. Accept physical weakness, sickness and other physical pains.
It is a part of the aging process.
Enjoy whatever your health can allow.

6. Enjoy what you are and what you have right now.
Stop working hard for what you do not have.
If you do not have them, it's probably too late.

7. Just enjoy your life with your spouse, children, grandchildren and friends.
People, who truly love you, love you for yourself, not for what you have. Anyone who loves you for what you have will just give you misery.

8. Forgive and accept forgiveness.
Forgive yourself and others.
Enjoy peace of mind and peace of soul.

9. Befriend death.
It's a natural part of the life cycle.
Don't be afraid of it.
Death is the beginning of a new and better life.
So, prepare yourself not for death but for a new life with the Almighty.

10. Be at peace with your Creator.
For... He is all you have after you leave this life.

This is a forwarded message not from the creator of this blog.

Remembering victims of the Maguindanao Massacre

2010-11-23T05:05:00.000-08:00

Human evolution

2010-11-14T18:18:00.000-08:00

An interesting site on human evolution and flight.

http://goo.gl/k1Thu

Mired in Poverty

2010-11-10T01:16:00.000-08:00

PUBLIC LIVES

November 11, 2010

Randy David

Mired in poverty

When families are mired in poverty, it’s the children – in all their innocence – who become the principal victims. Their future is at once compromised. They grow up without proper nourishment, their young bodies battered by disease and parasites against which they have little protection. Their schooling, even if free, becomes a haphazard experience, marked by interruptions beyond their control. Often they’re too hungry to walk to school, or too busy foraging for food that will tide the family over till the next day. Food is always the first priority under these circumstances.

This picture of Philippine poverty, so common in media reports, has become almost a cliché. Endless repetition blunts its urgency. We all learn to move on without being bothered.

It is different when the picture shows people you have known. I know one such family in these dire circumstances. I have become their accidental benefactor, and though I have reluctantly embraced this role, I’m still not certain that I can help change the course of their lives. But it’s worth a try.

Rosalie and Dodoy married even before either one of them had a steady job -- of course. If you’re young and did not finish grade school, you can’t expect to land a stable job in the provinces. And if you’re unemployed, chances are you’ll find yourself starting a family before you’re ready. Theoretically, we can call people to account for the decisions they make in life. But the word “decision” seems inapplicable to people in Rosalie and Dodoy’s circumstances. It is more accurate, I think, to say they’re “thrown” into a way of life they did not exactly choose, living a pre-ordained script they’re likely to pass on to their own children.

They were migrants from Bicol. Bringing with him his young bride, Dodoy moved to Bataan to live with his parents’ family. His father, a caretaker in a small farm owned by my brother, had settled there with his wife and their entire brood of 10 other children. This was about 15 years ago. Rosalie came to work as a house help in my mother’s home in Quezon City, going back to Bataan once a month, while her husband took on odd jobs in construction sites. Before long, she became pregnant with their first baby, and so she had to quit working. I did not see them again after many years later.

The couple, with two kids in tow, approached me one day while I was planting some mango saplings in the 1.5 hectare lot I keep on the slopes of Mt. Malasimbo. I didn’t recognize them until Rosalie introduced herself as my late mother’s former maid. They asked if I had someone to look after the mango farm. I smiled, thinking that the place, with 30 mango saplings, was hardly a farm. Rosalie has always been the confident one; she did most of the talking. She asked if I would let them put up a small shack on the property and use the space between the mangoes and the coconuts to plant seasonal vegetables. Of course, I said without hesitation. In return, they promised to watch over the trees I planted.

That’s how I found myself “thrown” into a relationship of dependence and patronage for which I was neither psychologically nor ideologically prepared. First, they needed a small financial assistance to complete the tiny shack they were building. They asked to “borrow” money, offering to pay it back in kind or in labor. I gave them the money and called it a contribution. Then they needed pesticides, fertilizer, and balls of string for the vegetable patch they cleared. I gave them what they needed and this time I said it was a loan. Harvest time came and what they earned from the sale of their produce was less than half of the money they owed. I accepted a few bunches of the string beans they brought to me in payment, but I didn’t have the heart to take the cash. I advised them to use the money instead to plant corn and mongo.

The kids came one after the other, until there were four additional mouths to feed. The eldest, a boy of 14, is in high school. The two girls in between are in grade school. The youngest, an 18-month-old boy, is still feeding from his mother’s breast. For the last five years, I have been giving Rosalie a monthly allowance of P1000 to help with the food and school needs of the children. In search of regular work, Dodoy left for Manila, but what he earned in the big city as an “extra” tricycle driver was barely enough for his own needs.

One summer, the couple explored the possibility of going back to Bicol and live with Rosalie’s parents. Their visit didn’t last more than a month; they could not endure the hunger and deprivation in her father’s home. It was worse than they suspected.

Last month, Rosalie came to see me. Calmly, this frail woman of about 35 and mother to four young children told me that her husband had left her. She wanted to know if they could continue to stay on the property. I assured her it was no problem with me, but I inquired how she intended to feed her family. She said she earned a little from buying and selling at the nearby market. She just wanted to make sure, she said, that her children’s schooling would not be interrupted, and that her eldest boy at least would finish high school. That was her big dream. I was stunned by her staunch belief in the miracle of education and by her fierce determination to carry on without her husband.

It was then that I began to reconsider my initial skepticism about the government’s conditional cash transfer program. Out there, there are millions of other Filipino children equally mired in poverty who deserve society’s protection, whose future should not be compromised by their elders’ inadequacy, misfortune, or irresponsibility.

public.lives@gmail.com

Welcome Freshmen of Miriam College

2010-11-04T07:45:00.002-08:00

You will be asked to go to this blogspot to give you more information on our subject Introductory course on Sociology. Articles can be found in this blogspot. There is a search box and the tags that are written on its front page.
Welcome again.

Luz L. Leonidas

2010-09-17T04:09:00.000-08:00

A story of Genocide, 1994

2010-09-05T19:03:00.000-08:00

Between April and June 1994, an estimated 800,000 Rwandans were killed in the space of 100 days.

Most of the dead were Tutsis - and most of those who perpetrated the violence were Hutus.

Please click on the link.

Systemic dysfunction of society

2010-08-31T23:25:00.001-08:00

PUBLIC LIVES

September 2, 2010

Randy David

Leadership in a transitional society

In our society, when something goes wrong, people ask: who’s to blame? Remedy is instantly sought in the replacement of officials rather than in the review of systems. In other societies, the prior question that is asked is: what went wrong? Only after this is answered do heads roll. The focus on personalities is not something unique to us, nor is it inherent in Filipino culture. It is just what differentiates a traditional from a modern society.

The fact that we are in transition only makes our situation a bit more confusing. We have modern systems in various domains of our national life, but these are easily trumped by the traditional authority of powerful and influential figures. The latter typically claim all the credit for successes. But, when failures and breakdowns occur, they quickly point to their limited responsibility under modern rules.

Take our political system. We tend to highlight the deficiencies of leaders, forgetting that they themselves are creations of the same traditional system in which we all play a role and which we help reproduce in our daily lives. In quest of solutions, we like to cast around for heroic individuals who can redeem the deficiencies of an entire society. As a result, our elections become nothing more than exercises in finding someone we can trust at any given moment, and later blame for all the dysfunctions of our society.

Our politicians not only willingly play this game but indeed they encourage it, for that’s how they win votes. Instead of concrete plans and programs of government, they concentrate on fundamental contrasts in personal virtues and endowments. In all this, the systemic character of persistent social problems – poverty, corruption, social injustice, incompetence, etc. – is effectively concealed. And so when these problems explode in our face, the first thing we do is, again, find someone to blame. Sometimes, sensing that the blame should not be heaped on a few people, we go through episodes of collective breast-beating in atonement for our moral failings.

Yet these problems are largely the outcome of structural failings. Catharsis and atonement alone will not make them go away. The governance of a society like ours has become an incredibly complex business. We have not only greatly multiplied in number. Our people’s experiences, values, and beliefs have also become extremely diverse. Our links to the rest of the world have likewise phenomenally expanded. No longer are we merely responsible for ourselves and to ourselves, we are today also answerable to many other peoples around the world whose lives ours are intertwined with ours.

The old ways of governing, dependent upon the performance of strong, charismatic, or extraordinary leaders at the top, are no longer adequate for managing such complexity. They belong to simple hierarchical societies. Modern problems require differentiated institutional systems and reliable professional response. The era of the heroic individual whose direct personal intervention is demanded in every crisis is long past. Modern impersonal systems are built precisely as a way of reducing complexity. They will not work properly, however, when their operation can, at any point, be overridden by the personal decisions of lone rangers.

In a previous column on the hostage crisis that led to the tragic death of eight Hong Kong tourists, I noted that the bungled effort to rescue the hostages could not be ascribed solely to incompetence or lack of equipment on the part of the police. The entire effort seemed marked by “institutional paralysis.” A system was in place for dealing with hostage situations. But, from what we now know, it appears that the police officers in charge were unable to fully activate this system and confidently assert their authority in the presence of the many big shots that were interfering in the operation. In the end, no one in particular was in charge.

We would be mistaken to think that this systemic problem will go away by simply dismissing people ahead of a full report of what happened. This may appease some people, but it will only hide the larger institutional crisis that is upon us. This crisis did not grow overnight, and it will not be solved overnight. Indeed it was allowed to fester over the years, providing the setting for quick fixes like martial law and people power revolutions. At every turning point, the ensuing change never went deep enough to disturb the basic framework of a patronage-driven hierarchical society. It is this whole system that is today in crisis.

Tragic events like Typhoon Ondoy, the Maguindanao massacre, and the hostage crisis at the Quirino grandstand have one thing in common – they all lay bare the dysfunctionality of our existing social system. They underscore the need to review and strengthen our institutions, or, at the very least, free them from the grip of traditional patrons and authority figures. The structural solutions will increasingly become clear to us in time, if we can resist the tendency to moralize and personalize everything.

Perhaps it is a good thing that despite the uniquely personal circumstances that thrust him to the presidency, President Aquino has kept a very low profile. He speaks plainly and almost diffidently, and, instead of projecting an aura of charismatic confidence, is quick to admit lapses. Given the existing political culture, this may not be the most astute demeanor for a new president to project. But it is the best setting in which to strengthen institutions.

public.lives@gmail.com

Language on thoughts - update

2010-08-28T06:49:00.001-08:00

Whorf, we now know, made many mistakes. The most serious one was to assume that our mother tongue constrains our minds and prevents us from being able to think certain thoughts