edsa revolution...
and like the others... i say...
'tis the season.
kaya naman... sige lang. rally lang. keri lang yan.
:P
Monday, February 25, 2008
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Learned Helplessness
Naalala ko yung isang report ko nung undergrad pa ako. Intro to Public Administration class. I was one of those Political Science students who did not really take an interest in the bureaucracy. Why? Because it was, to me (back then), “unstudyable.”
I mean, on the one hand, you think of it as something which could be subjected to scholastic scrutiny. Stated crudely, it is the structure which directs the processes of governance (ayos ba?). Pero to me (again, back then) the things which are of real consequence to the bureaucracy’s functions cannot be studied “systematically”--the way Political “Scientists” would attempt to study them.
Back to the story… Eh di report na namin nung partner ko. Hindi ako prepared (which is unusual). To comfort me, my partner said, “madali lang yan. LEARNED HELPLESSNESS” lang yan.” “Okay.” I said. I used the expression to explain every concept in the report. Yun nga lang yun. It worked.
Maraming applications yung “learned helplessness”. I’ve known that before, mas pronounced lang ang expressions nya right now that I’m working in government and have friends who are engaged in Research, NGO and Development work. For example, a friend of mine wrote about a conversation he had with a friend of his. He told him about this consortium of civil society organizations (to which his organization was a part) who were crafting an “Alternative Budget” for health, education, environment and agriculture. The initiative’s goal is to make proposals to legislators so that the budget—General Appropriations Act, they would craft would course national government funds towards the attainment of Millennium Development Goals pertinent to these sectors.
Way cool, diba?
But no! His friend said, “Futile!”
One of the nastiest byproducts of learned helplessness is crippling pessimism. “The bureaucracy’s bulok!” “It’s ailing with corruption!” “We can’t do anything about it!” (EKcetera). The pessimism, I could tolerate. But it’s the crippling side of it that I could not pardon. It’s human to get frustrated with the “system” (in this case the bureaucracy, or the government in general). It does fail us. The people we elect in office betray our trust and drag us to the ground. Sure. But when we allow this pessimism to defer (worse, deter) corrective action and have us frown upon initiatives which look at societal ills and propose solutions to it--that’s more disappointing.
I hope we could render the term learned helplessness obsolete in our vocabulary.
I mean, on the one hand, you think of it as something which could be subjected to scholastic scrutiny. Stated crudely, it is the structure which directs the processes of governance (ayos ba?). Pero to me (again, back then) the things which are of real consequence to the bureaucracy’s functions cannot be studied “systematically”--the way Political “Scientists” would attempt to study them.
Back to the story… Eh di report na namin nung partner ko. Hindi ako prepared (which is unusual). To comfort me, my partner said, “madali lang yan. LEARNED HELPLESSNESS” lang yan.” “Okay.” I said. I used the expression to explain every concept in the report. Yun nga lang yun. It worked.
Maraming applications yung “learned helplessness”. I’ve known that before, mas pronounced lang ang expressions nya right now that I’m working in government and have friends who are engaged in Research, NGO and Development work. For example, a friend of mine wrote about a conversation he had with a friend of his. He told him about this consortium of civil society organizations (to which his organization was a part) who were crafting an “Alternative Budget” for health, education, environment and agriculture. The initiative’s goal is to make proposals to legislators so that the budget—General Appropriations Act, they would craft would course national government funds towards the attainment of Millennium Development Goals pertinent to these sectors.
Way cool, diba?
But no! His friend said, “Futile!”
One of the nastiest byproducts of learned helplessness is crippling pessimism. “The bureaucracy’s bulok!” “It’s ailing with corruption!” “We can’t do anything about it!” (EKcetera). The pessimism, I could tolerate. But it’s the crippling side of it that I could not pardon. It’s human to get frustrated with the “system” (in this case the bureaucracy, or the government in general). It does fail us. The people we elect in office betray our trust and drag us to the ground. Sure. But when we allow this pessimism to defer (worse, deter) corrective action and have us frown upon initiatives which look at societal ills and propose solutions to it--that’s more disappointing.
I hope we could render the term learned helplessness obsolete in our vocabulary.
Adjourned!
Stories about pythons (as in yung “SAWA”) lurking some populated residential area make it to primetime news. We hear about them all the time. But this story I’m going to tell you about will never catch the fancy of the big networks. It would not get the 30 seconds it so deserves on primetime news. (And right now I’m actually praying that someone would prove me wrong!)…Kung bakit? Hindi ko alam.
Yesterday was actually like any other day here in congress. I was of course at my cubicle eavesdropping on what our “Honorables” were deliberating. A couple of them rose “on a matter of personal and collective privilege” regarding the flooding down south. They were asking for help—food, medicine etc.
Valid. But what followed was surreal.
Another congressman spoke. In summary, his message was… the reason why these calamities are happening to us is because of the things that are happening at the Senate. He was of course referring to the Senate inquiry on the cancelled ZTE Contract and the personalities involved.
I froze. Okay, so maybe it is cold in our office, pero ibang chill ang na-feel ko. I was asking myself… Did I hear what I just heard? Because something as absurd as that could only be conjured by my morbid EKmagination. When the next congressman spoke, it was confirmed. I was not imagining things. He tried to bring in some sanity to the august chambers of congress. He said that it was not fair to blame the Senate or any other institution for the calamities that we, as a country were experiencing.
In his rage, the first congressman did the unthinkable. He exceeded the foolishness of his first statement. He stood, and with contempt he said, “I move that the session be adjourned!”
You might ask, on account of what? Wala lang. He just really believed that we were being punished for all the wrong that we have done. And if others won’t take his word… well… the session should be adjourned. As if to say, “AYAWAN NA!”
Gusto kong maiyak. To me having this person belong to the roster of legislators who would (supposedly) craft our country’s laws was a bigger tragedy than the floods. The human spirit can endure calamities because of its resilience. But how can we as a nation endure having leaders such as this one?
But we don’t hear about this in the news. I mean, I’m still frozen while I write this entry and I’m not sure if I’m constructing my thoughts properly. But I think that people should know about these events. If only to make them think twice before they cast their votes. Am I helping to elect the right people in the legislature/executive (or wherever)?
Yesterday was actually like any other day here in congress. I was of course at my cubicle eavesdropping on what our “Honorables” were deliberating. A couple of them rose “on a matter of personal and collective privilege” regarding the flooding down south. They were asking for help—food, medicine etc.
Valid. But what followed was surreal.
Another congressman spoke. In summary, his message was… the reason why these calamities are happening to us is because of the things that are happening at the Senate. He was of course referring to the Senate inquiry on the cancelled ZTE Contract and the personalities involved.
I froze. Okay, so maybe it is cold in our office, pero ibang chill ang na-feel ko. I was asking myself… Did I hear what I just heard? Because something as absurd as that could only be conjured by my morbid EKmagination. When the next congressman spoke, it was confirmed. I was not imagining things. He tried to bring in some sanity to the august chambers of congress. He said that it was not fair to blame the Senate or any other institution for the calamities that we, as a country were experiencing.
In his rage, the first congressman did the unthinkable. He exceeded the foolishness of his first statement. He stood, and with contempt he said, “I move that the session be adjourned!”
You might ask, on account of what? Wala lang. He just really believed that we were being punished for all the wrong that we have done. And if others won’t take his word… well… the session should be adjourned. As if to say, “AYAWAN NA!”
Gusto kong maiyak. To me having this person belong to the roster of legislators who would (supposedly) craft our country’s laws was a bigger tragedy than the floods. The human spirit can endure calamities because of its resilience. But how can we as a nation endure having leaders such as this one?
But we don’t hear about this in the news. I mean, I’m still frozen while I write this entry and I’m not sure if I’m constructing my thoughts properly. But I think that people should know about these events. If only to make them think twice before they cast their votes. Am I helping to elect the right people in the legislature/executive (or wherever)?
Sunday, February 17, 2008
initial ek
great! so here i am!
one of my goals for this year is to get back into writing again. writing not just the usual emails,reports, researches and speeches, but writing about matters which have somehow captured my interest–whether it be tech stuff, some political issue or a mundane conversation i had with a friend… and somehow, attempt to explain to myself what they can contribute to understanding a certain condition or arrive at conclusions about certain human tendencies we all share.
ang gusto ko lang naman sabihin… gusto ko ulit magsulat. yun lang. ang dami pang ekek no?
one of my goals for this year is to get back into writing again. writing not just the usual emails,reports, researches and speeches, but writing about matters which have somehow captured my interest–whether it be tech stuff, some political issue or a mundane conversation i had with a friend… and somehow, attempt to explain to myself what they can contribute to understanding a certain condition or arrive at conclusions about certain human tendencies we all share.
ang gusto ko lang naman sabihin… gusto ko ulit magsulat. yun lang. ang dami pang ekek no?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)