Otherwise Maladroit

29 July 1999 Stuff Your Metaphors Where the Sun Doesn't Shine

29 July 1999

Stuff Your Metaphors Where the Sun Doesn't Shine

It's hard to make a rational paper on something you feel irrationally to. When one sees the government as an utterly useless institution for undertaking the welfare of its supposed constituents, it is inevitable to patronize every molecule of it. It is difficult, nay, agonizing, to twiddle thumbs through a minute in the virtual presence of someone whose loathsomeness drives you to laugh like a loon. Laughing relieves stress.

I nervously laughed a lot through the President's State of the Nation Address.

I laughed when he said that freedom lives, and denied his connection with cronies and the Marcoses. I laughed when he said that we were out of the woods, or shall I say the water, and was floating away from the recession. I laughed when he insisted that he was pro-poor. But the most laughs I got was when he proudly stated the thumbs-up from the WB and the IMF, like a diligent schoolboy. Regardless of my beliefs, I think I would still have had the same reactions, even if I was more liberal to the government.

I shamefully admit that I was also petty. Nit-picking every detail of the broadcast, I perversely took delight in every mistake. Every slur, every stumble, every.... well, everything. There's something about Erap that brings out the worst in me.

And that something must be frustration. Why does the government insist that the economy is robust? Do they really believe that we could be hoodwinked by fanfare, and empty assurances from an ultra-macho bully, who fervently believes that he could snarl our problems away? Who thinks that special wristbands, and cute jokes are sufficient surrogates for a full belly, and a steady job? Who thinks that trimmed hair, snappy glasses, and a flatter tummy would miraculously make him smart? Who thinks that his sleazy moustache, would make the nation swoon into his arms like any other woman that he had? And please, Mr. President, that "sweet" reference to your wife was so staged. I digress.

The average Juan de la Cruz may be fooled by weighty references to the GNP and GDP, interest rates and loans, etc. But his speechwriter (adviser?) should have at least given the educated strata some respect.

The growth of the GNP is helplessly dependent on the dollars brought home by OCW's. The export of our labour is such that it could be coined as a neo-slave trade. This may be good for those who simply want numbers, but for people who project our actions today for the well-being of the future, would see that this phenomenon is an indication of something far more serious than percentage rates.

The migration of our labour force is an indication of a nation that cannot support itself. It means slim domestic employment, a weak private sector, bare local investments, poor access to education, centralization of wealth, and among others, an acidic stomach.

The SONA was crap. Enough said.

posted by Otherwise Maladroit @ 5:16 PM