Netizens as watchdogs versus corrupt, abusers

By Alex P. Vidal

“The revolution is not an apple that falls when it is ripe. You have to make it fall.” —Che Guevara

ONE of our favorite philosophers, Ayn Rand, would have been amazed by the force and effectiveness of today’s netizens to influence and shape public opinion.

In this generation, many of them constitute the social media’s New Intellectuals, the most vigilant vanguards of the nation’s social, cultural, and political spectrum via the Internet.

No act of brutality, arrogance, malfeasance and demagoguery in the civilized society can escape the radar of amazing digital world.

A hailstorm of public censure and condemnation awaits those who possess the delusions of putting the law into their hands; those who think they are above the law and reason, owing to their power and influence, pelf and privileges for belonging in society’s higher social and political strata.

Gone were the days when publicly performed criminal acts and other forms of civil disobedience can be kept under wraps and the culprits getting away with impunity.

There’s always a big brother and sister watching: CCTVs and mobile phone cameras.

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Meanwhile, objectivist Rand held that abstract ideas are man’s basic means of dealing with practical life.

She stressed that abstract ideas enable man to understand concrete issues, to evaluate them, and to act successfully to deal with them.

Rand further held that the problem with Western civilization was not that it was too intellectual, but that too many of its intellectuals accepted and propagated fundamentally wrong ideas.

Rand believed that what the world needs urgently are New Intellectuals.

As civilization marks this year the official end of the French Revolution on December 15, 1799, we begin the era of fighting graft and corruption, abuse of authority in military and government through a new wave: the social media.

We cannot afford today to give life to a modern Napoleon Bonaparte, the dictator who wanted to overrun Europe had it not been for his Waterloo defeat.

Politicians who want to overrun our treasury via pork barrel and other thinly veiled acts of plunder and graft and corruption, are the smaller versions of Napoleon.

The specter of graft and corruption in government today is the rallying point of public anger and disgust that transformed into a bloody revolt; the tipping point that brought down the monarchy and cut off King Louis XVI’s and Marie Antoinette’s heads in the revolutionary scaffolds.

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Under the mantra of “Liberte, egalite, fraternity” (liberty, equality, fraternity), French society itself underwent a transformation as feudal, aristocratic, and religious privileges disappeared and old ideas about tradition and hierarchy were abruptly overthrown.

Even the President, after more than a year in office, has failed to send fears in the hearts of plunderers and curb the age-old graft and corruption.

The rich became richer; the poor became poorer.

Marie Antoinette wanted to give the French people with empty stomachs cake; our government has been giving us empty promises and empty treasury.

The wealth of the nation has been wasted.

Our leaders have abandoned the spirit that ignited the “Cry of Balintawak” or “Pugad Lawin” of the Katipuneros, and the “Cry of Sta. Barbara (Iloilo)”.

We give them our votes and confidence; they gave us shame and scandal via plunder and graft and corruption.

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WHY WOMEN CRY MORE THAN MEN. According to Frey’s research, girls don’t start out as bawling champs–boy and girl babies cry equivalent amounts–but by the first or second grade, boys are beginning to cry less, probably in response to social pressure. Being called a crybaby is more likely to happen to a boy.

WHY WE CRY: Animals, like humans, may cry in pain, but we’re apparently the only creatures who shed emotional tears–probably because they give us an evolutionary advantage, scientists say. They’re an unmistakable SOS, asking the people around us to provide comfort and assistance. (Source: Goodhealth)

WHAT WOULD WE DO? It’s late afternoon, and we need a pick-me up. Is it safe to microwave the cold coffee that’s been sitting in the pot since we grabbed a cup at breakfast?

ORGIES were originally religious events, being offerings to the gods. (Source: Apple News)

DIAPHRAGM. Cleopatra invented her own diaphragm from camel poop.

TOO MUCH TEXTING? In case we didn’t get the message, texting has been the new talking. In fact, the average teen sends and receives about 2,900 texts per month in a 2009 data, according to the Nielsen Company. That’s almost 100 messages a day. Some psychologists worry that over-texting may cause anxiety and sleep problems.

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two daily newspapers in Iloilo.—Ed)