Thursday, December 04, 2008 Sumog-oy: Reasons why I write By Ben V. Sumog-oy Issues and views
(Part One)
LET us take respite from political and economic issues and other subjects involving the workings of state and society and delve on human interest subjects, even if they sometimes border on the self-serving. At times, it is necessary to satisfy our need for self-gratification, especially under the situation where there is nobody left doing it for us.
In any struggle for society's welfare, as has been defined in "Maslow's hierarchy of needs" theory, which in the main calls for self-fulfillment before social responsibility, there is always a need for us to satisfy first the basic requirements of a fulfilled life, both materially and intellectually, before we offer ourselves in the altar of our economic, political and cultural struggles, revolution if you will.
Otherwise, as Maslow posits, we will be ending up wholly incapable of serving even ourselves, much more the cause of society.
This concept is even more relevant in our country which predominantly document-conscious wherein formal schooling and transcript of academic records stand as the sole and exclusive proof of intellectualism. This question is more relevant our society which does not give much premium to informal initiation and social apprenticeships, which had long found renaissance in many matured democracies.
Indeed, why do people write? It is, among others, for the sharpening of our most efficacious God-given abstract gift, our intellect. The intellect needs to sharpen itself by exploring into self-conceited domains to glorify the material "temple" (the physical self) within which it lurks and from which it radiates.
So, allow me then, even just for this particular moment, to engage in a luxury of writing about myself, the foolishness I refused to do even when I wrote the book about the history of a public sector union wherein I was once privileged to be its central character.
I consistently receive feedback concerning the way I write my column, most of these are coming from my trusted friends and allies who are all academically initiated. They keep on telling me that the ideas I am trying to convey are too deep that they find it hard to fathom; my jargons are too alien to those who are not too akin on operational social philosophies, ideologies as others may call; and my choice of words is too cruel and terrible as they appear to have been intentionally done to punish the readers.
"If what you write cannot be understood, why write in the first place?", said my daughter, Christine, a magna cum laude graduate of NDDU and law student of Ateneo, who is now working as a legal researcher in a law firm in Davao City.
My favorite Ejado, Marcos Kusain, who completed his masters degree in Islamic Studies from UP and his bachelor of laws from MSU, told me once that he sometimes need to look for a dictionary to understand some of the words I used in my newspaper column. Former Congressman and City Mayor, Adelbert W. Antonino counseled me twice to simplify my writings to make them more reader-friendly and to create greater public impact.
I committed to heed to his advice and I will, soon, start my yet difficult struggle at simplification.
In retrospect, my writings are tremendously influenced by the vicissitudes of my youth and of my social involvement as an adult which were characterized mainly by my rise to little power and glory, and, eventually, by my falling into where I began - the rags of life. From where I am now, I am striving to rise, again.
My playing with words is tremendously influenced also by my long initiation in the field of theorizing and narrative building, and in the actual application of the social concepts, resulting there from, on the actual logic of the prevailing situation. My former comrades call this "praxis", which is basically developing social theories and concepts from varied lessons drawn from the people's collective experiences.
Consequently, my writings are, in themselves, praxis. It is in my column where I engage in analyzing the current realities and the people's collective experiences based on proven social theories and on which theories I moor my judgment on things and my sense of right and wrong.
In addition, my own personal pains and sufferings and my anger and frustrations serve as the liberating force that propels my mind to freely explore the vastness of the horizon.
