Alamon: A brave new world

IN A dinner conversation of a middle class Filipino household, the following exchange took place between teacher parents and their 21-year old yuppie son about the demolitions.

“Well, that's my point it’s an irrational act. It’s like an expression of rage by a people who feel neglected and turned away by the system.”

“Crap! I don’t buy that for a minute. To call a riot in a demolition a legitimate expression of rage, that's a cop-out. It's opportunism at its worst. It’s a bunch of people grabbing any excuse that they can find and they go on occupy private property. And the fact that these people squatted on government land reflects the degree to which they have absolutely no respect for the law at all and certainly no concept of community or civic responsibility!”

“Wait a minute. Rich people also steal land against poor peasant families.”

“Yeah but they are not committing crimes all over the place. Look at the statistics, the perpetrators of crimes such as murder, drug-pushing, and robbery originate from these filthy places where their kind live. Is that a coincidence? These people have a class commitment to crime.”

“Maybe it says something about class inequalities and how these provide the context for crime. If you want to talk about criminal statistics you may want to talk about the social inequalities that produce them.”

“Yeah, that is exactly what I hate because what you are doing is taking one thing and calling it something else and just alleviating responsibility for these people over their actions. It's like saying, it's not a riot, it’s rage. It's not crime, it's poverty. It's nonsense...”

“We are so hung up at the notion that we have this obligation to help the struggling Filipino poor. Cut him some slack until he overcomes the historical injustice. It's crap all this stuff that you say to perpetuate this liberal nonsense. Everyone is turning and looking the other way while our country rots from the inside out. Rizal made us all free men more than a hundred years ago, how long does it take to get your act together.”

“You bleeding hearts. I cannot understand why you stick to your ideology and your constant appreciation for the structural roots of inequality. That is passé, as dead as your Chairman Mao. Nationalism and politics should serve the true engines of the economy – the middle class. We are the hardworking class who dutifully pay our taxes, make enterprise and industry run with our technical and managerial know-how.”

“Of course, our principals reward us with bonuses because they are our partners. It’s a good thing that government works with us closely instead of listening to those progressive types. After all, development can only take place where there is capital and if it means sourcing capital form abroad, then why don’t we overhaul the Constitution to make that possible?”

“You are shocked by all these? Well, wake up and smell the rising middle class political consciousness. Finally, we will begin to demand what is due us. We will not allow government and the poor to silence our voices because we are the middle class, the thinking class! Just look at our intelligent posts on the internet, twitterverse, and facebook, most within the 140 character limit!”

“Pretty soon government will function like a corporation. Public entitlement will be based on the amount placed on one’s ITR. Let’s then have gated cities where the poor and everything they represent will be kept away.”

The teacher parents bowed their heads in shocked silence as their son stuffs his face with the last piece of Spam. And then calls out:

"Yaya, ihanda mo nga yung leather pants ko at swastika shirt! Hindi iyong may picture ni Hitler, kundi iyong may picture ni Marcos ha!”

The first section of this imaginary discussion was freely adapted from Edward Norton’s dinner table tirade in the movie American History X.

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