OMGWTFIDONTWANTTODIE

check out radical chick‘s take on the u.p. friday the 13th riot that found burgis youth freaking out, as in OhMyGodWhatTheFuckIDON’TWANTTODIE, and suggesting that the u.p. admin close the university and limit access only to u.p. people.  haha, as if u.p. were close-able.  and, hey, what does it tell us about these u.p. youth and about u.p. diliman today.  how burgis naman talaga.

in fairness, alex maximo’s post in reaction to radicalchick’s is gracious and thoughtful, more agreeable than defensive, pero defensive pa rin, of course — he was misinterpreted, he wasn’t done, it’s a stream of consciousness in process.  well, possibly.  benefit of the doubt, just because some of the thoughts are worth remarking on.  particularly the ones regarding that clear line drawn between the jologs and the burgis, and about being burgis:

For the longest time, I have been arguing that the discourse of the blogosphere is the discourse of the burgis. At one point, I considered playing the anti-burgis role in the blogosphere but dropped the thought altogether. The fact remains that I am burgis and all the people I know who blog are burgis too. I’ve resigned to the fact that there will always be struggle between classes and, as a member of the petty-bourgeois, it is inevitable for me to acknowledge the differences between social classes.

Whether the burgis guns for egalitarianism in their discourse or not is based on their own ideologies and now I do agree with Manolo in his answer to a question I personally asked him – that the blogosphere’s voice is heterogeneous.

In the context of the anti-jolog sentiment, even some of the kindest people I know who were in the Fair that night drew the line between themselves and the jologs. I really do understand why people think this current blogging discourse on the UP Fair is quite “classist.” I really do. Maybe I’d be with them in this one if not for that delectable experience of being in the middle of a sea of angry jologs with barbecue sticks and water bottles who were cursing UP, the fair, the organizers, etc…

… Oh well. I’m sounding too defensive to my distaste. I’d be a bigot for now and if this becomes a prime example of classism then I think I have strengthened one of my points regarding hegemony and the discourse of the Philippine blogosphere. Quite interesting to find myself as part of the dominant bloc in this one.

good honest thoughts, these that grapple with conflicted values.  the clearly sensed perceived line between burgis and jologs is the very line that has to be crossed, and deleted, if there is to be any hope for inangbayan.  after all, burgis and jologs share many common interests, good and honest governance, transparency and the right to information, among many others.

we are them.  they are us.  ang sakit ng kalingkingan ay sakit ng buong katawan.  being burgis but concerned for the masa shouldn’t, doesn’t have to, be so hard.  some tibaks have gotten the hang of it and do a pretty good job at balancing things.

the burgis youth have as much to learn from the masa, as the masa youth from the burgis.   imagine if burgis and masa were friends that night in u.p.  that raw energy could have been channeled constructively — they could have together helped bring down those fences to accommodate everyone along some arrangement that would keep everyone happy in place.  and the next day they could together have ganged up on the concert organizers and given them hell (well, rotten tomatoes at least, and maybe some baho tsinelas) for inciting violence.  ang saya sana.

Comments

  1. “we are them. they are us. ang sakit ng kalingkingan ay sakit ng buong katawan. being burgis but concerned for the masa shouldn’t, doesn’t have to, be so hard.”

    Thank God, may mga taong tulad mo, Angela!

  2. oh no :( ang saklap naman. its time we heard from the u.p. admin. someone has to take responsibility. wag basta na lang sabihing jologs in general ang may kasalanan just because sila daw ang nambato ng kung anuano, because it was more complicated than that. there’s too much talk in u.p. blogs of people who were there, inside and outside, much talk of overprinting and selling too many tickets, i suppose to make sure na mapuno ang venue; at worst, just to make more money. dapat ay siyasatin ng u.p. admin kung ano talaga ang nangyari. tanungin ang organizers ng u.p. fair in general at ang producers ng concert na iyon in particular. madali naman silang mahahanap, lalo na ang huli. may website sila sa multiply http://loverage3.multiply.com/

    ang organizers ng friday the 13th concert that failed to break, rather deepened, the curse: PAN XENIA FRATERNITY, ADELFE ENU CREA SORORITY, UP CURSOR, and UP CIRCUIT.

    “The PAN XENIA FRATERNITY is the first and only business fraternity in the Philippines. It is an international honorary fraternity dedicated to the promotion of interests in foreign trade and the establishment of higher standards and ideals of business ethics. The Mother Chapter was founded on May 7, 1919 at the State University of George Washington (now Washington State University ) in Seattle, Washington while the Philippine Alpha Chapter was inaugurated in the University of the Philippines on September 23, 1923.

    “For a fraternity, at that the second oldest fraternity in the Philippines, and thus far without any record of rumbles, Pan Xenia Fraternity has stood out particularly because of its members. They include businessmen, statesmen, academicians—people who have excelled in different fields bonded together in a spirit of fellowship, goodwill, and adherence to the Four Cardinal Virtues.

    “The ADELFE ENU CREA SORORITY is the first and only business sorority in the University of the Philippines. It is committed to the pursuit of excellence in the academe, most especially in business.

    “The sorority evolved from the Pan Xenia Ladies’ Corps, an auxiliary arm of the Pan Xenia Fraternity and was founded on April 2, 1991. AEC aims to develop business ethics, discipline and civic-consciousness through the initiation of various projects and activities.

    “Guided by its five cardinal virtues, the past 18 years has enabled the Adelfe Enu Crea Sorority to have members who excelled in various fields such as business and media. At present, AEC continues to fulfill its goals through industry, integrity and ability.

    “In less than three decades, an organization made up of young and bright minds rise to be on top of their broods. Since 1983, the Association of Computer Science Majors (UP CURSOR) has proven that computers can be fun and studying them was even better!

    “UP CURSOR is a non-profit, non–sectarian, socio–academic group recognized as the only computer science organization in UP. But if you think it is all programming and web designing for us, you are wrong. We know how to have fun amidst MP deadlines and problem sets. Though most of us love computers, we also had diverse interests and hobbies. We play lots of sports, do some jamming and have fun like every normal Engineering students.

    “UP CIRCUIT is a University-recognized, department-based academic organization for and by the Electrical and Electronics Engineering (EEE) students.

    “In academic year 1993-1994, a group of students founded an organization to cater to the newly created courses of Electronics and Communications Engineering and Computer Engineering as the students’ response to a bigger and more dynamic EEE department. Fifteen years later, UP Circuit is the veritable force shaping the history of the bigger and more dynamic Electrical and Electronics Engineering (EEE) Department.”

    no names nga lang, but check out their faces in 13 wallpapers celebrating (still) that love-rage concert. http://loverage3.multiply.com/photos/album/19/LOVERAGE3_New_Wallpapers#10

  3. The snobbery of these pa-elite kids actually embarrasses me. Their situation isn’t that much better than the masses. No jobs, jobs that stunt their creativity and professional growth, still living with their parents, a future of mediocrity, baldness and beer bellies. I sometimes regret I didn’t think about going into nurses school. My life would’ve been so much better.

  4. It’s typical for rock concerts to be invaded by freeloading overly-rowdy JJs. They do it everywhere, even Ortigas Center for example, had to learn its lessons the painful way. Hundreds of black-wearing punks quietly converge around the staging area of a concert. The numbers grow exponentially to thousands and at the moment the first tuning chords are hit by the first band’s guitarist, there’s a mad rush to storm the gates, tear down barriers and climb over fences. Any attempt by security forces to stop it or reverse an already-successful breach will surely end in a riot. One time, the JJs turned their ire on innocent cars! Now think how they would react if they even paid for tickets, as they did in Loverage3, according to ina.

    Ayala Center knows this and it doesn’t allow rock concerts unless they have Mayor Binay’s MAPSA and the whole Southern Police Dist. Anti-Riot operatives committed.

    In the past, UP’s rock concerts were held in the gym, where gatecrashers can be easily repelled leaving the rest of the main fair activities at the Sunken Garden secure and safe. Better, avoid a pure-rock concert. Throw in a few R&B, Pop, or jazz acts if you want it mixed in the main fair grounds. The punks hate the mix they’d just leave you alone.

    That’s how we did it in the 80’s.