an open letter on useless stupidity

i still have to find dzmm 630's email ad, here's what i can tell them

dear dzmm,

forgive my lack of information on how good your radio programs are. the thing is, i hardly listen to you. but in those occasions where i get to hear what you broadcast, i hardly am bothered- except for a smile or a frown, i guess. but on my way home today in the cab, which is my idea of saving gas and money and time and the risk of killing innocent pedestrians, i was caught off-guard by what one of your speakers had to say:

ang yayabang ng mga taga-UP, yun pala mga mamamatay-tao. pera ng bayan ang pumupondo sa kanila tapos ito ang pinaggagagawa/
"UP students are real arrogant when in fact they're murderers. this nonsense is what they do after all the government funds appropriated to them"

not in verbatim but the guy was commenting on fraternities and hazing and how one member just got killed recently. i'm pretty sure what he said was something to that extent but you could always show me a recording or a transcript of what he really really said in verbatim and prove otherwise, it would really appease me if you could prove it otherwise, seriously.

because imagine the repercussions of those statements if indeed they were uttered on air. i don't think my ears fooled me, but i can not erase the possibility. for one, i don't seek to defend the great many scholars of UP or the fraternities whether they still practice hazing or not. the fact that it was a huge illicit generalization isn't even what annoys me the most. it's the fact that a good number of people listen to the guy- the cab driver is proof that some do listen.

imagine what a person who does not know really of UP think of UP after those statements. imagine what a person who does not know really of UP think of how the government spends its money. imagine what a person who does not know really of UP of the great many people who go to and rely upon and study at UP.

i do admit the listeners won't immediately connect that comment stated above around the hazing issue to my imagine-what-a-person comments, i doubt if some listeners will. but it is this subtlety of the comment that makes it more dangerous to listeners. these subtle comments are the very destructive comments we do not deliberately guard against because they are so subtle we don't bother. whether listeners connect both or not, listeners will take it in as a fact, especially after an emotionally arousing issue of an innocent student being killed in a "cold blood murder", the term the speaker used.

to me, the words are just plain stupid.
and here's more:

"the police represent authority. so if you kill a policeman you are like destroying authority, you are hurting the government."

well, he could be true. but imagine again the repercussions of that true statement. killing anyone, policeman or otherwise, is destructive. however, highlighting the fact that the person killed was a policeman subtly puts them above everyone else in the society when in fact they are not. i respect policemen, its a very noble profession. but the speaker is talking to an audience filled with a good number of people who currently believe they're better off with other people in charge. saying that statement above does not address this issue at all, it even ignites further the rage.

or maybe i should pray only the cab driver and i were listening to your station during those moments. or maybe i am just thinking too much. in any case, you as a part of the media are proud of being able to reach to many people. please think about reaching to them in a manner that isn't stupid or, at the very least, isn't useless.

we should talk,

karL.


right before i went down the cab i asked the driver if he knew who the speaker was.

cab driver: alfredo lim po
me: alfredo lim the senator?
cab driver: oho
me: what?

the? fuck? and i thought loi ejercito was the stupidest useless senator ever. there are two of them now on that pedestal.

lisnin to Rent's I Should Tell You
sortof readin Wicked. thanks glenda
feelin kinda sigh-what-a-country mood. it'll all be better. a lot better