THE MOST talked about topic this weekend was about the “soft opening” of Boracay to the public on Friday, Oct. 26.
It seems that Boracay is becoming an “abused word” so we’ll give it a rest and talk about it when the “hard opening” is in full swing.
Meanwhile we’ll talk about an obsolete and irrelevant ideology still embraced and espoused by obsolete and irrelevant geriatrics and trendy social climbing naïve so-called millennials.
Most things in this planet have a shelf life, meaning nothing lasts forever; some things may have been relevant in certain periods of time, some may stand the test of time and we call them classic.
Take for example the classic Levis 501 jeans. It has been around since the 18th century and is still a relevant and coveted fashion icon.
Jazz and Blues are musical genres that have stood the test of time. In fact almost all genres of music emanated from Jazz and Blues. From hip-hop to rhythm and blues to soul and reggae they all trace their roots to Jazz and Blues.
Political ideologies, social mores and cultural practices also have a shelf life. In fact as man progresses a lot of these ideologies, social standards and cultural practices get left in the wayside. Simply put, they become irrelevant and obsolete.
A case in point is the so-called communist ideology. It has become as irrelevant and obsolete as, say, “double-knit” bell-bottoms trousers whose hems sweep the floor and body-fit polyester shirts together with platform shoes.
The communist ideology is not only irrelevant and obsolete but downright baduy just like the “Edgar Mortiz and Vilma Santos” or the “Guy and Pip” box office love teams.
The Communist Manifesto (originally Manifesto of the Communist Party) is an 1848 political pamphlet by German philosophers Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. It was the answer to the Industrial Revolution then sweeping Europe, particularly England where factories with almost sub-human conditions were manned by exploited workers, including women and children.
The Communist Manifesto was also a statement against the abuses of rich factory owners against factory workers.
It soon became fashionable in Europe to be an anarchist or a communist or both. A wave of revolutions swept Europe and Russia, from a monarchy, became communist. China soon followed after World War 2.
The communist fashion eventually reached these islands and it soon became fashionable among the restless students to be communists having clandestine meetings in some coffee shops in Malate.
It came to the point where being a communist was a fashion statement and de rigour to wear a t-shirt with a print of the face of “Che Guevara” or one with the words “Hasta Siempre, Comandante” and a cap with red star.
After decades of being communist the Russians eventually realized that being a communist country is boring and not profitable.
Russia is now one of the biggest if not the biggest capitalist country in the world. And what about China? Well it is now the biggest trading partner of that hated capitalist country, the United States of America.
The funny thing is that both former bastions of communism embraced capitalism, including all the trappings of a decadent capitalist way of life, sometimes event outdoing the American capitalist.
Meanwhile in the Philippines and the Netherlands we have a bunch of senior citizens who still dream of the “withering away of the state”, that they will turn the country into a workers’ utopian paradise and behave like they’re still in full control of the armed bandits in the countryside a.k.a. New People’s Army or NPA when in reality they may even have difficulty in controlling their bladders.
In one of the media sorties of the NPA when President Rodrigo Duterte announced the ceasefire and peace talks, there were pictures of an old NPA commander wearing a Red Guard uniform; obviously his inspiration was Mao Zedong’s “cultural revolution.”
This old guy wants the Philippines to be like Mao Zedong’s China. Is he aware that China is now the one of the biggest capitalists in the world? I guess not. He’s probably not also aware that Henry Sy’s SM Shoemart has one of the biggest malls in China. Come to think of it, he might not even know what a mall is.
In the middle of all these, the founder of the Communist Party of the Philippines Joma Sison is having the time of his life enjoying the decadence of capitalism in the Netherlands partying like Austin Powers.
In the meantime the poor sobs or cadres of the New People’s Army are up there in the hinterlands still dreaming of the “withering away of the state” and the next “cultural revolution.”
From a ragtag bunch of idealistic but naïve student activists in the 1970s the NPA has become a motley crew of armed bandits making a killing (pun intended) extorting money from farmers and mining companies with their own form of extortion they label as “revolutionary taxes.”
Most of the idealistic student activists are now ageing university professors that romanticized their activism, luring their trendy social climbing naïve so-called millennials students to become “activists.”
It is pitiful to watch students from what is supposed to be the prime higher learning institution in the country, the University of the Philippines, acting like trendy social climbing fools blindly following an obsolete ideology espoused by irrelevant old men.
And the “last communist in the world” Joma Sison is having a ball in the Netherlands in the name of communism. Karl Marx must be spinning in his grave. (brotherlouie16@gmail.com/PN)
