Social Media
Surviving the Past Two Years of Global Pandemic
Paul J. Dejillas, Ph.D.
March 16, 2022
“Surviving the Past Two Years of Global Pandemic" is now available to the public since December 2021
Contents...
Chapter 1 How Severe Was Corruption in the Past Two Years of Global Pandemic
Chapter 2 Economic Corruption
Chapter 3 Intensifying Corruption in Governance and Leadership
Chapter 4 Climate Change and Ecological Destruction
Chapter 5 What has Religion been Doing to Influence the Affairs of the State
Chapter 6 What Has Science and Technology Been Doing
Chapter 7 The Effects of Global Pandemic on the Mental Health of the Individual
Chapter 8 Education in Pandemic Times
Chapter 9 Rethinking the Cosmic in the Global Pandemic
Elections Are Coming: Am I a Troll?
March 5, 2022
Trolls are spreading like wildfire as election nears but are giving us an opportunity to examine ourselves and reflect in silence and solitude.
The Google dictionary defines a troll to "denote someone who intentionally disrupts online communities." A person who trolls someone is "a person who intentionally antagonizes others online by posting inflammatory, irrelevant, or offensive comments."
A troll also refers to somebody who intentionally leaves provocative or offensive messages on the internet in order to get attention, cause trouble or upset someone".
There are so many trolls now inundating the social media that it's already hard to discern which is genuine and which is fake. But a more serious issue is something that concerns each of us.
Am I a troll in my daily FB posts to others? Trolls could be proliferating because we are posting trolls ourselves, that is, we are also trolls in the way we express our thoughts and feelings. Posting invectives, foul languages, fake news, or arguing ad hominem are just some examples.
Well, as it is said: "By their fruits, you shall know them." “The only way to know them is to eat them.” “The proof of the pudding is in the eating."
So, if you can eat them, then, it's fine. It’s the individual’s choice. It might be better to eat rotten and corrupted fruits than to have nothing to eat at all.
As the recent surveys say, votes now cost Php 3,500.00 per voter ($70.00), a far cry from the daily minimum wage earners’ pay of Php 400.00 ($12.50) among laborers who receive nothing if there’s no available work during the day.
So, I receive 3,500.00 for voting a President, 2,500.00 for VP, and 2,000.00 for every senatorial slate. Wow, that’s a whooping 30,000 all in all!
And WHAT IF every voting member in our family, the so-called millennials, are exposed to this kind of practices? Five of them would mean 180,000 given for the family in silver platter as an unearned reward for simply voting somebody.
Good or Bad?
Between hunger and morality, the most practical thing to do is to accept the corrupted fruits to feed the family. Anyway, one can always rationalize that it is not stolen money. My vote counts, but their money counts more to me.
Blessed are those who are able to resist eating the offered rotten food, as in the case of those who have a permanent job and receiving uninterrupted salaries every 15th and 30th of the month. For theirs is already the kingdom of wealth and abundance.
Sometimes though, one cannot underestimate the wiles and cunning ways of the devil. Jesus himself was offered the whole world by Satan while fasting for 40 days and 40 nights in the desert: “If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become loaves of bread (Matthew 4:1-11).
For the Devil can always up its price, even able to unconscionably say: “Name your price!” And many can succumb to the temptation and say in response: “Can I be in your Cabinet?”
The kind of world we're living in today is so muddled, chaotic, and confusing that it’s now hard to distinguish what is rotten and what is not, what is moral and what is immoral, what is ethical and what is unethical. The two are so intertwined and entangled with each other that they have become indistinguishable. The two have become one.
And people have learned to surreptitiously establish their own standards of morality just to justify their devious and unfettered behaviors.
Time to do some serious reflections. But remember it's the citizens who are voting, not God or the Devil, and both are not in the deep blue sea out there in the big ocean.
They’re deep inside you and me. And between them is you, the entity called Self or I Am. Our choice.
Trolls Are Spreading Like Wildfire As Election Nears
November 27, 2021
The Google dictionary defines a troll to "denote someone who intentionally disrupts online communities." A person who trolls someone is "a person who intentionally antagonizes others online by posting inflammatory, irrelevant, or offensive comments."
Somebody "who intentionally leaves provocative or offensive messages on the internet in order to get attention, cause trouble or upset someone" is also a troll.
There are so many trolls now inundating the social media that it''s already hard to discern which is genuine and fake. But a more serious issue is something that concerns each of us.
Am I a troll in my daily FB posts to others? Trolls could be proliferating because we are posting trolls ourselves, that is, we are also trolls in the way we express our thoughts and feelings. Posting invectives, foul languages, fake news, or arguing ad hominem are examples.
Well, as it is said: "By their fruits, you shall know them." The only way to know them is eating them. "The proof of the pudding is in the eating." If you can eat them, then, it's fine, otherwise you can throw them away.
Let's lay down our fruits as Advent wreaths on the table or hang them on our doors and see if people outside will eat them or throw them away.
The kind of world we're living in today is that good fruits and spoiled fruits exist and so intertwined that together they live in peace and harmony. They are so entangled that we may no longer be able to know the kind and quality of the fruits we are producing daily.
Time to do some serious reflections. But the Advent season is giving us an opportunity to examine ourselves and reflect in silence and solitude.
Social Media
October 18, 2021
The media can be a powerful tool in attracting, directing, persuading, and influencing the behavior of the public. It is one important form of acquiring social and political legitimacy or illegitimacy. It can make or unmake presidents, prime ministers, and any elected or appointed public officials, including religious leaders.
It can be very effective in introducing changes and transformations on a nation’s system of economy, politics, governance, leadership, culture, customs, traditions.
It is equally effective in influencing the people regardless of the kind of government: democracy, republic, totalitarian, monarchy, tyranny, authoritarian, anarchy, theocracy, oligarchy, communism, plutocracy, junta dictatorship, fascism, federation, and technocracy.
With the help of the Internet, FB, cell phones, Wifi, live chats, etc. the media can inform the world quickly and extensively.
But we came to realize that we are also the Media. As media reps, we make daily commentaries on the events surrounding us. In the process, we could make or unmake presidents. We are King and Queen makers, in effect. We can also make them God, gods, and goddesses.
Yet, we also realized that if we attack others in media, others can also be vehemently criticizing the content of our feeds. We take this negative feedback as an opportunity for us to examine our deep-seated views and beliefs sincerely and honestly.
For we could also be inadvertently guilty of perpetrating and promoting the kind of society that others are likewise vehemently condemning in their daily posts.
We reminded ourselves that if we are chastising and castigating people in Government or in Churches, we could also be equally guilty of condemning ourselves since we could also be guilty of the same mistakes and errors on issues that we are lambasting through our social media.
And what are these issues?
Corruption, graft, lies, deceits, news fabrications, manipulations, illusions, delusions, hatred, violence, anger, jealousy, indifference, philandering, abortions, killings.
Tell me who is free of any of all these evils and deadly sins of Man?
We humbly acknowledged that we have to correct ourselves first. We cannot just tell others to stop corrupting, manipulating, and enslaving people. They will not change just because of us. We cannot control them. But we can control ourselves.
We find it even hard to change and transform our family, our children, students, co-teachers, classmates, neighbors, office mates, work mates, and the people in general.
Nonetheless, we also realized that by our collective voice, we will continue to exert our influence on others through our social media.
But we will be equally discerning. We will make it sure as much as possible that what we hold as true are not false, what we hold as real are not illusions, what we hold as an exercise of freedom is not enslaving and manipulating others.
We want to be assured as much as possible that what we hold as good for us are also good for the greater part of humanity.
We will continue to think deep. We will always re-examine our views, belief systems, visions, mission, and goals in life since time and the conditions surrounding also change. We will be ready to charge collectively until the right time and proper conditions come.
And this right time and proper conditions will come on Monday, May 9, 2022. We will all exercise our right to vote wisely.
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As early as now, prepare the names of those you want to vote next year. You can always change them on the last minute because realignments are always happening almost daily. And you may share them with us, if you wish.
President
Vice President
Senators - 12
I reserve the right to delete those who will only give one name in their answer. For this is not intended as a presidential survey.
Sad and Violent Movies
Paul J. Dejillas, Ph.D. – October 19, 2021
Binge watching Netflix movies is one of my ways of relaxing during the past two trying years. I didn't know that they can be very enlightening and can sometimes inspire and jolt us into action.
I saw the Pandemic, Julius Cesar, Cleopatra, Roman Empire, Templars, Illuminati, Two Popes, Da Vinci Code, Hitler, Irena Sendler, Marco Polo, Ottoman, Stalin, Gen. Luna, The Seven Trumpets of Revelation, and Before the Wrath, among others.
Anyway, I have mixed feelings about all these movies -- anger, frustration, concern, confusion, even helplessness and worrisome that what was happening hundreds and thousands of years ago is still occurring today on a global and cosmic proportion.
Meanwhile, the majority of the citizenry remain, as ever, obedient spectators. This deception and control by a few over the weak and poor should no longer be tolerated to go any further. It's high time that we rewrite history from our perspective. But what would that be? And who will write it?
I suppose this is what the "presidentiables", "electorables", presidential appointees, and we the voters are trying to do on social media. Whatever that new narrative of ours is, we can only hope it's for the common good of our people.
For love of God and country, let's get out and vote conscientiously in these coming national elections.