RedBlueThoughts

There’s nothing to grin about what Senator-elect Cheez Escudero said in an interview today. Cheez hinted to the public his presidential ambitions. Meaning, there’s a possibility for this young lawyer-legislator to run for the presidency in 2010.

I hope he changes his mind. Why? Obviously, his term as senator would be guided by compromises. Cheez was elected to the Senate because people thought he can make laws to change the state of affairs. He was not elected because he’s handsome (well, that’s probably one of the reasons) or he’s intelligent. He was articulate, I admit. At the height of the anti-GMA movement, he articulated the very sentiments of the people against GMA. However, I don’t know if the people noticed it but he began to slowly disengage himself from progressive thought a few months before the elections and started issuing statements against the leadership when it is needed.

Before, I used to think that Cheez could be the young leader we were looking for. I admit now, that I am gravely mistaken. Cheez cannot belie his trapo roots. Whenever people ask me about Cheez even when I was in Singapore, I always tell them that he’s the right kind of leader that would lead this country again to greatness. With these statements, I will definitely take back what I have told people.

I long for the day when PhDs would be able to run the government. I would love to see a council of men and women in the Palace, discussing the future of this country and penning their thoughts as history. I love to see a president solely acting as a mouthpiece of this council, without any power in government.

I would love to see every department in government with three groups involved in policy-making. One group, the enlightened technocrats. The second group, the academics. And the third one, representatives of the actual stakeholders. For example, at the Department of Agriculture, you have your usual palace appointees interacting with agriculture experts and peasant leaders. Some would say its a chaotic way to run government. For me, it is not. These closely chosen committees are committed to one goal–and one goal only–pursue a genuine Filipino agricultural policy.

I would love to see a truly strong government, one that can impose its will over dissenters. A government that governs rightly and able to steer the country towards greatness. A government that’s sole concern is governance, and never money. Or power.

These thoughts can only be possible under a government run by like-minded Filipinos. There should be a flood to wash away these present crop of pseudo-leaders who assume sensitive posts of leadership because they’re celebrities or have created humourous atrocities perceived as “cute” by the masses. There should be a massive earthquake that would open up a chasm. That chasm should eat these pseudo-leaders alive and relegate them to the farthest corners of Hades.

These can only be possible if those with similar desires band together as one and pursue a New Philippine Revolution.

We are witnessing a war between the US and China. This is not a shooting war. This is a brand war.

There seems to be a proliferation of news against Chinese products. ABS-CBN reports on BFAD warning the public against buying “defective” Chinese products. They started reporting about formalin-filled candies then shifted to appliances, motorcycles and even microphones. There is, obviously, a campaign to create chinophobia. During the Cold War, the US dangled the “Red Menace”. Now, US strategists are warning of the “Yellow Plague”.

This is racist, if you will agree. Its a war founded on capitalism. The West is engaged in this war because they are being hurt by the intrusion of the East into their own territories. Because of globalization, Chinese products are flooding every nook and cranny of the world. Some are superior; most, are not.

In the 80’s, the US engaged in a war against Japan. Since Japan has effectively branded itself as a “tech-minded” country, the US failed to break the Japanese hold. Now, its China. Various epithets have been hurled against Chinese products. “Its cheap”, “Its defective”, “Its copies” and “counterfeits”–these are some of the things being hurled against Chinese products. The West wants to project itself as “quality”; while the Chinese, well, it is “inferior” and “crass” and ” poor quality”.

This war would be won soon by China. First, China is beginning to improve their production. Second, as it improves, it also cascades to how they make their products. Eventually, they will achieve total supremacy. And the Yanks will be hard put trying to contain them. What’s left as an option to stem the spread of the Yellow Plague?

War–its the game that the US loves.