Conflict between the opposing social classes is said to be the motor of history. The inherent binary opposition of these classes will inevitably cause the oppressed class to stage a revolution against the ruling class. In a capitalist system, the opposing classes would be the capitalist or bourgeoisie and the working class or the proletariat. As what Marx iterated, this class struggle would always root from a material cause, better wages for the proletariat and higher profits for the bourgeoisie. Indeed, the proletariat class is seen as the heroes of society. They serve as the backbone of labour for the bourgeoisie. Without them, there is no hope for prosperity.
One would not have to look far for the demonization of the bourgeoisie in society. In our very own country, the rich is looked upon with much disdain. And yet, with the rich being stigmatized for their social status in the Philippines’ pseudo-Capitalist system, Capitalism should be first allowed to develop before the movement of socialism is fully accepted into the status quo. This sentiment was also shared by Mao Zedong during China’s Third Plenary Session of the Seventh Central Committee in 1952 wherein he criticized people who proposed eliminating capitalism and implementing socialism at a premature time. Even with the impending class revolution, there is always room for some elegance in the timeliness of revolution. The apt time to make the transition from a capitalist system to a socialist is said to be when the owners of production have already satiated with profits while the proletariat have none. Truly, this indicator of timeliness is both ruthless and brutal. Why should the oppressed wait for this vicious time to come if one could directly act upon this reality for one’s own liberty and freedom?
Louie Althusser provided a very concise explanation of the proletariat’s apparent disinterest in challenging the status quo of the mode of production. He neatly puts this proposition with his idea of the Ideological State Apparatus (ISA). He postulates that Ideology has a material aspect and, unlike that of Marx’s Dialectics, has a relative autonomy. The main purpose of the two top-most levels of the Ideological system aims to preserve the current relations of production. What is truly magnificent in this mechanism is its mechanism. Obedience and spot-on abidance to the status quo are achieved through implied coercion and undue influence for the part of the oppressed class. The ISA is said to operate in the private realms of life and derives its effectively on its ability to persuade a subject quietly. A Filipino, as one looks back in one’s history, will inevitably wonder why it took 330 years for the Filipino people to rebel against the Spanish colonizers.
I firmly agree with Professor Fernandez’s stand that today’s institution that holds the Filipinos by their throats each and every day is the broadcast media. Media has now become an effective ISA for retaining the current system of ignorance and fanaticism. Moreover, this institution has been very effective in keeping the Filipino in the dark. Only the peripheral events of society are reported and often, the essential events are left out of the daily news. Perhaps, if this vicious practice ensues, then the media should adapt two new slogans for their campaigns. The first would be, Ignorance is bliss and the second, Panatilihing bobo ngunit masaya ang mga Filipino sa pamamagitan ng aming programa.When will the time come that the Filipinos can liberate themselves from the chains that bound them and embrace the reality of truth, liberty, and freedom? (12/02/2010)
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