Category: politics
A LINE IN THE SAND: Edsa, Arroyo and the future of Philippine politics
…A healthy life cycle of a country involves a long period of contraction—the centralization of control, the taking in of power, and the emergence of monarchy—and then a short period of release, which is the exercise of democracy…
The Shape of Things To Come: Russia, China, al-Qaeda, the Philippines
This is the vision of the New World Order: an ascendant China, a defiant Russia, a weakened international European community, and the ripple effect of values changing across the world…
A Silent Call to the EDSA Generation
History books and heroes carried an EDSA that was about setting things right in the Philippines, and maybe some of them had the right idea, but mostly, the context of that demonstration was misunderstood....
A Comprehensive Proposal for an EDSA Reform (edited)
EDSA will no longer be about alternative personalities, or parties. It will no longer be about dependence on the individual. It will be something better, more comprehensive. Now you will have something to fight...
Mr. Lenin’s Democracy (updated 04-14-2016)
They were freedom fighters, and revolution became synonymous with them.  But decades later, they became nightmarish regimes that terrified the imagination and subjugated millions. Dystopia and totalitarianism became synonymous with them.   What happened? Why...
Inertia: Sustaining the EDSA Movement
No, no, no, Arroyo will not listen… but we will howl nevertheless. In the two years she remains in power, we will howl her in the streets, howl her in the courts, and howl...
The New (Eastern) Order: Russia’s out of it
Since Vladimir Putin’s accession to the Presidency, Russia has fought a long, uphill battle to maintain its status as a global heavyweight. Despite their best efforts, they have lost the fear and impression of...
The Fatal Flaw of Western Democracies (revised 08-01-2012)
Schools have long taught that the American government was the model of that perfect democracy.  That, however, has not stopped existing democracies from falling into tight-handed dictatorships.  What has gone wrong?  What is different...