What makes people happy isn't how much they're making. It's how much they're making relative to their peers. - Glenn Firebaugh
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Happiness is Inversely Proportional to Level of Envy
What makes people happy isn't how much they're making. It's how much they're making relative to their peers. - Glenn Firebaugh
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Unwarranted Offensive Against the Reproductive Health Bill
I agree with the comments of the supporters of the Reproductive Health Bill. The action taken by the church against the bill is borne of ignorance to both the proposed law and the realities of life.
Firstly, none of the arguments purported by the church cited any provision of the proposed law. They are stirring negative emotions based on something that doesn't even exist. Instead of blindly blocking the law, those against the proposed bill should try to help and work out the provisions which in their opinion should not be there.
Secondly, not everyone in the country are Catholics. Though living morally, not everyone subscribes to the church's doctrines. It would be unfair to the non-members if the President bases her public policies to the doctrine of any specific religious group, no matter how big they are. It is explicitly stated in the Constitution that the separation of the Church and State shall be inviolable. Those in power should do well to remember that and take only into consideration the welfare of the people who put their trust into them, regardless of their religion.
Thirdly, it is all married couples' right to have sex. Catholics would argue that sex is for procreation instead of recreation. I personally do not believe that. Intimacy strengthens the bonds between married couples. If we have sex only to make children, then people who can not have children should not have sex. Sex should be separated from child-bearing as it is.
Fourthly, why do we need to distinguish between natural and unnatural methods of birth control? We have respirators when our lungs can't do the job. We have pacemakers for those with weak hearts. There are artificial face parts for those who had their face damaged or even those who wants to look better. Why can't we turn to science to increase the reliability of birth control?
Finally, those against family planning should see the conditions of the people who suffer because they do not have access to family planning methods. Mothers starve in order to feed their children and they can't stop getting pregnant because they had to perform their marital obligations to their husbands. Even fathers end up slaving themselves to feed their growing family. The children suffer malnutrition because there isn't enough to go around their family. Though it is not the ultimate solution to the increasing poverty of our nation, family planning methods would greatly reduce the suffering due to unwanted pregnancies.
Firstly, none of the arguments purported by the church cited any provision of the proposed law. They are stirring negative emotions based on something that doesn't even exist. Instead of blindly blocking the law, those against the proposed bill should try to help and work out the provisions which in their opinion should not be there.
Secondly, not everyone in the country are Catholics. Though living morally, not everyone subscribes to the church's doctrines. It would be unfair to the non-members if the President bases her public policies to the doctrine of any specific religious group, no matter how big they are. It is explicitly stated in the Constitution that the separation of the Church and State shall be inviolable. Those in power should do well to remember that and take only into consideration the welfare of the people who put their trust into them, regardless of their religion.
Thirdly, it is all married couples' right to have sex. Catholics would argue that sex is for procreation instead of recreation. I personally do not believe that. Intimacy strengthens the bonds between married couples. If we have sex only to make children, then people who can not have children should not have sex. Sex should be separated from child-bearing as it is.
Fourthly, why do we need to distinguish between natural and unnatural methods of birth control? We have respirators when our lungs can't do the job. We have pacemakers for those with weak hearts. There are artificial face parts for those who had their face damaged or even those who wants to look better. Why can't we turn to science to increase the reliability of birth control?
Finally, those against family planning should see the conditions of the people who suffer because they do not have access to family planning methods. Mothers starve in order to feed their children and they can't stop getting pregnant because they had to perform their marital obligations to their husbands. Even fathers end up slaving themselves to feed their growing family. The children suffer malnutrition because there isn't enough to go around their family. Though it is not the ultimate solution to the increasing poverty of our nation, family planning methods would greatly reduce the suffering due to unwanted pregnancies.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
UP is no Place for Children
VOYAGE
The Manila Standard Today-2008-06-06
There are no children here.
This week, I went to a meeting at the UP School of Economics and I came away with renewed belief in the value of the UP experience.
If you speak to anyone from UP – student, professor, alumnus - you will get no Latin slogans or apologies about how the school teaches values in spite of its outward materialism. This is not a student population that thinks about basketball games or memorizes school songs. This is not a school that chooses one statement to drill into the minds of its students.
This is not, of course, to say that UP does not care about values. It is that UP, in its own inimitable way, believes that values cannot be force-fed. The statue of the naked man that guards the entrance to the campus in Diliman best represents UP’s approach to all education and the respect for students that is the center of its educational philosophy. All who come to this university, regardless of origin, bring themselves naked, carrying nothing but their thirst; like the proverbial empty teacup, making an offering of self, waiting to be filled.
Adults
For many students from private schools, the first lesson that is learned here is that this is a school for adult education. There are no children here, and that is why no parents are allowed either at freshman orientation or during enlistment.
The spirit of the oblation lies not in a mother or a father offering up his child to the world, it is that of the newly adult, freely offering of his self.
I remember quite vividly that moment that drove home how different the UP education continues to be. It was my daughter’s first semester in university and she had invited a group of her high school friends to our house. One of them asked a classmate whether she had gotten her parents permission form approved for that weekend’s outreach activity. From the UP population around the table came the mock horrified responses of: “Permission?” and “Outreach?”
I thought about it and realized that all of these students were, in fact, legally adults. I thought it interesting that only the UP students appeared to appreciate this fact.
Even more interesting was the “outreach” comment. I think back to my own university years and the last three years that my daughter has been in UP and am certain there is no lack of civic activity. There are medical missions, house building projects, tree planting, community work and barrio work and so on. I realize now that the reaction was not to the activity as much as it was to the use of the word.
One of the most important differences of the UP campus from all the other campuses my children considered going to is that this campus has no walls. Many parents fear this. They are afraid their precious children will not be protected from the ills of society in a campus that is so open to the rest of the world.
But UP is open to the world in more ways than just not having the physical walls.
Community
Being in UP means much more than being a student. This campus is enmeshed in a community. This community is made up not only of the transient population of students who go home each night. It includes the many, many students who lay their heads on dorm pillows each night, enduring time away from families in the firm belief that this campus will bring them closer to their dreams. This community includes the families of faculty and employees who live on campus. It also includes the many people who work not for the University, but nevertheless work on campus. This community includes the lady who remembers the brand of cigarette you smoke and automatically hands it to you in the morning. It includes the gentleman who remembers you like pepper on your egg sandwich or the one who knows you will dip your fish balls into two of his sauces, who patiently waits for you to eat your three sticks before being paid. It includes the woman who saw all her children through college by selling peanuts every day on campus.
To a UP student, the daily heartbeat of the school is never far away from the realities of the country. The word outreach suggests that civic activity is something outside of the normal, something you do once in a while. It must be immensely difficult to think of community as a thing apart when your campus experience brings you face to face with all of the world’s realities every day.
Character
All of this probably explains that unmistakable sense of self that you will find from students who come from this campus.
Here is a campus where all have the same opportunities to learn. But, also, here is a campus that will give all the same opportunities to fail. There are no guidance counselors who will chase after you because you have been skipping classes. The attitude this university takes is that you must take the initiative – for learning, for seeking help, for realizing you need help.
That is not to say that no help exists. But it is help that is not forced upon you.
This is a university rich in both introspection and conversation. On this campus, the student is constantly exposed to people – faculty, administrators, community members, other students – who care deeply and passionately about the world. The conversations are almost never purely cerebral. A single graph can provoke comments about government policy and its effects on people.
As a result, UP is home to a student population that looks at the world and cares. It is easy to see pictures of protesting students and dismiss it as radicalism. But there are few campuses in this country where students go beyond a passing curiosity about what is happening in the world beyond their own lives. There are even fewer universities where students not only care but also actually believe they have a responsibility to make a difference – not in some hazy future – today.
And that, I believe, is what truly forges character. Character is not molded by speeches or long classes in ethics or theology. Character grows from within. It begins by being handed the keys to your own self and being told you are in charge; you now have power over yourself and your own actions – and with that power, you take on responsibilities.
Each student in this university goes through his own unique voyage of discovery. On bis voyage, as he decides what he cares about, what he will fight for and what he will sacrifice, he crafts his own personal values. That is what education is truly about.
First published 6 June 2008 in the Manila Standard Today.
Readers can email Maya at integrations_manila@yahoo.com
The Manila Standard Today-2008-06-06
There are no children here.
This week, I went to a meeting at the UP School of Economics and I came away with renewed belief in the value of the UP experience.
If you speak to anyone from UP – student, professor, alumnus - you will get no Latin slogans or apologies about how the school teaches values in spite of its outward materialism. This is not a student population that thinks about basketball games or memorizes school songs. This is not a school that chooses one statement to drill into the minds of its students.
This is not, of course, to say that UP does not care about values. It is that UP, in its own inimitable way, believes that values cannot be force-fed. The statue of the naked man that guards the entrance to the campus in Diliman best represents UP’s approach to all education and the respect for students that is the center of its educational philosophy. All who come to this university, regardless of origin, bring themselves naked, carrying nothing but their thirst; like the proverbial empty teacup, making an offering of self, waiting to be filled.
Adults
For many students from private schools, the first lesson that is learned here is that this is a school for adult education. There are no children here, and that is why no parents are allowed either at freshman orientation or during enlistment.
The spirit of the oblation lies not in a mother or a father offering up his child to the world, it is that of the newly adult, freely offering of his self.
I remember quite vividly that moment that drove home how different the UP education continues to be. It was my daughter’s first semester in university and she had invited a group of her high school friends to our house. One of them asked a classmate whether she had gotten her parents permission form approved for that weekend’s outreach activity. From the UP population around the table came the mock horrified responses of: “Permission?” and “Outreach?”
I thought about it and realized that all of these students were, in fact, legally adults. I thought it interesting that only the UP students appeared to appreciate this fact.
Even more interesting was the “outreach” comment. I think back to my own university years and the last three years that my daughter has been in UP and am certain there is no lack of civic activity. There are medical missions, house building projects, tree planting, community work and barrio work and so on. I realize now that the reaction was not to the activity as much as it was to the use of the word.
One of the most important differences of the UP campus from all the other campuses my children considered going to is that this campus has no walls. Many parents fear this. They are afraid their precious children will not be protected from the ills of society in a campus that is so open to the rest of the world.
But UP is open to the world in more ways than just not having the physical walls.
Community
Being in UP means much more than being a student. This campus is enmeshed in a community. This community is made up not only of the transient population of students who go home each night. It includes the many, many students who lay their heads on dorm pillows each night, enduring time away from families in the firm belief that this campus will bring them closer to their dreams. This community includes the families of faculty and employees who live on campus. It also includes the many people who work not for the University, but nevertheless work on campus. This community includes the lady who remembers the brand of cigarette you smoke and automatically hands it to you in the morning. It includes the gentleman who remembers you like pepper on your egg sandwich or the one who knows you will dip your fish balls into two of his sauces, who patiently waits for you to eat your three sticks before being paid. It includes the woman who saw all her children through college by selling peanuts every day on campus.
To a UP student, the daily heartbeat of the school is never far away from the realities of the country. The word outreach suggests that civic activity is something outside of the normal, something you do once in a while. It must be immensely difficult to think of community as a thing apart when your campus experience brings you face to face with all of the world’s realities every day.
Character
All of this probably explains that unmistakable sense of self that you will find from students who come from this campus.
Here is a campus where all have the same opportunities to learn. But, also, here is a campus that will give all the same opportunities to fail. There are no guidance counselors who will chase after you because you have been skipping classes. The attitude this university takes is that you must take the initiative – for learning, for seeking help, for realizing you need help.
That is not to say that no help exists. But it is help that is not forced upon you.
This is a university rich in both introspection and conversation. On this campus, the student is constantly exposed to people – faculty, administrators, community members, other students – who care deeply and passionately about the world. The conversations are almost never purely cerebral. A single graph can provoke comments about government policy and its effects on people.
As a result, UP is home to a student population that looks at the world and cares. It is easy to see pictures of protesting students and dismiss it as radicalism. But there are few campuses in this country where students go beyond a passing curiosity about what is happening in the world beyond their own lives. There are even fewer universities where students not only care but also actually believe they have a responsibility to make a difference – not in some hazy future – today.
And that, I believe, is what truly forges character. Character is not molded by speeches or long classes in ethics or theology. Character grows from within. It begins by being handed the keys to your own self and being told you are in charge; you now have power over yourself and your own actions – and with that power, you take on responsibilities.
Each student in this university goes through his own unique voyage of discovery. On bis voyage, as he decides what he cares about, what he will fight for and what he will sacrifice, he crafts his own personal values. That is what education is truly about.
First published 6 June 2008 in the Manila Standard Today.
Readers can email Maya at integrations_manila@yahoo.com
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
My Sense of Humor
Your result for The 9-Variable Humor Intelligence Test...
CRUDE
You like crude humor too? Awesome! Physical comedy is definitely your thing. In fact almost anything might make you laugh. When you watch figure skating it's probably just to see the skaters fall. The great thing about crude humor is that you can enjoy it with a friend or privately too.
Have you ever watched the Three Stooges? It's a classic you might enjoy. I also recommend the Marx Brothers (the astute test taker will notice my screenname comes from one of them).
So there you have it. Next time my cat flies through the house and bashes into some furniture I'll be thinking of you, my crude friend.
My Godfather Character
Your result for The What Godfather Character Are You Test...
Michael
Congratulations! You are second only to Don Vito himself! Your talents and wisdom are obvious, and you will serve the family well in the future as Don. Stick close to Don Vito and learn everything you can from him; the family's future rests with you.
Take The What Godfather Character Are You Test at HelloQuizzy
What My Dreams Reveal
Your result for The What do your dreams reveal about you? Test...
Losing your grip
Losing your Grip
Your score reveals that you may be feeeling powerless, anxious and out of control these days. Maybe you recently lost your job, or perhaps you're struggling with the loss of a loved one. Whatever the case, you may be feeling like a ping pong ball, hit back and forth between problems that you't influence or control.
You dreams may be trying to tell you that it's itme to make that big decision you've been putting off or that you need to accept that you're going through a tough time. So try to relax and remeber that this confusing life phase will eventually pass.
BONUS TIP: You can use your dreams to help handle challenging situations in your life. At night, try asking yourself a question about a difficult issue that you're dealing with and allow your subconscious mind to answer it through your dreams. Have a pen and paper by your bed so that you can easily record your dream when you wake. When you wake up, try doing it slowly, as in leave your eyes closed for a while, as sometimes tihs reminds you of your dream, which could be lost once you let the material world distract you.
Pls do rate my test, and leave me messages if you have any constructive criticism.
My other Tests
Astrological Passion: What kind of lover are you?
What Ice Cream Flavor Are You and your Soulmate?
Your score reveals that you may be feeeling powerless, anxious and out of control these days. Maybe you recently lost your job, or perhaps you're struggling with the loss of a loved one. Whatever the case, you may be feeling like a ping pong ball, hit back and forth between problems that you't influence or control.
You dreams may be trying to tell you that it's itme to make that big decision you've been putting off or that you need to accept that you're going through a tough time. So try to relax and remeber that this confusing life phase will eventually pass.
BONUS TIP: You can use your dreams to help handle challenging situations in your life. At night, try asking yourself a question about a difficult issue that you're dealing with and allow your subconscious mind to answer it through your dreams. Have a pen and paper by your bed so that you can easily record your dream when you wake. When you wake up, try doing it slowly, as in leave your eyes closed for a while, as sometimes tihs reminds you of your dream, which could be lost once you let the material world distract you.
My other Tests
Take The What do your dreams reveal about you? Test at HelloQuizzy
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