tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8670961943816821163.post7506147266323070424..comments2015-07-20T10:32:24.867-06:00Comments on Ningas Kugon: Barth Suretsky's Be Proud To Be A Filipinomandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09494637701099601703noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8670961943816821163.post-33559995313410388572008-12-18T21:20:00.000-06:002008-12-18T21:20:00.000-06:00Hey where are you guys? This is my favourite blog ...Hey where are you guys? This is my favourite blog and you haven't been on for a year.. please come back!!!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8670961943816821163.post-46738546518763665702007-08-30T17:08:00.000-06:002007-08-30T17:08:00.000-06:00RESPONSE TO BARTH SURETSKY."No pride. Inferiority-...RESPONSE TO BARTH SURETSKY.<BR/><BR/>"No pride. Inferiority-complexed." So preached Barth Suretsky [BS in short] about the Filipinos and the Philippines to the print and internet media.<BR/><BR/>Come to think of it, BS article "The Philippines through the eyes of a Foreigner" is about NOTHING. When you look for a research study, a journal article, a sociologist, anthropologist, or any authoritative reference to back up BS's definition of national pride and inferiority complex and self-serving claims, and keep looking, you find NOTHING. When you look for many instances or examples sufficient to support his conclusions, you see NOTHING. When you look for statistics or polls to substantiate his claims about a "vast majority" of Filipinos ignorant of Philippine history, you see NOTHING. When you look for statistics or polls to substantiate his sweeping conclusion that Filipinos do not enter movie theaters until the national anthem is over because they do not want to honor their country, there is NOTHING. You are left with one Filipino whom he cited in his essay. He is like telling the outside world that one swallow makes a summer, that one Boston Strangler means all or most Americans are Boston Stranglers. In his essay, only one foreigner (BS) was waived by a Filipino usher through to a major museum event. Then, BS jumped to the conclusion that the Filipino idolized him, a foreigner. With that one and only instance, BS was telling us that all if not most Filipinos idolized foreigners. Again, he was trying to say one Boston Stranger means all or most Americans are Boston Stranglers. When you look for many names of cities of the Philippines with potholes, unmanageable traffic, beggars, rude drivers, and wretched-looking buildings like Jai Alai and Rizal Stadium, you see NOTHING. Manila is the only focus but Manila is not the entire Philippines. By and large, one does not necessarily mean all. One Filipino or one friend does not necessarily mean all or most of the millions and millions of Filipinos in the Philippine archipelago.<BR/><BR/>What really happened? Two explanations: 1. BS invented a prism of his own personal values, bias and idiosyncaries, and through it viewed the Filipinos and the Philippines in the opposite direction.<BR/><BR/>2. Unknown to BS ensconced in his cocoon of homemade definitions and concepts about pride and inferiority complex, the Philippines already was up high in the firmament of National Pride and Superiority Complex.<BR/><BR/>Without BS knowing it, before BS could even think of writing his piece and even after he finished and published his essay, the PHILIPPINES already ranked high, even one of the HIGHEST, in the world, and was tops in Asia, outranking other Asian countries, notably Japan and South Korea, in NATIONAL PRIDE AND SUPERIORITY COMPLEX.<BR/><BR/>Says who? The International Journal of Public Opinion (Spring 2006, pp. 127-136) which published a global research paper: "National Pride in Cross-National and Temporal Perspective", based on surveys in 1995-96 and 2003-2004, both conducted by the International Social Survey Program, a consortium of survey researchers throughout the world. The international surveys for National Pride were conducted in North and South America, Africa, Europe and Asia and Australia on two scales:<BR/><BR/>1) General National Pride (GNP) based on people's sense of patriotism, nationalism, and allegiance and Superiority Complex (i.e. "My country is better than any country in the world"). "National pride is the positive affect that the public feels towards their country as a result of national identity (i.e. the cohesive force that holds nation-states together and shapes their relationships with the family of nations."<BR/><BR/>2) Domain-Specific National Pride (DSNP) which helps illuminate national character by revealing not only the overall level of national pride but also by identifying what elements of society are objects of particular pride in each country. (Tom Smith, "National Pride in Specific Domains," National Public Opinion Research Center, University of Chicago, June 27, 2007). DSNP focuses National Pride in 10 specific areas: the country's democratic system; its political influence in the world; economic system; social security; science and technological achievements; sports; arts and literature; military; history; and fair treatment of all groups in society.(International Journal of Public Opinion Research).<BR/><BR/>National Pride survey results showed the top 12 countries in average (GNP and DSNP) ranking:<BR/><BR/>A. 1995-96 survey: <BR/><BR/>GNP - 1. Austria 2. USA 3. Australia 4. Hungary 5. Canada 6. PHILIPPINES 7. New Zealand 8. Japan 9. Ireland 10. Spain 11. Slovenia and 12. Norway.<BR/><BR/>DSNP - 1. Ireland 2. USA 3. Austria 4. New Zealand 5. Canada 6. Bulgaria 7. Australia 8. Great Britain 9. Japan 10. Norway 11. Russia and 12. PHILIPPINES<BR/><BR/>B. 2003-2004 survey (GNP and DSNP average): 1. USA and Venezuela (tied) 3. Australia 4. Austria 5. South Africa 6. Canada 7. Chile 8. New Zealand 9. PHILIPPINES 10. Israel 11-13. Denmark, Hungary and Ireland (tied).<BR/><BR/>C. On June 27, 2006, the National Public Opinion Research Center at University of Chicago released another research survey for Domain Specifc National Pride with the following top 10 rankings:<BR/>1. USA 2. Venezuela 3. Ireland 4. South Africa 5. Australia 6. Canada 7. PHILIPPINES 8. Austria 9. New Zealand and 10. Chile. The Philippines outranked Great Britain (11th), Spain (15th), Japan (18th), France (19th), Russia (24th), South Korea (31st).<BR/><BR/>Source: http://www-news.uchicago.<BR/>edu/releases/06/060627.pride.pdf <BR/><BR/>Millions of Filipinos back home and abroad can now stand erect and offer toasts to their country as the National Pride Wonder of Asia from 2003 onwards.<BR/><BR/>This revelation should definitely and infinitely terminate the masochistic stupor of some Filipinos who have been submissive, subservient and haplessly resigned to BS abyssmally wrong opinion and misconception about brimming Filipino National Pride and Superiority Complex. These Filipinos are in other webposts or blog unashamedly sustaining BS and making something of the NOTHING BS foisted on them.<BR/><BR/>Here is the alarm for foreigners and other readers long tranquilized by BS due to their sin of omission, their nonchalance or failure to research the whole truth about one of the National Pride Wonders of the world.<BR/><BR/>What is left of BS essay that is strewn across many Internet posts or blogs? It has become an obituary for what remained of his credibility as an opinion writer.<BR/><BR/>What is left of the comments or blogs of some Filipinos subservient to BS's discredited views? They have become obituaries for their intellectual enslavement and mendicancy to BS's misconclusions.<BR/> <BR/>Loreto Santiago<BR/>Baguio City, PhilippinesAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com