In the 1960s, when women were burning bras and feminism (or the idea that women are equal to men) was a major rallying cry, a popular slogan was: The personal is political. Are you familiar with the statement? What does it mean?
It has come to mean many things. Among them: That personal and political issues affect each other.
To illustrate: I had my first serious relationship at 25. Because you create your kids after your own image literally and figuratively, that was my standard for my kids, 25. So when my kids were younger, I used to tell them na, “Pwede lang mag-boyfriend o mag-girlfriend pag 25.” One time, my second child, Kulas, who was about 12 or 13 at the time, was making lambing. “Pwede ba 21 mag girlfriend?” My youngest, Tyago, was within hearing distance. Sabi niya, “Wag ka mag-alala kuya. 18 is the age of emancipation.”
Natawa ako at naiyak. Kasi does that mean that their childhood needs emancipation from my parenting?
Who knew that parenting is political. My youngest son, now a second-year law student at UST, knew. He knew that our parent-child relationship is based on a power balance that is circumscribed by the laws and ethos of the time, which by the way is in constant flux and therefore very exciting.
But my first lesson is the reverse of “the personal is political”. In the age of social media, and the breaking down of walls of identities and the acceptance of fluidity of identities, all politics have become very personal.
That’s why when voting people to office, the reason for voting has been moving away from impersonal, relatively cold facts such as accomplishments that show competence and toward personal perceptions of trust and confidence, metrics measured by surveys. Also, how else to explain budots?
Which segues to lesson number two: The audience, especially in the time of new media, is king, queen, and ace. The end all and be all of polcomm’s existence. How do we reach the audience?
Number three: Maximize technology. In as much as it is the change, technology is also a main driver of change. For example, in relation to audience, technology is able to slice and dice audience into segments such as age, sex, location, interests, time spent on cellphones, etc.
Relatedly, tear down walls. And digital technology, which allowed for the personal curation of public image, is smashing the wall between personal and political.
This technology has been with us for a long time, but Covid is forcing the dismantling of many walls: the walls between work and play and rest; the wall between teacher and student; the walls between spaces and between times.
Physics says that no two objects can occupy the same space at the same time, but technology is defying that law, not just in pre-Covid MRT during rush hour.
Our ability to multi-task, which is unnatural and therefore unhealthy, is proof of not only our busy-ness, but of technology’s power. Technology has provided us the means to multi-task. Technology is the sledgehammer of walls, helping actualize multi-tasking.
Number four: Politics is a blood sport. Politics is about power. Power to make changes. Power to change the course of history. And most importantly, especially for those not in power, the power to say no.
Politics is also entertainment. It is the power to hold the attention of huge numbers of people. It is the power to make people do things like cough up five-digit sums of money for a two-hour concert ticket.
Number five: But always there’s love. There’s passion. There’s energy. One of the judges of The Voice in the US (I forgot who) says that passion is what wins it for her. She might not see it but she will feel it. We will feel it.
And this is the energy I want to impart in what is supposed to be a lazy Saturday morning.
Number six: We also get that energy from humor. Or in what a book I’m reading calls laughtivism. Humor is the power that will fight fear. It is the power that will break down the walls of assumption and awkwardness, and open the room to hope and action.
Number seven: As any comic, athlete, even manliligaw would know, timing is everything. And timing involves preparation, an open mind, and lots and lots of work. Which brings me to my personal slogan: Work is love made visible by Kahlil Gibran. Or in Ian Veneracion’s words: Your work shows the world who you are. Work is the output of all your preparation.
Remember that everything is material. Everything is content. All the good and bad things. Good and bad go hand in hand. Magkapatid. So make mistakes. Life is about mistakes and making them. Incredible opportunities lie in mistakes. It shows new openings.
Number eight: Communication is about connection.
Being woke means paying attention. Be aware of the things that are happening within you and around you. An examined life is the only life worth living. Take no bullshit. Always ask. Probe. Even yourself. Maybe especially yourself.
The hierarchy of communication is: action before words, verbs before nouns, movement before speeches.
Number nine: Know your subject. Or in marketing: Know your product. For us in the office, the question is therefore: Who is Senator Kiko? At the end of your month-long internship, I hope that you have a better sense of who he is.
The last lesson: We will not survive without each other. So I end this talk with this quote from Rudyard Kipling: "Now this is the law of the jungle, as old and as true as the sky, And the wolf that shall keep it may prosper, but the wolf that shall break it must die. As the creeper that girdles the tree trunk, the law runneth forward and back; For the strength of the pack is the wolf, and the strength of the wolf is the pack.”
*Delivered 30 January 2021
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