Welcome to Volume 6 of The Marocharim Experiment. This blog is authored and maintained by Marocharim, the self-professed antichrist of new media.
Marocharim is a 21-year-old college senior from the University of the Philippines Baguio, majoring in Social Anthropology and has a minor in Political Science. He lives with his parents, his brother and his sister in Baguio City - having been born and raised there all his life. He is the author of three book-versions of The Marocharim Experiment.
Most of his time is spent at school, where he can be found in the UP Baguio Library reading or scribbling notes, and sometimes hanging out with his friends or by himself in the kiosks, or the main lobby. During his spare time, he continues writing. When not in school he hangs out with his friends, or takes long walks around Baguio City to, as he puts it, "get lost."
Marocharim suffers from a nervous condition that has left him suffering constant migraines, nausea, and attacked his vision and sensory perceptions in his left-side extremities. While aware of his condition, this does not stop him from vice and his love for writing, reading and learning. He is also active in various cause-oriented groups and freelance writing for some local newspapers.
The Marocharim Experiment Volume I: The Trial of Another Mind, Subject to Disclosure is Available Now
The Marocharim Experiment Volume II: The Nevermind Chronicles is Available Now
The Marocharim Experiment Volume III: The Sentence Construction of Reality is Available Now
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"The Marocharim Experiment," "Marocharim" and all the contents in this online web log are the sole intellectual properties of Marck Ronald Rimorin and are protected by existing copyleft laws. Any attempt to copy and/or reproduce the contents of this site, either through electronic or printed means, must be accompanied with the express written consent of the author.
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January 10, 2005
#019: The Fallacy of the Oppressed (Part One)
< that's it... i am going to use my little space on the web as my machine to start a crusade for the socially-relevant. if you want social relevance, you're going to get it. some of you may not like what i'll be doing from now until i grow tired of it, but then again, some of you brought it upon yourselves. >
First off, the idea of "masses," to me, is distorted, in the sense that it has the same connotation and meaning, in my book, as that ubiquitous phrase, "I'm going to kick your ass." In the same vein that I am sometimes tempted to ask, "Who's ass and how?" but my actions are limited by common courtesy, here's a question: "Who are the masses?"
If the idea of "the masses" is everyone who's oppressed by an oppressive system then I guess that our conceptions are correct. If the idea of "the masses" is that group of people by whom some of us have given ourselves the license to fight for, then I guess that our conceptions our correct. But, in all my years as a servant to this hopelessly undefined aggregate of individuals, I have had a particular problem: in the sense that they are what they are: undefined.
No, I do not need to delve into the ideas of Joseph Schumpeter on catchphrasing of social ideas. But here's something for ya'll:
Oppression is like wiping your ass, with a few differences: whether you wipe forward or backward, and what you wipe it with.
- marocharim, january 10, 2005
I apologize for the vulgarity of that quote, but that's the way it goes for me. Everyone's oppressed, and the degree of oppression is a non-issue. We all have our issues to tackle, and that's where the sad reality of oppression lies. It's sickening to imagine that some of us have reduced oppression to a few qualities that seem to be so, but in reality, aren't.
Look at it this way: everyone's oppressed, right? And some people are more oppressed than others, right? Everyone should be equal, right?
I'm not saying it's wrong, but I am merely exercising my right to disagree, on these counts:
> If everyone's oppressed, why aren't they fighting? Oppression is a condition of injustice. When people are denied their rights they go out fighting for them. But what if they lost hope? Is it the moral obligation of those who "fight" to grant them hope?
> If some people are more oppressed than others, who said anything about oppression being reduced to this qualitative aspect? Like I said, everyone's oppressed. If we're talking about degrees of oppression, this becomes a game of step-up, in the sense that it's a chicken-and-egg question. Try asking Kierkegaard.
> "Animal Farm" thing: all animals are equal, but some are more animal than others.
/// more to come
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