Suckered in by the Latest Outrage Fad?

Courtesy of Red Flag 101

Make no mistake, even outrages can be the subject of fads. Hatred against something, or even just mere annoyance, can be the subject of a mass fad. Sometimes people follow it without thinking. Because people are easy to pull into emotional bandwagons, they can easily be suckered into useless outrage fads.

Outrage is easy to make into a fad because people often give in to their emotions. Putting everything to the test, including their own feelings, is not popular. But people get suckered into it because, first of all, they don’t really like to think. Many Filipinos tend to be that way, too. An outrage fad can also show how ill-informed the person taking part is. They don’t want to know more, they think the little they know is enough for anger.

One of the obvious inanities that outrage fads have led to is planking. It originates from a yoga practice, but as planking, it was reduced to stupidity. People just lie on their faces for no reason at all. Some stupid plankers even kill themselves doing it. Militant Filipinos recently used it as a way of protesting on the streets, which really made it dumber than it looks.

That’s only one example of what outrage fads could do. But the real harm in outrage fads is that they draw away attention from the real issues. People are so gullible as to be led by pointless outrage fads that they fail to understand what is important.

The outrage against former president GMA is one of the longest lasting outrage fads in the country. Many want her jailed because of her supposed corruption. She again became the topic of the third State of the Nation address of President B.S. Aquino. But I still hold that it is part of a misguided outrage, since even if GMA is effectively locked away in a government hospital, other cases of corruption unrelated to her can happen right under people’s noses. Sometimes, people are willing to forgive the current cases of corruption, just so long as GMA is jailed. Obviously, outrage fads can have double standards.

Perhaps if GMA is convicted, but the penalty will be lighter than expected by some, they will shout and scream, “No! GMA should be tortured, beheaded, dipped in acid, etc.” That’s still another stupidity of outrage fads – it can make humans more savage than animals. They dehumanize themselves that way.

Renato Corona had been ousted as Chief Justice as a result of another outrage fad, but now fears are spreading that his possible replacement may be far more corrupt. All because people were sucked into outrage fads.

Lately, there was a Filipino-American activist, Loida Nicolas-Lewis, who earned the title of China’s public enemy number 1 after calling for a boycott of all Chinese products due to the Scarborough Shoal dispute. She’s outraged on China’s intruding into Scarborough Shoal… but did she do the right thing? I consider Lewis’ actions misguided outrage. Chinese themselves are giving her a dose of her own medicine calling for a boycott of stores in China that she reportedly co-owns. Tit for tat. Thing is, she has Chinese business partners for these stores! Talk about shooting oneself in the foot. Or shooting your business partners in the foot.

Why do outrage fads tend to be popular?

It caters to one aspect of the Filipino Psyche: KSP. I admit I’m so enamored by this astute observation by fellow blogger Gogs, that I summon it up every time I see collective foolishness by Filipinos. Outrage is a loud and boisterous thing, which Filipinos love. Even if it inconveniences others and isn’t really based on proven truth, expressing outrage at least draws attention to one’s self… and often, that’s all it does.

Best take outrage fads with a grain of salt, lest you be another victim of deception by KSPism.

ChinoF

I believe, as my cohorts here do, that what Filipinos embrace as their culture is what actually pulls the country down. And those who seem to be anti-dictators, who may also believe themselves to be “heroes,” are the real dictators.