Civilization

According to some historians, we are living in that part of history we can label as civilized societies. Whatever civilization means, i leave it up to Merriam and Webster. But what one writer would say as to how we can gauge the civilization of a society is by judging the nature of the crimes committed by the felons of that society. The degree of civilization is thereby measured by the heinousness of the crimes by the criminals.

I would prefer another theory on how to gauge the civilization of a society, which, in my opinion, is apt to what we are seeing and hearing nowadays.

Civilization may be measured by the headlines in the news of a society. Lately, the headlines of both print, broadcast, and radio all contain one thing: the Hayden Kho-Katrina Halili scandal.

Pathetic people, pathetic country. in spite of the pressing important concerns relating to health (AH1N1 virus), economics (low GDP forecasts), governance (Ethics complaint against Villar in the Senate), and the world (North Korea's nuclear testing), the sex-video scandal is so pervasive that Hayden's name has become a by-word and has taken a new meaning: Hayden cam = hidden cam.

Humor aside, i am in disbelief as the events in the said scandal unfold as highlighted by the press.

It's more of a chicken-or-egg analogy i think. whichever came first is anybody's guess. ditto in our case. media in the philippines, just like any business enterprise, is dictated by the all-important maxim of "maximize profit." Profit increases if sales increases and sales increases if viewership increases. and viewership increases if you show, air, or print anything related to a sensational issue like the kho-halili scandal. is it because the public wants a huge chunk of the scandal that compel the various tv stations, newspapers and am stations to put the latest of the scandal in their headlines? or is it because these sectors of media have nothing good to offer than the scandal so much so that the viewers are left with no choice but to monitor the developments between hayden and katrina.

it is just frustrating and at times, disgusting, for me and for our youth to see and hear not the more important matters in our lives but rather how good katrina and hayden can interpret the sensual song of George Michael.

There goes the civilized society called the Philippines...