It is the time of the year - when juniors and seniors in high school mingle with each other and dance the night away in awkwardly-tailored suits and dresses; when couples and would-be couples flock into fancy restaurants, the guys buying bouquets of roses while the ladies reward their suitors or partners with approving smiles, a card in one hand and a box of chocolates or expensive jewellery  clutched on the other.

Valentine's Day is perhaps one of the most overrated celebrations in the country, second only to Christmas. It is ironic, however, that a nation engulfed in spiralling poverty is engrossed in such a senseless festivity. People spend precious resources to express their supposed affection to their loved ones, seemingly trying to compensate for days when love just cannot be accommodated.

Just the other day, you wished that everyday should become Valentine's Day. It simply cannot be. At a time when bulk of the population is either toiling in sweatshops or searching endlessly for jobs or a few pesos to get by, there isn't just enough time or resources to "love" every single day.

For in this maddening world of consumerism, everything has already been commodified - even affection. To love is to buy. To love is to spend. To love is to consume. We put value, price tags on everything. Thus, we simply cannot afford "loving" daily.

We students in the university will disagree to this notion - cloistered inside the academe, we have the luxury of time to relish romantic thoughts and hallucinate on the concept of affection. However, just around the corner, on the fringes of our everyday realities, there is no room for romance - thoughts, dreams and aspirations are swamped by the mechanical workload.

Mankind has reached such sordid state of affairs where even emotions are dictated by the market. Just as everything else, love has become a scarce resource that is available to only those who can afford it. For those who can't, what remains are tacky greeting cards and overpriced flowers that are actually compensatory gifts for the lack of real affection.

We have been rendered numb by the system that has not only taken away from us the value of love, but its very concept, a system that installed in its place a kitsch that we blindly celebrate on Valentine's Day.

No, it's not a cause for celebration.

Labels: #life, %english, kule

posted by LOR | Permalink

It is the time of the year - when juniors and seniors in high school mingle with each other and dance the night away in awkwardly-tailored suits and dresses; when couples and would-be couples flock into fancy restaurants, the guys buying bouquets of roses while the ladies reward their suitors or partners with approving smiles, a card in one hand and a box of chocolates or expensive jewellery  clutched on the other.

Valentine's Day is perhaps one of the most overrated celebrations in the country, second only to Christmas. It is ironic, however, that a nation engulfed in spiralling poverty is engrossed in such a senseless festivity. People spend precious resources to express their supposed affection to their loved ones, seemingly trying to compensate for days when love just cannot be accommodated.

Just the other day, you wished that everyday should become Valentine's Day. It simply cannot be. At a time when bulk of the population is either toiling in sweatshops or searching endlessly for jobs or a few pesos to get by, there isn't just enough time or resources to "love" every single day.

For in this maddening world of consumerism, everything has already been commodified - even affection. To love is to buy. To love is to spend. To love is to consume. We put value, price tags on everything. Thus, we simply cannot afford "loving" daily.

We students in the university will disagree to this notion - cloistered inside the academe, we have the luxury of time to relish romantic thoughts and hallucinate on the concept of affection. However, just around the corner, on the fringes of our everyday realities, there is no room for romance - thoughts, dreams and aspirations are swamped by the mechanical workload.

Mankind has reached such sordid state of affairs where even emotions are dictated by the market. Just as everything else, love has become a scarce resource that is available to only those who can afford it. For those who can't, what remains are tacky greeting cards and overpriced flowers that are actually compensatory gifts for the lack of real affection.

We have been rendered numb by the system that has not only taken away from us the value of love, but its very concept, a system that installed in its place a kitsch that we blindly celebrate on Valentine's Day.

No, it's not a cause for celebration.

Labels: #life, %english, kule