Category: Issue 1

Articles in the inaugural issue of the zine of Bandilang Itim.

What is Egoism?

Post author By Bandilang Itim
Post date 2020/03/01

Original article by Tadano, published by Bandilang Itim.

Egoism is named after the word “ego,” which is latin for “I.” Everyone around us has an ego for which, Max Stirner understood that we all have a drive to serve ourselves and the I, the self. This philosophical observation is also often seen in the sciences, as any serious scientist studying in the field of psychology or zoology can tell you that humans act for their own self-interest. It is then asked, is altruism a case against egoism? The answer is no, for which even Stirner argues that even altruism is a form of egoism on its own. Stirner said that altruism and cooperation—and even community—is made because it serves our ego in a way. Why do we work with other people? For our own interests. This is the meat and flesh of egoism, it’s not at all complicated.

Tags egoism, English, individualist anarchism, Tadano

Issue 1 Original Writing

Intervention on the Filipino Mindspace: Identity and Belonging in an age of Social Media

Post author By Bandilang Itim
Post date 2020/02/28

The Social Media Mindspace

Original article by APS, originally published on his blog, revised for Bandilang Itim.

Attorney Oli Reyes mentioned in a viral tweet how foreign youtubers were taking advantage of the Filipino need for global validation to garner more views – and therefore, ad revenue. But what is going on here? What does that mean for us as people? Does anyone care?

Tags APS, English, Post-Situationist

Issue 1 Original Writing

Abusing Resilience: The Filipino in the face of Disaster

Post author By Bandilang Itim
Post date 2020/02/28

Article by APS, originally published on his personal blog, revised for Bandilang Itim.

On the afternoon of January 12 the Taal Volcano began spewing ash and smoke from its ancient caldera. Within hours a massive evacuation effort was launched to get people out of harm’s way. A comrade was among the people fleeing the scene. Government offices and schools were understandably closed due to the disaster, but BPO centers around the areas most affected by the ensuing ashfall had the gall to call their workers back to work.

Tags Analysis, APS, Disaster, Philippines

Issue 1 Original Writing

“Di ka naman tunay na aktibista”

Post author By Bandilang Itim
Post date 2020/02/27

A student protest. Image licensed for reuse by Bro. Jeffrey Pioquinto, SJ.

Original article by Adrienne Onday.

Alternate title for republishing purposes: “You’re not radical enough”: Reflections on Philippine Leftist Exclusionism

When I was an undergrad, I had to fight so many people to allow my voice and opinions to be heard. The central point of my struggle as a young activist then was to get formally organized activists to realize that speaking up is a form of action, too; that not being part of any organization or not being as physically and publicly active in political struggles as they were didn’t mean you weren’t one; that just because someone isn’t doing activism and radicalism the exact same way the established Left does, doesn’t mean they aren’t activists or radicals.

Tags activism, Adrienne Onday, English

Issue 1 Original Writing

Blossoms of an Aborted Revolution

Post author By Bandilang Itim
Post date 2020/02/25

Original analysis by Malaginoo.

Let us not mince our words. The EDSA Revolution has failed.

If you look around at the state of society in our archipelago, you can see clear parallels to the horrors of 1972. A dictator, with the military and police in the palm of his hand, supported by sycophants blindly loyal to his person and by local and foreign capitalist interests, brutally murdering and terrorizing the poor, and the dissidents who fight for them.

It’s as if we never woke up from the nightmare.