Friday, November 14, 2008

Small p, big P

Of the people we know, how many take interest in politics? In this country, it is synonymous to greed, filth, corruption. Politics is never associated with honor, justice, ideals.

The spectacle of Bolante's interrogation in the Senate is a perfect example of how we tend to focus on the small p, not the big P. I'm afraid traditional media has a role in this kind of discourse. Through its filter of information, we are fed "frames" on how to interpret events. They've got the who, what, where, when and how covered. "Why" is probably the most difficult, and so there is little media coverage following this line of questioning.

The small p will focus our attention on the details of the fertilizer scam. People whom I've heard discuss the media spectacle do so in jest, as though it were entertainment. In a way it is. That is the frame we are fed.

A discourse on the big P will frame this spectacle within a larger context - the crisis of our agricultural sector, the corruption diverting funds away from farmer support, the food security of the country, the global crisis in agriculture given the current international trade system.

Let's focus on the big P. The bigger, the better. :)

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