OF REPRESSION and SURVIVAL
(August-September 2000)
Louis Althusser, a French philosopher, modified what Karl Marx said.
Althusser believed that the state is not the only repressive apparatus
because other institutions such us the family, school, church, newspaper,
etc., also served as vehicles of repressions. Only that Marx believed that
the state represses through the use of violence while Althusser believed
that the enumerated institutions do their part through ideological
repression.
I used to believe that repression was just a state of mind - meaning it is
really non-existent in the world. I used to think that it is just a matter
of feeling you cannot be what you are and what you want to be because you
are restricted by other institutions around you when in fact they aren't
putting restrictions at all. That was what my idealistic perspective made me
believe until the truth confronted me.
It all started on the birth of our organization, the UP ALCHEMES, in the
academe. It was a courageous step - breaking free from the domination that
was in the Chemical Engineering Department. As expected, not much enthusiasm
welcomed our birth. How can they when the desire to unify Chemical
Engineering students of UP under the banner of a single organization
crumbled down with the springing up of a new organization? Indeed, it
provided the students a different path to take. However, though many are
appeased when UP ALCHEMES was born, it didn't guarantee the ease of
surviving and staying alive in the world we're in. We were nurtured in
criticisms and repression was the usual occurrence that fueled our
motivation and intensified our passion for this organization. There were
many instances that they try to put us down. And we, having no one to turn
to, not even the ones who ought to be unbiased, turn to each other in
distress, seeking for comfort in one another's faces and security in one
another's arms. And for all the aches and degradations we received, silence
had been our response.
Yes, we chose to be silent because some of us felt that as a starting
organization, it isn't out time yet to demand for equality. Some said that
we must struggle our way towards stability just as the other organization
struggled towards where they are now. And we are trying. We are trying very
hard to reach the status we have envisioned this league would be in the
future. But then the harder to keep our faces on the surface on the sea of
survival the stronger the force that pulls us down towards the dark depths
of the sea - they go on repressing us and it's threatening me.
If we have faith as thin as a single strand of thread, then right from the
beginning, the organization could have dissolved. But our determination was
so deeply rooted that we didn't allow the interception of the external
detractors to ruin everything we have started. Most of us had given so much
for this league that made it worth fighting for until the end - because
every single tear and every drop of sweat would go into waste if we would
allow the people who loathed us triumph over our existence. At the moment,
it is best to keep quiet and it must always be remembered that silence must
not last forever because we, as an organization, also have a voice to be
heard, not by the audience scrutinizing our every move and waiting for our
fall but by those who patronize our integrity that we can attain our
visions. And for every small accomplishment, we must not let flattery blind
our eyes from the reality that confronts us.
The world we're in is a world of repressions and we battle towards our
survival over the loathing and discrimination we get for deigning to be
different. And if we allow them to make the most for every opportunity they
get at hand, it would be the end of it all - our death is in their hands.
And it's high time we our share to shield this league from those who wanted
to bring us down - show them we can and we will...
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