In Continuum.

The Politician

Oh, do you remember when the family was everything?
Oh, do you remember it was so long ago and so much has changed
I wanna go back, wanna go back to those simple days
I wanna go back, but now we've grown and gone our separate ways

In every community or organization, there is bound to be a distinction between the roles in which people play. That is part of what I study in school as well, a chapter called Organizational Communication, where they talk about the kind of communication that exists within a working environment, such as an office or a school. Being in such organizations, we are bound to settle into different roles in the community, whether or not you've elected to play the role or not. It's like a stage play, but you are not assigned by the director of the character to play, but by other actors and what kind of character they see you playing. Some roles - like the star - is a giveaway, in the sense that there can only be one major nominee for this category, and this person has the power to steer the ideas of everybody with his influences.

There is one such individual, even in the simply community of my school. He is the leader of the pack, the public spokesman of sorts. He was the mastermind behind the merger, the reason why the little cliques in the course are no longer separated, but part of this big family that exists today. Initially and inevitably, people grouped themselves into different groups of friends, joined by fate and interests. I myself was in a group of myself, with a standard group of friends that I hang out with frequently. That is the case not just in school, but in every form of society as well. However, somewhere down the first semester, there was a sort of reform, and this star came along and suggested that we should band together and become one.

Times is hard, and things are a changin'
I pray to God, that we can remain the same
All I'm trying to say is our love don't have to change
No, it don't have to change

It sounded like a good idea back then, the way we pictured it anyway. After all, they are the same batch of people we are going to be bound to for the next three years or so, and it'd work for everybody if we become a family of sorts. So without making a statement out of it, groups began to drift closer and closer to one another, until we started to go out to dinner together, karaoke sessions, and other gatherings outside of the timetable at school. It was a great feeling, as you guys might have read about in my past entries, the way the same group of people managed to make school feel less like a school, but more like a reunion party every single day. I am still thankful of their existence, and especially of what the star tried to accomplish. However, the star took his powers a step too far, and turned himself into a politician these days. And we all know, nobody likes a politician.

As the politician, it became inevitable for him to turn everything into politics. It was something that nobody ever foresee, but it was revealed to the family a few days ago regarding his plans. In his head, he conjured up the most ridiculous idea that threatened to dissipate the friendships that we have built instead of strengthening it. It began with the tension that accumulated throughout the first semester, when the group that he was once with began to have disagreements with one another. There were people unhappy with the way the other worked, and there were others who thought this other guy talked too much. The result of that was a conflict, and a plot to kick the two of them out of the group for good. The worst part about the plot wasn't so much about kicking them out, but about how they wanted to make it obvious and clear to the rest that those people were being kicked out. That caused a lot of disagreements amongst the friends, but because he was the leader and the politician, nobody said a word during the meeting, and thus underwent the plan.

Do you remember back at Grannie's house on Christmas Day?
(Help me sing)Do you remember how we'd gather 'round and sing all day?
I wanna go back to playing basketball and football games
I wanna go back to yesterday but it's not the same

In the beginning, the size of the groups weren't even clear, and that was the beauty of it all. The word 'group' is merely a nicer word that the politician elected to use rather than the word 'clique', when in truth they both mean pretty much the same thing. Everybody else operated comfortably, and people came and went into the little pockets of community throughout the semester without much problems. I am the bridge of my group to the others, and I drifted my way around other groups rather frequently, without much problems whatsoever. The simplicity of the system was corrupted when the idea of the merger came about during dinner one day. The politician's idea was to have everybody rounded up, have the isolated few removed from the original group, and regroup. It was his idea of sharing talents and resources, when we are not even trying to fight a war or start a business here. To me, I don't see what talents or resources we are trying to share, when we are already comfortable with who we are and how we operate.

It became worse when we learned about the treatments of those that are going to be left behind. Sure enough, in every community, there are going to be people you cannot get along with, for one reason or another. The way to treat these people is to roll with the punches, and just stay out of their ways if you are reluctant to work with them. You don't have to make it a public statement, saying that these people are going to be isolated, and dumped into other smaller social circles like bags of trash. These are human beings we are talking about, people with feelings. Throwing them away like that does not make your responsibilities less, but more - especially when the reason you are dumping them is because of their emotional instability. To me and to many others that I have talked to, what you are doing now is inhuman, and people are pulling out of your idea of a merger as we speak. It is easier for me, since I am the only person in my group that is in your family, but I am willing to sacrifice my bond with you to uphold my own beliefs, if that is the only way I am going to retain my sanity and self.

Times is hard, and things are a changin'
I pray to God, that we can remain the same
All I'm trying to say is our love don't have to change
No, it don't have to change

We do appreciate what you have done for us as a family. I mean, without your constant urge to have us gather together for gambling or singing sessions, we wouldn't have made it this far and this close to one another. But there are things you are doing now that are completely unnecessary. To me, if you are going to let some people go from your group, just let them slip by quietly and allow them some dignity. You don't have to make it clear to everybody else that you despise these group of people, that you are disgusted by them, that you cannot wait to be rid of them. I have conversed with the group of people that you mentioned, and though they are strange and odd in more ways than one, they are still good-hearted people. And most of all, they are people with feelings as well, and I certainly know - more than anybody else - how it feels like to be isolated and left behind.

We all make decisions in life, and with every right decision there is bound to be a wrong decision. Even if your efforts of pulling everybody else into the merger works in the short run, I don't suppose it is going to last in the long run. There are also plans to exclude you from any groups, and isolate YOU instead of you being the boss. I hate to have politics involved in friendships, and certainly not the friendship that we've so tirelessly built together with our laughter and sweat. However, if you are going to be the rat within the grain, then there are things we need to do to get rid of the rat altogether. Unlike you however, we are not going to dump you like the trash in the kitchen dustbin, but welcome you back after you've learned your lesson. I know that you are never going to read this entry, and the leopard is never going to change its spots for anybody. The politician is always going to remain as one no matter what he wears. There is a quote about politicians that is always going to ring true: Politicians are like diapers. They need to be changed all the time, and they are full of shit.

There is something beautiful about who we are and what we have now. Please don't allow that political mind of yours to infiltrate this peace. Because when it gets nasty, nobody is going to be the winner in this battle. In the end, you may just end up in the same league as those you chose to dump so many months ago. When that time comes, let's see who is going to have the last laugh. And I tell you, it is not going to be you this time around. Unlike the poker games that we've had, I can bet with you on this one.

Times is hard, and things are a changin'
I pray to God, that we can remain the same
All I'm trying to say is our love don't have to change
No, it don't have to change