Tuesday, January 08, 2008
The culture of favoritism, which implies gaining a position either in the public or private sector because of personal ties with someone higher up in the pecking order, has a word in more than 30 languages, Italian author Giovanni Floris says in his new book, "Mal di Merito."
In Basque it is "gomentadu." In Estonian, "soovitama." In Maltese, "tirranga." In Italian, "raccomandare."
In Filipino, it is a toss-up between either "kapit" or "palakasan." The first word suggests a tight grip. The latter denotes a Kiplingian survival of the fittest between those who can pull the strongest string, or a literal Guaresian six degrees of separation between the haves and the have-nots.
Filipino politicians, I believe, reduce unemployment in the country through nepotism in all of its forms. After every elections, they pad local government labor plantillas with hundreds of their relatives, their relatives' nearest kin, their supporters' relatives' nearest of kin, and issue nondescript "job orders" for every Juan, Pedro, and Maria who supported their candidacy.
In the private sector, the practice of hiring new employees for their personal contacts over individual merit continues to occur, according to the International Labor Organization in Geneva.
"It presupposes that work is not a right but a concession of someone who is more powerful," Daniele Martini writes, "And, if you ask for a recommendation, you put yourself in the position of subject, rather than a citizen with rights."
"We are all raccomandati," the headline of a labor industry report published by Rome daily "La Repubblica" once raged.
Filipino newspapers should follow suit.
In Basque it is "gomentadu." In Estonian, "soovitama." In Maltese, "tirranga." In Italian, "raccomandare."
In Filipino, it is a toss-up between either "kapit" or "palakasan." The first word suggests a tight grip. The latter denotes a Kiplingian survival of the fittest between those who can pull the strongest string, or a literal Guaresian six degrees of separation between the haves and the have-nots.
Filipino politicians, I believe, reduce unemployment in the country through nepotism in all of its forms. After every elections, they pad local government labor plantillas with hundreds of their relatives, their relatives' nearest kin, their supporters' relatives' nearest of kin, and issue nondescript "job orders" for every Juan, Pedro, and Maria who supported their candidacy.
In the private sector, the practice of hiring new employees for their personal contacts over individual merit continues to occur, according to the International Labor Organization in Geneva.
"It presupposes that work is not a right but a concession of someone who is more powerful," Daniele Martini writes, "And, if you ask for a recommendation, you put yourself in the position of subject, rather than a citizen with rights."
"We are all raccomandati," the headline of a labor industry report published by Rome daily "La Repubblica" once raged.
Filipino newspapers should follow suit.
2 comments:
Copy-pasted, including the date. LOL http://writingthirty.blogspot.com/2008/01/language-of-favoritism.html
http://laonlaan.blogspot.com/2010/04/language-of-favoritism.html
The article above was copy-pasted by this blog from this:
http://writingthirty.blogspot.com/2008/01/language-of-favoritism.html
Including the date, sans attribution. LOL
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