Upcoming Events

International | Anti-Capitalism

no events match your query!

New Events

International

no events posted in last week

Blog Feeds

Public Inquiry
Interested in maladministration. Estd. 2005

offsite link RTEs Sarah McInerney ? Fianna Fail?supporter? Anthony

offsite link Joe Duffy is dishonest and untrustworthy Anthony

offsite link Robert Watt complaint: Time for decision by SIPO Anthony

offsite link RTE in breach of its own editorial principles Anthony

offsite link Waiting for SIPO Anthony

Public Inquiry >>

Human Rights in Ireland
Promoting Human Rights in Ireland

Human Rights in Ireland >>

Lockdown Skeptics

The Daily Sceptic

offsite link Have We Finally Reached Peak Woke? Sat Mar 15, 2025 17:51 | Will Jones
Have we finally reached peak woke? Have we developed a vaccine to the woke mind virus? Like a dying religion, it's certainly in retreat. But some disciples of Wokus Dei are still clinging on.
The post Have We Finally Reached Peak Woke? appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link Migrant Who Sexually Assaulted Woman Stays in UK After Claiming He is Gay Sat Mar 15, 2025 15:00 | Will Jones
A Pakistani man who was convicted of sexually assaulting a woman and lived in Britain illegally for 11 years was allowed to stay after he claimed he was gay, despite offering no evidence.
The post Migrant Who Sexually Assaulted Woman Stays in UK After Claiming He is Gay appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link Reform Would Win Local Elections ? But Angela Rayner Cancelled Them Sat Mar 15, 2025 13:00 | Will Jones
Reform UK would be on course to win in May?s local elections ? except Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner has axed key votes. "They're terrified of us. The whole system is rotten," the party said.
The post Reform Would Win Local Elections ? But Angela Rayner Cancelled Them appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link Declined: Chapter 12: Theo Sat Mar 15, 2025 11:00 | Molly Kingsley
Chapter 12 of Declined is here ? a dystopian satire by Molly Kingsley about the emergence of a social credit system in the UK. This week: amid threats to have their children removed, Poppy goes missing from school.
The post Declined: Chapter 12: Theo appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link There?s a Whole Lotta Political Engineering Goin? On Sat Mar 15, 2025 09:00 | James Alexander
There's something distinctly illiberal about what goes under the name 'Political Science', says Prof James Alexander. Half its practitioners want to control our thoughts and the rest wonder why no one trusts government.
The post There’s a Whole Lotta Political Engineering Goin’ On appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

Lockdown Skeptics >>

Voltaire Network
Voltaire, international edition

offsite link Voltaire, International Newsletter N?124 Sat Mar 15, 2025 05:56 | en

offsite link "Kristallnacht" against the Alawites in Syria Sat Mar 15, 2025 05:38 | en

offsite link Is Donald Trump managing the possible collapse of the ?American empire??, by Thi... Tue Mar 11, 2025 06:59 | en

offsite link Voltaire, International Newsletter N?123 Fri Mar 07, 2025 14:41 | en

offsite link Arab League summit for Gaza Fri Mar 07, 2025 11:53 | en

Voltaire Network >>

Fatal game-show stampede -an exploitation of social despair

category international | anti-capitalism | other press author Thursday February 16, 2006 13:28author by Terence Report this post to the editors

Opium of the masses leads to death

The story reported in the URL below reports on the death of 74 people and injury of 627 in the Philippines after a stampede to get into a stadium go gain entry into a game show competition. Those killed and injured were mainly those in dire poverty

What this incidence shows is that all these types of game shows, pop-idle shows and so on, all serve to act as an opium for the masses because life under capitalism offers no other hope.

The report recounts how a popular game show in the Philippines called “Wowowee” produced by ABS-CBN is pitched at the very poorest.

In the Philippines about 40 percent of the population live on less than $2 per day. People naturally will do almost anything to get themselves out of this poverty. And the prizes offered seemed to offer just that.

As a result a massive crowd ensured when the show came to the local town and in the rush, a stampede ensured where many were killed.

This story has a lesson to teach us here in the West too, because our own Lotto's, Want-To-Be-A-Millionaire show, Pop-Idle shows and all the rest are just variations on this and while people are not clearly as financially poor as in the Philippines, there is still that poverty of spirit and its a measure of the empty lives and lack of hope created within the population by our capitalist system that leads to such craving to either become rich or famous or both. Because most know that in the West to be rich, allows you to do so much more with your life and have a possibly more fulfilling one, than the daily grind of work, job insecurity and dependency on state health. All these programs serve to distract the masses and feed off them. They are indeed the new present day Opiums of the Masses.

But returning to the story reported here are some excerpts from the WSWS site:

“Wowowee” is famous for its prize giveaways, and is very popular in the Philippines, where it is shown six days a week at midday. For this special anniversary show, prizes included cash of up to P1 million ($19,230), a car, taxis, and a house with land.

AND

“Wowowee,” produced by ABS-CBN, is pitched toward the most poor and desperate sections of the Philippine populace. According to Agence France-Presse, “Wowowee” host Willie Revillame stated after the stampede that “he had made it a point to stage the game shows at other provincial centers several times during the past year.... We would pick places where the poor are hard-up.”

AND

“This is a program that intends to help Filipinos, especially the poor,” he claimed. In reality the show is based on the exploitation of the emotional responses of impoverished people, where chances of winning a prize are miniscule.

AND

Such is the level of desperation that police chief Vidal Querol explained, “The dead were lined up on the streets, but people still did not want to go home. It was bizarre. They persisted in entering the PhilSports Arena and demanded that the show go on. Many people were still waiting for tickets although bodies were piling up.” According to Querol, even after dead bodies lay strewn on the entrance road, “People stepped over the bodies and continued to make their way into the stadium.”

Related Link: http://www.wsws.org/articles/2006/feb2006/phil-f16_prn.shtml
© 2001-2025 Independent Media Centre Ireland. Unless otherwise stated by the author, all content is free for non-commercial reuse, reprint, and rebroadcast, on the net and elsewhere. Opinions are those of the contributors and are not necessarily endorsed by Independent Media Centre Ireland. Disclaimer | Privacy