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Most of us keep reading experts from all major fields of life who wisely say that we, the people, are the answer to our problems. I cannot say that they are wrong, especially because we are supposed to be a democracy where the power resides with the people.
The reality, though, says we are not yet a democracy. We may have aspirations for democracy without even understanding the fundamental principles on which the essence and features of democracy are anchored. When people are impoverished, marginalized, and have little or no opportunity to grow and mature to productivity, they have no power. A powerless people cannot give power to democracy.
Leaders in government and the private sector have to raise the powerless to opportunity and productivity first, open the world of options and technology to the poor and marginalized, then walk with them in their transition phase. After centuries of poverty and powerlessness, the transition can take a lifetime, more than one if society’s leaders will not actively guide and support.
Meanwhile, we will go through a harrowing lifetime of cyclical turbulence. It is like our climate patterns bringing us typhoons, floods, earthquakes, landslides, and droughts. We learn very little, very slowly. We cannot do much about our being in the path of typhoons or having more than our share of active volcanoes. But we could have done much over the last 70 years, but we did not. We just did not take away our people from the most dangerous and vulnerable areas or give them adequate protection from the harsh elements.
Our only hope for the present is models of both leaders and ordinary citizens. Some see more light than most, others have walked the difficult and dangerous paths ahead, and they have much to teach and share with us. Of course, we have to listen to them, which is easy enough, but we usually do not.
On the surface, it seems we have the best of many worlds. Our natural resources are among the most abundant in the world. Almost anything and everything can grow in our fertile soil, and our marine resources are awesome. Filipinos are among the most resourceful; therefore, naturally intelligent. Our culture favors hospitality and spirituality, naturally friendly, entertaining, and prayerful.
“Leaders in government and the private sector have to raise the powerless to opportunity and productivity first, open the world of options and technology to the poor and marginalized, then walk with them in their transition phase.”
Many social scientists have mentioned that culture and history influenced Filipinos to be respectful and obedient to elders and authorities. On the surface, that seems promising. Yet, the results have not proportioned to the assets and the potential. Diamonds in the rough have stayed rough. Obviously, we have had ineffective elders and superiors, unable to make us grow productive and strong. They have been better masters rather than enablers.
Take the most simple things. In our homes, our parents and the adult generations taught us not to lie, steal, or be violent when we were children. Aside from spiritual or moral reasons are the practical – lying, stealing, and violence disrupt both order and harmony.
Precisely because the benefits of truthfulness, honesty, and harmony to collective life are indisputable; home taught us the same virtues and values that the community taught, that the churches taught, and that the schools taught. While there are always deviants among us, the majority usually sets the tone and the pace.
It stands to reason that truthful, honest, and peaceful people will be the models of the community, especially since the laws of the land praised their virtues and punished their violators. Yet, at present, we see fake news, thievery, and violence becoming more popular. Vices attract and people tolerate because lots of money are usually involved.
There is now a living contradiction. The teachings in the home, school, churches, and communities condemn lying, stealing, and violence. Condemned by the teachings, though, does not mean compliance by parents and authorities. The ascendancy of fake news, corruption, bribery, EJKs, and assassinations tells a different story.
If elders and authorities had enhanced their teachings with living examples, there could be little contradiction in behavior. However, since the teachings have not changed, all of them enshrined in our Constitution in one way or the other. The living examples must have poorly deteriorated enough to confuse the younger generations.
“The gullible, the blighted, and the compromised can deliver votes to liars, thieves, and the violent. When liars win, they will not grow truthful; they will not know how. When thieves win, they will not grow honest; they will not know how.”
Elections highlight the contradictions. Many political followers and even ordinary voters can promote candidates with badly stained records with lying, stealing, or violence. Yet, they still teach their children, students, or members that lying, theft, and violence are wrong. If there is consistency in the teachings, and there seems to be, the hypocrisy and duplicity must be in the behavior.
This clash of teachings versus visible behavior leaves children, students, and the faithful in confusion and contradiction. That is our challenge today, that facts and truth are overwhelmed with falsehood, that the honest stay poor while the thieves grow rich – and unpunished. And violence is not the last resort but simply available for the most petty of reasons.
The gullible, the blighted, and the compromised can deliver votes to liars, thieves, and the violent. When liars win, they will not grow truthful; they will not know how. When thieves win, they will not grow honest; they will not know how. When the violent win, they will not grow peaceful; they would not know how. And the nation, which includes all of us, the wise and the stupid, the rich and the poor, the good and the bad – we will suffer together.
The cycle, then, continues. The rollercoaster rolls and twists, the pendulum swings harshly. When the pain comes, learning will happen gradually. However, many cannot stand much more pain, and they will react. Let us not let that happen. Let hope and aspiration drive change, not frustration and anger. While we can.
