![[object Object]](https://admin.thus.ph/uploads/flag_of_the_philippines_2023_11_27_05_09_57_utc_fc1daa4457.jpg)
Some Truths That Will Set Filipinos Free
Allen Gumiran
2024-06-12T10:45:35.713Z
Many people always try to point out that I must seek greener pastures abroad.
They say that with my disposition, it is better this way. To which I say, no thanks.
Not only do I have a decent lot, which I acknowledge is experienced by fewer and fewer people these days, much work still needs to be done. It is also the reason why I do not join the collective shrugs and seething anger that is more normalized. It is also the reason why I hardly need self-care. The current preoccupation on mental health is a double-edged sword in which there is an acknowledgement of depression and the like though its resolution often ends with the conclusion that the problem is to be diagnosed within our heads rather than a collective sickness that saps our civilization’s will to live.
To be fair, this country of ours is in a phase of a collective burnout and exhaustion, and it is better that way. Rather than constantly trying to escape from reality as it was before, a growing number of people are forced to stare into the abyss and face the demons. Paradoxically, the way forward is also open, yet many still hesitate to push in favor of it. Also ironically, to be an optimist, one must be a pessimist. Let the existing center be dissolved, to put things into place.
This is not just a problem confined to the entire Philippines. What we consider as Liberal Democracies across the globe are having this predicament. There is a genuine phenomenon of democratic backsliding, and this is proportional to systemic discontent. The disparity of wealth has led to social pathology. The sterility of an increasingly gerontocratic ruling class, out of touch from much of the dilemmas today, is rearing its most vicious head to everyone. Identity politics across the board manifest a collective psychosis in the cultural milieu. Systemic incompetence and institutional gridlock dominate the headlines. Also, ever wondered why there is a preoccupation in our media and entertainment, of apocalyptic rhetoric, of being in a dystopian novel and, widely, a fixation towards decay?
It is therefore unsurprising that the nations challenging this arrangement such as Russia and China are gaining traction? The anti-liberal moment is gaining steam, and the liberals frankly deserve it. Both conservative and progressive approaches are hollowing themselves out with endless pettiness taking its toll. There is a revival of interest in heterodox and unconventional tendencies, such as socialism, primitivism, traditionalism, accelerationism, even fascism. For the other half, there is a turn to nostalgia, for the better days of yore. And they are not mostly mistaken.
I always find for instance the fixation until recently, of many Filipinos on the Martial Law period from 1972-1986, of the so-called “Golden Age,” as indicative of this global shift. A poll released years ago, which can be easily searched online, demonstrates a growing fondness of many nations, with exceptions, on the Eastern Bloc. So were the polls related to Brazil’s era of military dictatorship. In these cases, the prior generation is seen as the zenith of political stability, economic prosperity, cultural excellence and social cohesion, compared to the material conditions today.
We cannot simply dismiss it. This first reaction of denial has backfired massively. To also castigate this as misinformation, has also fell apart. To quote the documentarian Adam Curtis, people will always need a gripping narrative that emotionally resonates, for proper cognition to be activated and for sentiments towards productive endeavors be foisted. Absent this, with the only explanation that you have available is that of worsening outcomes, there is only despair. And despair perhaps is the order of the day.
And this is the reason why I will stay in the Philippines. I might go overseas for further education and the like, but I will return here eventually. I am also not your mother and father if you will choose to leave, since it will be the choice that you will take to your grave. For change—with or without our intervention—will happen regardless, and it is a matter of making the most out of the opportunities that it will bring, to realize the desired outcomes.
The fatherland (yes, I refer to our country as the fatherland, which simply means the land of our ancestors), in due time, will be brought to order and sanity. It will involve tough decisions and intensive preparation, be it in theory, practice, ideas and materials. Before that can happen though, coming to terms with our decline, with no recourse to past molds, and nowhere to run, must happen. For the only way out is through.
My only question is: can the Philippines endure the present tribulations, or will it be swept into the dustbins of the historical record?
They say that with my disposition, it is better this way. To which I say, no thanks.
Not only do I have a decent lot, which I acknowledge is experienced by fewer and fewer people these days, much work still needs to be done. It is also the reason why I do not join the collective shrugs and seething anger that is more normalized. It is also the reason why I hardly need self-care. The current preoccupation on mental health is a double-edged sword in which there is an acknowledgement of depression and the like though its resolution often ends with the conclusion that the problem is to be diagnosed within our heads rather than a collective sickness that saps our civilization’s will to live.
To be fair, this country of ours is in a phase of a collective burnout and exhaustion, and it is better that way. Rather than constantly trying to escape from reality as it was before, a growing number of people are forced to stare into the abyss and face the demons. Paradoxically, the way forward is also open, yet many still hesitate to push in favor of it. Also ironically, to be an optimist, one must be a pessimist. Let the existing center be dissolved, to put things into place.
This is not just a problem confined to the entire Philippines. What we consider as Liberal Democracies across the globe are having this predicament. There is a genuine phenomenon of democratic backsliding, and this is proportional to systemic discontent. The disparity of wealth has led to social pathology. The sterility of an increasingly gerontocratic ruling class, out of touch from much of the dilemmas today, is rearing its most vicious head to everyone. Identity politics across the board manifest a collective psychosis in the cultural milieu. Systemic incompetence and institutional gridlock dominate the headlines. Also, ever wondered why there is a preoccupation in our media and entertainment, of apocalyptic rhetoric, of being in a dystopian novel and, widely, a fixation towards decay?
It is therefore unsurprising that the nations challenging this arrangement such as Russia and China are gaining traction? The anti-liberal moment is gaining steam, and the liberals frankly deserve it. Both conservative and progressive approaches are hollowing themselves out with endless pettiness taking its toll. There is a revival of interest in heterodox and unconventional tendencies, such as socialism, primitivism, traditionalism, accelerationism, even fascism. For the other half, there is a turn to nostalgia, for the better days of yore. And they are not mostly mistaken.
I always find for instance the fixation until recently, of many Filipinos on the Martial Law period from 1972-1986, of the so-called “Golden Age,” as indicative of this global shift. A poll released years ago, which can be easily searched online, demonstrates a growing fondness of many nations, with exceptions, on the Eastern Bloc. So were the polls related to Brazil’s era of military dictatorship. In these cases, the prior generation is seen as the zenith of political stability, economic prosperity, cultural excellence and social cohesion, compared to the material conditions today.
We cannot simply dismiss it. This first reaction of denial has backfired massively. To also castigate this as misinformation, has also fell apart. To quote the documentarian Adam Curtis, people will always need a gripping narrative that emotionally resonates, for proper cognition to be activated and for sentiments towards productive endeavors be foisted. Absent this, with the only explanation that you have available is that of worsening outcomes, there is only despair. And despair perhaps is the order of the day.
And this is the reason why I will stay in the Philippines. I might go overseas for further education and the like, but I will return here eventually. I am also not your mother and father if you will choose to leave, since it will be the choice that you will take to your grave. For change—with or without our intervention—will happen regardless, and it is a matter of making the most out of the opportunities that it will bring, to realize the desired outcomes.
The fatherland (yes, I refer to our country as the fatherland, which simply means the land of our ancestors), in due time, will be brought to order and sanity. It will involve tough decisions and intensive preparation, be it in theory, practice, ideas and materials. Before that can happen though, coming to terms with our decline, with no recourse to past molds, and nowhere to run, must happen. For the only way out is through.
My only question is: can the Philippines endure the present tribulations, or will it be swept into the dustbins of the historical record?
Recommended
Why Labor Agitation Resumes Operation
Allen Gumiran
The Work of Comedy In The Age of Soyjaks and Tiktok Vids
Allen Gumiran
Thank You, Ma. You Did Everything But I Realized You Needed Help
Corin B. Arenas
Paracelis Goes to Baguio
Quintin Pastrana
Some Truths That Will Set Filipinos Free
Allen Gumiran
The Road Warrior
Edmark Tan
“SCI-FI: Mythologies Transformed" by Women
Thus
How Powerful is the President Really?
Allen Gumiran