Reinvention as key to self-realization

Once upon a time, reinvention was not part of our lexicon. Life was predictable growing up in the ’50s and ’60s. Our grandparents were the fountain of wisdom and virtue, much revered in the community. No significant events, culturally and politically, were held without their blessing. We sought their foresight and judgment; they could do no wrong. But that era passed with their demise. So much has changed since.

The societal changes and upheavals in the larger community were gradual and passive. The stability of the postwar decades began to unravel by the mid ’80s and early ’90s. The collapse of the Soviet Union, the rise of cable networks, and the beginnings of the internet were the political and social alterations of that decade.

It was not until the rapid rise of social media, along with significant societal eruptions like same-sex marriage, that the rise of LGBTQI and the transgender phenomenon jolted us out of our laissez-faire attitude toward homosexuality and drug abuse.

The Pope’s recent declaration is a testament to a major realignment of long-held views when he came full circle, and recognized that religion is the most divisive human invention that has caused much misery throughout history.

The natural change process, called natural selection, is a slow adaptation mechanism. Without human intervention, coping with environmental changes like climate change could take tens of thousands of years or more. It has never been a problem in the past millennia because humanity constantly collaborated with nature in the hunting-gathering-agricultural phase of civilization.

The Advent of the Enlightenment years and later, “Big Science” left us unable to change fast enough to keep up with major environmental upheavals. Today’s extinction rate is estimated to be 1,000-10,000 times higher than the natural extinction rate.

Entrenched belief has held us back more often than most people realize. The wisdom of the old folks (matatanda) is highly overrated. They have no clue about the realities of today. We are saddled with slogans that ring hollow in today’s paradigm: “Ang hindi lumingon sa pinanggalingan ay hindi makakarating sa pupuntahan. (If you don’t look back on where you came from, you won’t make it to where you’re going.)” This is one of those regressive BS that holds us back. It’s more like, “Ang hindi tumitingin sa pupuntahan ay hindi makakarating sa patutunguhan. (If you’re not looking where you’re going, you’re not going to get there.)” Filipinos are very often cultural casualties of superstitious rubbish. We have to stop passing on this nonsense to our children.

Political dynasties (80 percent in the Philippines, the world’s highest) are so unrelenting that reinventing our politics is becoming a distant dream. It’s the one institution that can bring enormous changes to this country. But as long as we have foxes in the hen house, our legislators see only a trough from which they can fatten themselves.

In this era of political realignment and globalization, our country’s ability to reinvent itself is hamstrung by people who are disciples of the past and who can only see through the lens of kindred souls with the same ideas and biases. The generational divide has never been so vast. Dynastic politics offers nothing but roadblocks to self-realization.

Humans have been on a rush since the Enlightenment. We innovate to respond to our immediate needs, whether to increase our food supply, mitigate environmental concerns, provide cutting-edge health care, or become more responsive to socioeconomic concerns. The most innovative countries show a trajectory of progress.

Based on our population and resourcefulness, the Philippines should rank much better than we do. (In the list of most innovative countries in 2024, we are No. 53, and tiny Singapore is No. 4, after the United States.) Being innovative, after all, is dependent on creativity and resourcefulness. Many countries with fewer human capital are trending higher than us. In fact, we have been victims of our early successes; we sat too long on our laurels. Our system became stale, our educational standards have gone down, our political leaders got busy enriching themselves, our people have become disillusioned, and talent started migrating elsewhere.

Our creative outputs have been victims of religious subjugation; we are beset by doubt and internal fear brought on by 500 years of theological colonialism. Who is going to lead us at the turn of the century? We will be at the mercy of the descendants of today’s dynasty and the continued control of oligarchs.

If the future generation of Filipinos chooses to stay put, staying engaged will prove consequential. Until our political leadership reinvents itself into a benevolent stewardship, our country’s future remains at the margins.

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Edwin de Leon is Canada-based, and an occasional contributor to Philippine Daily Inquirer.