Power and violence

AN ANALYSIS of the prevailing social pathologies in Philippine society only maps the surfaces of the reality of violence. Pictures of people in despair, broken lives and shattered homes, or bodies of fallen men, bring into the fold the markings of various power struggles. Without a doubt, as the dust of war settles down, some will be enshrined as heroes and there are those who will go down in history carrying the vile of hatred.

However, there is often a failure on our part to realize why social conflicts emerge. More often than not, we point to unenlightened self-interest as the root cause of all wickedness in the world. Whenever we question the reality of evil, we point to human fallibility or to the very finitude of man, for man’s imperfection means his existence is tied to sin, guilt and remorse. But such is no more than moral individualism. What it fails to show is how dominant practices, systems and discourses in society, for instance, control the play of power.

Consider the case of Mary Jane Veloso, a Filipino domestic helper who has been meted the death penalty in Indonesia. While human civilization indeed has come a long way in the casuistry inherent in the discourse on power and justice, the ideal of a world, where respect for the human being as person is the standard norm of morality, is still a thousand years away. In the dynamics of international politics, our country has remained powerless and carries not a single leverage to depend on against its neighbors. Its harsh impact is most felt in the pain and horror that this poor domestic helper and her family, including her young children, are going through.

The dominant structures we find in social institutions, including the state, the Church, the academe and the hierarchical relations in the family and our communities continue to deprive the poor, the hungry and the voiceless of the real meaning of freedom. For instance, monuments of capitalism like malls serve as new modes of confinement for those who struggle to find lasting contentment in life. Rising costs of tuition in the country’s best schools exclude those who are born unfortunate in the natural lottery. Red tape in the bureaucracy makes people confused like psychiatric patients.

The good life that each one of us desires for ourselves is not without some price to pay. Even in our noble intent for true happiness, there are those people who are forced by circumstance to sacrifice themselves. Consider those people in the margins of society who toil in the harshest of conditions so that you may be able to enjoy a cup of coffee in the coziest corner of a café. Indeed, the noise of the busy city streets or the melody you hear from your latest gadget puts into silence the narrative of a hard life that those in the peripheries of society will have to contend with.

Human history is not only about the history of the heroes of wars. History is also about the history of the victims of oppression. Violence is most felt in the exploitation of the poor farmer, in the discrimination of homosexuals, in the abuse of children, in the stigmatization of the intellectually challenged, and in the subjugation of women. Sometimes, there is truth to the claim that justice is no more than a tool designed by our oppressors in order to perpetuate the silence of the powerless. While rules are meant to emphasize order and systematization, any observant mind can easily say that bureaucratic procedures have not really improved the lives of people, most especially if those who are in positions of power and authority play god.

The discourse in Philippine politics today reveals a divided world. Such indicates the lack of cohesion in our society. Millions of Filipinos have not enjoyed the promise that politics is supposed to deliver. Real democracy can only thrive in the recognition of the value of every single voice outside the halls of Congress. Perhaps, we have not matured as a people.

Without tolerance, there can only be chaos. Forcing homogeneity in the world such as ours will only bring about more confusion than clarity. It is this search for an absolute totality that has comfortably designated some things, including people, as great and small. The real danger in a ruler who seeks homogeneity and absolute obedience among his subjects is that he can easily reduce them into automatons, into people who are no longer aware of a distinct identity and historicity. Freedom can only have its real value and meaning in the recognition of the differences in the lives that people have.

What I intend to say is this: The real danger in the future is a world where people behave like mindless and “docile bodies,” totally dominated by technology and oblivious to the truth of human history. Indeed, if one believes in the idea that “we should give to Caesar what is to Caesar, and to God what is to God,” what, in the end, would be left for the stranger, the widow, or the orphan?

Christopher Ryan Maboloc teaches philosophy at Ateneo de Davao University. He holds a master’s degree in applied ethics from Linkoping University in Sweden.