In my youth, the American Empire was at its peak. I am older and it seems to be declining in the face of an ascendant China. Right now the United States is still recognized as the world’s only superpower, albeit threatened not only by China but also by an intractable Islamic fundamentalism that metamorphoses faster than one can say “Homeland Security.” But is the American Empire in fact resurgent and redefining itself? With globalization and the internet, American culture has permeated all countries. English is the international language. Will Mandarin ever be such? Not likely, despite China’s aggressive expansionism and huge overseas investments.
Filipinos are the exemplary purveyors of this global American culture, from the use of its language and its cutting-edge technology, in addition to a deeply ingrained Western outlook and behavior.
Thus, it is entirely plausible to think that Filipinos will “colonize” the planet. We have the numbers for it, and the culture and aptitude that show us as the best combination of East and West, both in terms of good and less desirable qualities. Our people skills and command of English have catapulted us to the top of the worldwide business process outsourcing industry, which in itself is changing the landscape of international business procedures. Our adaptability, resilience and capacity for hard work are very Chinese traits, far from the indolence insultingly pinned on us by the Spanish colonizers, from whom we also gained a bohemian, fun-loving and hot-blooded persona.
What is our niche in the edifice of human history? We have never been the conqueror. We are even hard put to defend what we have, unable to reclaim Sabah and assert our rights in the West Philippine Sea. Could we be like the black people, who, despite a heritage of slavery and colonialism, now dominate music and sports, from tennis, track and field and the NBA to F1 racing?
From small pockets to large communities of millions, Filipinos toil in all countries where there’s a living to be had.
Empires and civilizations ebb and flow. What shall be the game-changer in the decades to come? Technology? But what technology? Various landmark technological achievements have led to quantum leaps in human progress and development, from the invention of the wheel to the assembly line to the worldwide web.
We can take a hint from military technology. Warfare and military necessity, the need to survive, have driven human progress for millennia. But while military technological superiority has many advantages, it is not the sole deciding factor for victory in the battlefield, as evidenced throughout history, from the decimation of the vaunted Roman legions by barbarians in the Teutoburg Forest to the Vietnam War, where a peasant army drove out sunset France and zenith America in succession. Is it the people, the human spirit, that is the deciding factor in any engagement?
It has been said that the Philippines’ comparative advantage and greatest resource is its people. We are early adopters and voracious users of information technology. Although afflicted by slow internet speed, our country is among the world’s texting and social media capitals. Some of our hackers have let loose some of the most destructive viruses in cyberspace (not that we are proud of these criminal acts, of course). Many of us have more mobile lines than we can keep track of, with even the most cash-strapped domestic worker having at least two SIM cards.
Among the current buzzwords in technology are “wireless” and “seamless”; when so much information and functionality can be packed into a wristwatch, when so much camera power can be miniaturized into a speck of computer board, when entertainment can be had and business transactions conducted on a five-inch phablet, with the virtual cloud enveloping us, the lines between real and virtual become less and less distinct, because the seamlessness of the technology also leads to the seamlessness of the experience. Even the phenomenon of the selfie is us stepping in and out of the virtual world at will.
We are truly resilient, if nothing else. Our volcanic, tectonically unstable and typhoon-lashed archipelago, coupled with poor governance and lack of basic infrastructure and services, require that we be resilient and self-reliant. Although at high risk and vulnerable, we rebuild and move forward after each disaster, with everyone pitching in to help. We can survive, even thrive, anywhere, whether Arctic circle or Arabian desert.
We have lived on the margins of progress, caught in the eddying backwaters, as it were, while everyone around us built their infrastructure and put their societies in order. But like lurking lions we have stealthily positioned ourselves to grasp every opportunity that comes our way.
I can bear out our adaptability from personal experience. When I’m in China, I’m taken to be Chinese, when I’m in Japan, I’m taken to be Japanese, when I’m in Singapore, I’m taken to be Singaporean. And when I first spoke to our New York landlord in Manhattan, he asked if I was from the United Nations. Filipino me. Chameleon me. Homo universalis?
Our ability to adapt to the countries that host us is most desirable to employers and governments that value our compliance and nonthreatening presence. Our links with them are not only business and professional; our intermarriages with foreigners, both heterosexual and same-sex, have cast a worldwide web of historical, cultural and personal relationships.
When we have seamlessly embedded ourselves in the globe’s various cultures and societies, we shall have conquered it—without fighting anyone. Maybe in a few decades Filipinos shall have colonized the planet. It’s an intriguing thought.
Roderick Toledo is a freelance communication projects manager.