I had my golden dream

For my age, ancient to the young Filipino population, I naturally see current happenings with a historical perspective. If over the decades I have been alive and witness to history as it was unfolding before me, with and without my participation, then I understand present day concerns as mostly replays except for their intensities.

Born after World War II, my generation did not experience that war, and the one before it, as my parents and grandparents did. If there was a golden era, then the two decades after WWII are the closest we came to it in the last 150 years. It does not mean that there were no serious problems plaguing Philippine society then, but corruption was not rampant and poverty seemed to have a kinder face. Because is it not corruption and poverty that makes the worst rot today?

It is easy to submit to cynicism and numb resignation. After all, we had golden dreams then. Peace was real, progress was dynamic, even rebuilding from a destructive global conflict. Like revenge travel after the pandemic, it was like revenge progress in the 50s and 60s. Poverty was widespread, characterized more by landlessness and homelessness but not hunger. Landowners were not ejecting informal settlers from their lands, and native homes sufficed with plenty of raw materials in the rural areas.

Patriotism, too, was highly valued and visibly expressed. The recent history of the revolution against Spain and the resistance to Japanese conquest remained fresh. Our parents spoke of patriotism as a matter of daily reality, a cultural value. Maybe, this is what I missed the most – the patriotism of the family. As a young boy growing to his teens, it was not government that introduce patriotism to me, it was my parents, my neighborhood, my school.

I suppose that it is my generation that had benefited the most to the patriotic and development investments of the generation before us. We were riding a rising wave of optimism and we had behind us the wind of a new freedom from a fresh independence. As young children to young adults, our journey was a most positive one, the Philippines at that time in a much better place.

Our dreams, then, were truly golden, when golden dreams were achievable, when we saw a nation rebuilding from the war, when hard work paid, when thieves were named, and being caught lying was truly shameful. Public officials were called honorable, and we felt that they deserved the title. Oh, yes, there were clowns, too, but not so eager to draw attention to their stupidity.

Propaganda and disinformation were not new then. Hitler and Goebbels of the Nazi era proved just how effectively they could manipulate the public’s minds. As a counterforce to that experience, the victors of WWII raised the importance of truth and transparency in the media especially with television and mass publications. But the West was met with the rise of communist Russia and China. In these communist countries, communications were harshly controlled. Hitler and Goebbels found their faithful disciples.

Today, almost 80 years later, the clash of super powers is drawing other nations to become more partisan in the global arena. While the Philippines had stayed all the way to the 60s as the most developed country in the region next only to Japan, fruit of the tutelage under America, it could not sustain its rank. We just had to backslide.

Authoritarian rule is a traditional and historical experience that the DNA of Filipinos cannot seem to simply forget, or condemn. The United States gave us a firsthand experience of building the economy hand in hand with political democracy. It seems now that the leadership of the Americans was too short, or the Filipino’s desire for independence was premature by gestation.

What was carefully built did not take long to fall apart. In less than 30 years, authoritarianism was back with a vengeance. In another 14 years, the Philippines was bankrupt – financially, politically, morally.

I had my golden dream. I wanted democracy to change the social order, democratic principles leaning powerfully towards equal worth and dignity. I thought that a democracy could grow if statesmanship among politician and patriotism from big business would begin to level the playing field, over the next decades, between the elite and the mass population.

How wrong I was. Old habits are hard to break, especially if power continues to corrupt and greed runs unchecked. I have seen many of the poor rise from their poverty – but mostly by their efforts and sacrifices, led by OFWs. The poorer and poorest, though, remain stuck in the mud. They will not be empowered by those in power, and they will not share in the opportunities where, to make money, money is also the first requirement.

A higher level of self-sufficiency is a prerequisite to self-determination in both economics and politics. But continuous subsidy without a clear and actionable human capacity development plan will perpetuate the mendicancy and drive our national debt to unsustainable levels. Politicians and government promise so much but the results will always be disastrous when they spend more than Filipinos collectively earn.

The world is a less friendly place nowadays. Conflicts and tension are on the rise in almost all continents. It is not difficult to imagine a flash point here and there capable of triggering a global conflagration. And how are we standing on our own when the turmoil will disrupt economies and foster wars? Can we defend ourselves? Or depend on our farmers for our own food? Can our farmers depend on us to make them stronger, productive, prosperous?

Thank God for our youth, the empowered ones, the enterprising and entrepreneurial, the creative and innovative, the brave ones. Because our country and its future rests totally on them, their determination, and their idealism. I saw them for a brief moment last year, making time to be present, speaking up and voicing their ideals. They will not let us down.

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