It has been some days since the anniversary of the infamous declaration of Martial Law. I saw posts from friends and former students attacking activists with questions (and sarcasm) like “Kahit naman sinong presidente, ayaw niyo pa rin, kailan ba kayo matatapos sa kaka-rally?!” or “Akala ko ba mataas presyo ng bilihin? Eh bakit nakagastos pa kayo para lang makagawa ng effigy na susunugin?” I write this in response to these. I write this not because I find my friends who post it to be stupid (although if they share fake news they sure are hopelessly stupid). I write this because I, too, once thought on the same lines. My own journey from passivist to activist Politically, I’m neither red nor yellow, in fact I want to assure you dear friend that I transcend all colors because I think therefore I am (wink to Descartes!). If we are in Europe, I might be called a left-leaning centrist: I seek to balance my conservative beliefs with my liberal ideals. I am someone who will offend both left and right since I always stands with Aristotle’s in medias res. But I have not always been like this. When I was in high school, the same age most of my “right-wing” former students, I am more of ultra-right wing, activist-detesting, nationalistic ideologue. I, too, question the worth of activism and their untiring efforts. I view them as hindrance to national progress and their criticism as unhelpful and infantile. And then I learned that I am the infantile one. When I took the PUPCET, I was so repulsed by the sight of anti-government streamers and placards. For me, this is vandalism. I wanted to enroll in another school, a Catholic University maybe, where my place in the ivory tower of well-maintained cuticle, immaculately clean shirts, and intellectual superiority will be safeguarded against the virus that was activism and communism. Yes, I was too Americanized I already have bias against that which I do not know. But God writes through crooked lines. I did not enter a private university so I have to stick with PUP where “activists and communists” thrive. Upon entering I made a pact with myself: 1.) Never join a frat; 2.) Never fail a subject; and 3.) Never join an activist group. I managed to fulfill the first two (although I almost missed number 2) but the last one I did not. I was taking AB Philosophy. I thought the loftiness and sophistry of philosophical ideas will save me from the dirt of social awareness but I was wrong—it soiled me more into social responsibility. The words of our great professor, Ka Abe Tuibeo still rings in my ears: “Kung wala kang ipinaglalaban sa buhay, you’re a worthless animal.” I began my philosophical studies hating Marx and ended haunted by his words, “Philosophers should not just question the world; it is they time to change the world.” In front of my own social security I found myself guilty of the very destituteness of the Other as Levinas gazes more and more on me. I realized that Thomas Aquinas’ quinque viae of proving God’s existence first proves to me that my neighbor exists and if so and if God exists too, then I am infinitely responsible to him. Even in Nietzsche’s proclamation of God’s death, I am still bounded by the look of the Other that Sartre said is also objectifying me. I am more and more becoming a social animal that a true human being is. And so awake from my dogmatic slumber, with Kant and Heidegger as my guides, I joined a moderate activist group. First it was just a matter of being pragmatic: I joined them then I got friends and tutorials on some subjects, I can even borrow books I need. But later on, I have really committed myself. Our group’s advocacy then is not too political but since politicians and capitalists almost always are brothers, then it becomes political. We advocate the restraining of greedy mining. I have not participated in a rally or a “hiking” and I left the group when I also left PUP and entered the seminary. But the lessons of social responsibility and beyond is still with me. Now I am just an “arm-chair activist” with no other weapon but my words. Still, as Ka Abe always say to us then, “Words are more violent than arms struggle.” Weapons will kill a man but words can give life to humanity. And so, I write this because I understand both sides of the fence. “Gawa nang gawa ng effigy na susunugin, aksaya lang sa pera” With the effigies to be burned and arm-chairs to be thrown, I too share the sentiments of many that it is just a waste of money. Yet one must not forget the symbolism these acts convey. In a sense, making an effigy and burning it is a form of an art and art is not just for consumption of us in the middle-class visiting a museum where artworks that cost billions were exhibited, art is the self-expression of the artist. Behind the seeming waste of resources, activists whose thoughts words can no longer present use these visual arts to express themselves. In denouncing them because of “wasting money for their cause” then we also denounce Pablo Picasso’s works which are his self-expression and rebellion against the capitalistic realism of his time, we denounce Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy where he denounces the corruption of both the secular and ecclesiastical authorities of his time, we denounce Juan Luna’s Spoliarium that so vividly present the brutality of colonial rule as just a waste of oil and canvass. Again, the words of the cop that became viral sounds right: “May pinaglalaban sila.” Puro rally at pagtuligsa sa gobyerno, wala naman naitulong sa bayan… My answer to this is a flat, loud “You’re wrong dearest.” Most of the liberties we take for granted in a modern liberal state is not inherently part of democracy and were only successfully installed when people rose up and incessantly “rallied” for it. Examples? The 8-hour maximum work-time, the illegality of minors working, and slavery. When modern democracies sprung up in the late 18th century, capitalism is also on the rise. It is just normal to see people working 12-14 hours a day with a wage depending on the employer (yes, there’s no minimum wage) and children as young as five years old as workers. Only when people “rallied” against it that it was scrapped. Universal suffrage. When states adopted democracy, suffrage or voting is reserved only for men—white men, educated, bourgeoisie, white men. All others are excluded. It is only thru activism that states adopted the universal suffrage. And of course, how do you call Rizal’s works if not a form of activism? Did not Rizal help shape the destiny of this country? Kailan ba matatapos ang pagrarally ng mga lintek na aktibistang ‘yan? NEVER. Yes, you read it right, never. When revolutions become successful and the former slaves become masters, it is inevitable that the former revolutionary will someday morph into a dictator. This is an irrevocable burden of justice: justice carries violence even as it fights violence. A former critic who successfully overthrows the governor and becomes himself the governor may one day find himself silencing his own critics (the Bolsheviks of Russia is an example with Stalin as the apex). That is why the French Jewish Philosopher of Responsibility, Emmanuel Levinas, tells us that there is a need for a continuing revolution. A justice that always seek improvement. Like Hegel’s dialectic, the human dilemma is that every synthesis becomes a thesis and as such needs an anti-thesis to perfect and correct itself and make a new synthesis and the process repeats. An idea becomes polished only when challenged. The human condition is that we are innovative animals—we cannot just sit idly looking at what we have and say, “Hey, it’s already beautiful I won’t change it.” Change, according to Heraclitus, is the only permanent thing in the world. Even when opposition seems pestering and annoying, its views are still beneficial to the improvement of a project. Conclusion We cannot achieve utopia (in fact that’s why it is called u-topia meaning a place that does not and will not exist) but as human beings we have to try and try and try. The constitution enshrines it with the words: “in order to build a more just and humane society.” The catechism tells us that human life on earth is a preparation for heaven, and if so then we should strive to let His “Kingdom come” and His “will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” It is a daily call. Complacency always leads to social perdition. Whether you choose to go to the streets, or write a critical essay about our social condition in the silence of your room, or try to live out your daily life trying to change the world in your own small ways, these are all what makes as human and humane. Only he who comfortably sits, cellphone on hand, spewing hatred against socially-committed persons, sharing fake news, secure in his world with his enclosed mind is not worthy to called a human being. - Anonymous Lenz 09/25/18
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September 2018
"There is only one corner in the universe that you can be certain of improving and that's your own Self" |