the making of dystopia
"Lift your head. You're a Filipino." This was M weeks ago. I seriously didn't know how to react. The easiest reply would be pride. I was proud. Yet there was also being an internationalist. It was an awkward moment.
---
Slight digression: I'm not disavowing my ethnicity here, let me be clear on that. The purpose here is analytical in order to understand and perhaps lead to action. Culture and biases are products of human actions and thought in the context of differential history.
---
(The flow of thought that follows emanates from the above incident, whose context and the provocated statement would have to be put aside for now. Sorry, while writing has to have some form of structure and organization, thought is non-linear)
From that I realized that all these are instilled, so much so that we'd be willing to risk our reputations and necks for what we believe in. Thus we're taught in grade school who the Filipino heroes are, worthy of emulation. We memorize the national anthem, extolling sacrifice for the motherland, which has been raped and from whom justice has been denied. The whole thing, our outlook and attitudes are instilled, molded; we are indoctrnated into the society we have to grow up in. Those were the nationalist days, although this would be more superficial than it seemed.
The content was not always taken seriously. A look at the lingering colonial mentality gives an indirect proof.
In the age of globalization, a new outlook is being instilled upon us. Globalization supposedly would bring the country into progress, into a whole new world away from the darkness of the economic ravine. Thus we heard the likes of Emil Javier (former UP President) making us understand that 'nationalism is passe in the age of globalization' - and people do not die laughing. Yet I doubt he's truly an internationalist. Such bombastic pronouncements without a critical look at the form of globalization we're having is naive. It is an attempt to blunt the sharpness of the ideals of Filipino nationalists from Bonifacio, Rizal to Recto and Tanada. It is a vain effort to mask that it is precisely the underlying precepts of what is now called globalization that has contributed more to the economic basket case called the Philippines.
The struggle begins in the form of a counter-hegemonic effort by progressives of every kind, by extolling not chauvinistic biases, but rather the good in Philippine culture in order to contribute to a new and progressive culture, leading to more solidarity in the national and international context.
***
Nationalism in one definition is fighting for the dignity of your home, raising the standard of living, political life and culture of its people, free from intervention and manipulation by other countries and ruling elites. Internationalism means being able to appreciate and interact with other people with equality and dignity. Sometimes it could be synonymous with solidarity - 'standing in other people's shoes.'
***
It also made me realize how heavily indoctrinated Filipinos are towards the west, especially to the US of A. Hence you'd have some Pinoys shouting 'I Love America!' even though history has shown the US' kind of gratitude to the Filipinos. Though there is that 'love-hate relationship' between the US and the Philippines, the 'hate' part is more from those who have opened their eyes to history and the present dispensation. It takes a counter-culture indeed to combat years of colonial mentality.
When I say the US, i do not mean the entire people, but the ruling elite and their spokespersons in the establishment and media.
To wean Filipinos out of this, they must now start looking at other cultures too. At the rich cultures and traditions of Asia, the history of Europe, the struggles of Latin America, the mystery of Africa, development of Australia and the Pacific Ocean islands. In order for Filipino culture to be enriched, it can take the best from all the cultures of the world. A healthy person is exposed to every element it can stand.
That goes for progressives too, who are in some way obsessed with the US as well. There is a bit of wisdom in an Irish Liberation's pillar when he said that the best way to beat the enemy (in this case, the British empire) is by ignoring it. It doesn't mean that they shouldn't pay attention to the main hegemonic power and oppressor, but having alternative societies to show could have an effect on people, to truthfully understand that there is another world other than America. The world is composed not only of celebrity wannabes, biker gangs, cops and psychopaths, alien abductees, survivors who betrayed their former allies and other stereotypes in US shows. The world is a much richer place, and it is not just the USA.
***
On this side of the world: while Australians watch US shows, eat their food and wear their stuff, Aussies have an active dislike of Americans. So that an advertisement for a beer brand in a bus stop reads: "More refreshing than a quiet American." And it sells. Perhaps they're not blindsided by ideological persuasions coming from the US, so that they tell things as they are. It's not only Australians, I gather. It is true that being a predator is lonely, being the global beast means being feared by the world. It's only from the likes of its neo/colonized minds that it gets support. It's like the Stockholm Syndrome, where the victim of deprivation of liberty empathizes with its captor.
***
Ever since I've been here i don't believe I've encountered racist tendencies. It's probably my recalcitrant character, or my being from UP, which makes me proud ('you unworthy of my antipathy!') so that minor remarks pass by me. Yet racism does exist in a multi-cultural setting. It can manifest itself in employment opportunities. In Australia, ironically, racism probably originated in workers' communities, since these communities tried to protect their residents. One mining community which gained workers' rights - even before workers in Europe did - required people who wanted to work in the mines to have lived in that community for at least a few years, to the exclusion of migrants. Australia's development as a workers' country is a bit complex. They're said to have developed a 'socialism without ideologies,' but that's largely untrue. Of course, if at some point of a country's history it developed a workers' movement and a working class culture, then it would reflect through its policies and the kind of living conditions in that country. Thus you have socialized health care, extensive railroads, housing and decent wages. Though with the onslaught of neoliberal policies and the conservatives being in position, the coming years would presage uncertainty.
Racism has always been there where differences occur, aggravated by various conditions. Yet it is rooted in oppression. If you're stepping your foot on someone else's neck, you have to justify it somehow. It could be the shape of their nose, or the colour of their skin. The mentality sticks and you develop the culture. It's also appropriated by those in power. If the black people had the money, the reverse would be true. But that's only true if social inequality is very glaring.
Another irony is that while capitalism may intensify racist tendencies in order to exploit differentials in wages and exploitation - much like the function of the reserve army of workers where due to people competing for jobs, wages can be pegged at a minimum - capitalism can also stand without it. That's to rake in previously unavailable labor into the marketplace. Sure it would mean a loss of white privileges in the boardroom and the office after dark, yet if fundamental relations are not threatened, then there is no problem. It's also desirable in the international operations of multinational companies. So the irony is that offices acquire an international character - not internationalist - that provides the grist of the capitalist business machine.
***
Trends are not inevitable or irreversible. It takes effort and perseverance to produce a more desirable world.
The way things are unravelling, we do not want a dystopia, even though we can't create its reverse, of utopia.
---
Slight digression: I'm not disavowing my ethnicity here, let me be clear on that. The purpose here is analytical in order to understand and perhaps lead to action. Culture and biases are products of human actions and thought in the context of differential history.
---
(The flow of thought that follows emanates from the above incident, whose context and the provocated statement would have to be put aside for now. Sorry, while writing has to have some form of structure and organization, thought is non-linear)
From that I realized that all these are instilled, so much so that we'd be willing to risk our reputations and necks for what we believe in. Thus we're taught in grade school who the Filipino heroes are, worthy of emulation. We memorize the national anthem, extolling sacrifice for the motherland, which has been raped and from whom justice has been denied. The whole thing, our outlook and attitudes are instilled, molded; we are indoctrnated into the society we have to grow up in. Those were the nationalist days, although this would be more superficial than it seemed.
The content was not always taken seriously. A look at the lingering colonial mentality gives an indirect proof.
In the age of globalization, a new outlook is being instilled upon us. Globalization supposedly would bring the country into progress, into a whole new world away from the darkness of the economic ravine. Thus we heard the likes of Emil Javier (former UP President) making us understand that 'nationalism is passe in the age of globalization' - and people do not die laughing. Yet I doubt he's truly an internationalist. Such bombastic pronouncements without a critical look at the form of globalization we're having is naive. It is an attempt to blunt the sharpness of the ideals of Filipino nationalists from Bonifacio, Rizal to Recto and Tanada. It is a vain effort to mask that it is precisely the underlying precepts of what is now called globalization that has contributed more to the economic basket case called the Philippines.
The struggle begins in the form of a counter-hegemonic effort by progressives of every kind, by extolling not chauvinistic biases, but rather the good in Philippine culture in order to contribute to a new and progressive culture, leading to more solidarity in the national and international context.
***
Nationalism in one definition is fighting for the dignity of your home, raising the standard of living, political life and culture of its people, free from intervention and manipulation by other countries and ruling elites. Internationalism means being able to appreciate and interact with other people with equality and dignity. Sometimes it could be synonymous with solidarity - 'standing in other people's shoes.'
***
It also made me realize how heavily indoctrinated Filipinos are towards the west, especially to the US of A. Hence you'd have some Pinoys shouting 'I Love America!' even though history has shown the US' kind of gratitude to the Filipinos. Though there is that 'love-hate relationship' between the US and the Philippines, the 'hate' part is more from those who have opened their eyes to history and the present dispensation. It takes a counter-culture indeed to combat years of colonial mentality.
When I say the US, i do not mean the entire people, but the ruling elite and their spokespersons in the establishment and media.
To wean Filipinos out of this, they must now start looking at other cultures too. At the rich cultures and traditions of Asia, the history of Europe, the struggles of Latin America, the mystery of Africa, development of Australia and the Pacific Ocean islands. In order for Filipino culture to be enriched, it can take the best from all the cultures of the world. A healthy person is exposed to every element it can stand.
That goes for progressives too, who are in some way obsessed with the US as well. There is a bit of wisdom in an Irish Liberation's pillar when he said that the best way to beat the enemy (in this case, the British empire) is by ignoring it. It doesn't mean that they shouldn't pay attention to the main hegemonic power and oppressor, but having alternative societies to show could have an effect on people, to truthfully understand that there is another world other than America. The world is composed not only of celebrity wannabes, biker gangs, cops and psychopaths, alien abductees, survivors who betrayed their former allies and other stereotypes in US shows. The world is a much richer place, and it is not just the USA.
***
On this side of the world: while Australians watch US shows, eat their food and wear their stuff, Aussies have an active dislike of Americans. So that an advertisement for a beer brand in a bus stop reads: "More refreshing than a quiet American." And it sells. Perhaps they're not blindsided by ideological persuasions coming from the US, so that they tell things as they are. It's not only Australians, I gather. It is true that being a predator is lonely, being the global beast means being feared by the world. It's only from the likes of its neo/colonized minds that it gets support. It's like the Stockholm Syndrome, where the victim of deprivation of liberty empathizes with its captor.
***
Ever since I've been here i don't believe I've encountered racist tendencies. It's probably my recalcitrant character, or my being from UP, which makes me proud ('you unworthy of my antipathy!') so that minor remarks pass by me. Yet racism does exist in a multi-cultural setting. It can manifest itself in employment opportunities. In Australia, ironically, racism probably originated in workers' communities, since these communities tried to protect their residents. One mining community which gained workers' rights - even before workers in Europe did - required people who wanted to work in the mines to have lived in that community for at least a few years, to the exclusion of migrants. Australia's development as a workers' country is a bit complex. They're said to have developed a 'socialism without ideologies,' but that's largely untrue. Of course, if at some point of a country's history it developed a workers' movement and a working class culture, then it would reflect through its policies and the kind of living conditions in that country. Thus you have socialized health care, extensive railroads, housing and decent wages. Though with the onslaught of neoliberal policies and the conservatives being in position, the coming years would presage uncertainty.
Racism has always been there where differences occur, aggravated by various conditions. Yet it is rooted in oppression. If you're stepping your foot on someone else's neck, you have to justify it somehow. It could be the shape of their nose, or the colour of their skin. The mentality sticks and you develop the culture. It's also appropriated by those in power. If the black people had the money, the reverse would be true. But that's only true if social inequality is very glaring.
Another irony is that while capitalism may intensify racist tendencies in order to exploit differentials in wages and exploitation - much like the function of the reserve army of workers where due to people competing for jobs, wages can be pegged at a minimum - capitalism can also stand without it. That's to rake in previously unavailable labor into the marketplace. Sure it would mean a loss of white privileges in the boardroom and the office after dark, yet if fundamental relations are not threatened, then there is no problem. It's also desirable in the international operations of multinational companies. So the irony is that offices acquire an international character - not internationalist - that provides the grist of the capitalist business machine.
***
Trends are not inevitable or irreversible. It takes effort and perseverance to produce a more desirable world.
The way things are unravelling, we do not want a dystopia, even though we can't create its reverse, of utopia.
posted by www.newfreemedia.com @ 8:40 AM
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