Earlier today over breakfast I was discussing with a friend this documentary I saw last night on Discovery about Kung Fu masters. One of these martial artists was the son of shop keepers – middle class folk. He was sent to Kung Fu school when he was 13 or so and, because of the training, he was able to go home only after several years. His parents were very supportive of their son doing Kung Fu even if he had to be away from home for a very long time.
My friend and I started comparing this with typical Filipino parents who will probably say ‘Anak, ‘wag ka na lang pumunta kasi mapapalayo ka sa amin. Baka mapilayan ka pa at mamatay‘ (“Child, please do not go as you will be so far away from us. You might end up getting hurt or even getting killed out there.”). Consider this in light of, the question we all ask:
Why is there a culture of mediocrity in this society?
In the middle of chewing a mouthful of pan de sal, we realized that the difference between the Filipino and the Chinese is the lack of aristocratic characteristics. Generally, Pinoys do not strive for more and do not place a high value on noble pursuits like intellectual ability unless it contributes to their survival, e.g. ‘Matalino anak natin. Siya ang pag-asa ng pamilya para makaahon tayo sa kahirapan‘ (“Our child is smart. She will be our family’s hope for our extrication from poverty”). We figured perhaps this has something to do with our history and the fact that the foreign masters have annihilated our aristocrats and so made us all peasants. Unlike the Chinese who have maintained their traditional aristocratic virtues such as a value for intellectual learning, moral virtue, martial arts, etc. Pinoys have maintained only the traditional peasant virtues for surviving the harsh world. Hence we have become mediocre.
Think about it. At first we thought that Pinoy mediocrity is due to our herd mentality; but if everyone read Plato instead of watching Wowowee, then this herd mentality can work to our advantage. We think Pinoy mediocrity is due to the death of the aristocracy. The contemporary Chinese, after achieving economic stability and so have fulfilled the lower needs in Maslow’s hierarchy will then strive to achieve the higher needs. They are aware and can grasp the existence of goals that are higher than physical needs or mere survival because of the aristocratic values that exist in their society. Furthermore, since their society values such things, their pursuits are encouraged and rewarded.
In comparison, the Filipino stops after achieving a stable life. They don’t want to achieve beyond it. They say, ‘Mababaw lang ang kaligayahan natin‘ (“our aspirations are simple”). I think this is characteristic of peasants. I have nothing against peasants, but if historically a peasant is someone who works the land, and nature is fickle-minded, this person will consider survival to be most important. Of course, peasants may become rich enough to have stable incomes and they can be more than peasants and so lose their inherent peasant-ness even if they still work the land. However, due to the injustice of our former foreign masters, Pinoys have remained the typical peasant — a victim of unjust landlords. They automatically don’t want to aspire beyond survival because they automatically think they are powerless. It is easier that way and nobody dies or experiences difficulties, so the thinking goes. This is the ‘wisdom’ they pass on to their children.
Now if we think about the nature of the human intellect, we can roughly group people into three categories: (1) idiots, (2) people who can improve on their own, and (3) people who need guidance. The first we dismiss, the second can take care of themselves and the third needs some good teachers. Perhaps what has happened to the Pinoy is there are too many of the first and third compared to the second allowing for the flawed peasant ‘wisdom’ to be stronger than the aristocratic wisdom of rising from mediocrity. Looking now at cultures which encourage progress, the first group will also be dismissed, the second will end up as supreme genuises and the third will be above average. This is a better situation compared to the majority being mediocre and those who strive upwards being admonished with ‘Tanga. Wag ka na magpakahirap. Madali lang ang buhay kapag mababaw ang kaligayahan mo‘ (“Don’t be stupid and try too hard. Life is easier if you simply aim low”).
If this is correct, then I suppose one way of articulating the goal of the Get Realists is to say that we want to destroy the peasant mediocrity. Now I can get to my actual point. (You will forgive my formal academic way of writing; but this ensures clarity of all the points.)
If my description of the three groups mentioned above is correct, then I think the insulting air (I mean, of course, from the point of view of the typical Pinoy reader) of Anti-Pinoy will work against its goals unless we are only trying to reach those of the second group. As I have said, the idiots we need to dismiss and the second group don’t really need us (though not in the real sense of need). We are trying to reach the third group to gain more influence crucial in a democratic setting. I think if a person of the third group reads our posts, s/he may think ‘Ano ba yan? Bakit ang negative?‘ (“What’s up with this stuff?! So negative!”) or something like this.
Now I recall the Anti-Pinoy saying that a good coach will not coddle players and give them hot chocolate. The coach will say ‘Tang ina n’yo! Mga utot ba kayo? Get out there and give it your all. I don’t care if you die. Just do it!’ or something like this. However, if you say this to someone who is not yet on the team, you will probably be punched in the face. A ‘Tang ina mo!‘ will be responded with a ‘Tang ina mo!‘
Also consider how the military gains recruits. Recruiters appeal to the citizen’s sense of honor, duty, patriotism, desire for excellence, etc. They don’t say as a soldier you get to be screamed at and have to clean toilets. That comes after coming on board — when they will be able to withstand being screamed at because it’s all part of the quest for honor.
Perhaps it will be better to encourage people to think as we do by appealing to their desire for honor. Instead of saying Filipinos are idiots or we are anti-pinoy, we say we are pro-Pinoy Aristocrat (or something more catchy than this). The message becomes positive and heartwarming. It becomes like a pep rally. You get a high out of it. Have you ever experienced that kind of high? Whenever I feel like doing something evil, I read Plato’s ideas on human excellence and get that high; and I end up doing something noble instead of evil. When you watch the movie 300 with Leonidas butchering Persians, it makes you want to be a soldier as well – or at least makes you want to work out more to get chiseled abs. If we can get people to feel that sort of high, then I think they will likely respond positively and hopefully they will become one of us despite the difficulties. They deal with the difficulties because they are hooked with that high feeling – that feeling of pursuing what is honorable, superior, and noble.
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