So far, three major issues are being discussed just about everywhere right now: There’s Lea Salonga’s tweet about the apparent lack of freedom in the Philippines which is discussed by these articles. Then there’s the housing and squatter problem in Manila as depicted by a certain aerial photograph and this article here by Benign0 analyzes it at length. Lastly, there’s the issue with the trains, the traffic and the air pollution that go with the latter as shown in this other article by Benign0.
Now, here’s the rub:
Why are we even surprised by any of this? Why are there people who act like they never knew about these things when these issues have been plaguing our society for more than a decade now? Why are there those who refuse to even acknowledge these problems and go on to even label these as “publicity stunts”?
Sadly, while these glaring issues are only just a few of the Philippines’ many problems, majority of its citizens turn a blind eye to just about anything they find unpleasant and bash those who call them out on their stupidity. As demonstrated by just how so many reacted negatively to Lea Salonga’s comment about our alleged “Independence Day” and the ills of our society, majority of Pinoys will always prefer to deceive themselves than face their problems directly and solve them. Also, while the heavy pollution that saturates Manila is beginning to take its toll on the citizenry, one can only wonder how many citizens are willing to even care about the issue, let alone do something about it.
Now, this may seem a bit off-topic, but I remember George Carlin saying that, if God made us and loved us, why would He send people to Hell? While I’m not going to dispute George Carlin (and no, this isn’t really about religion), I have always believed that people send themselves to Hell, choosing voluntarily to turn away from what’s good (in this case truth) in place of evil (which is delusion). I have always thought that Socrates was right about his ideas of good and evil, with good being concerned with knowledge and truth and evil being primarily ignorance and apathy. There is also a reason, I think, why Satan is called “The Father of Lies” and it ties in with the way some people prefer comfortable lies and self-delusion rather than coming to terms with reality and doing what they can about it.
In the end, no matter what religion you subscribe to, unless you can face the reality of what’s happening, what you’ve done and what you can do about it, you can never be free of regret and misery. Once, I was like many of the other common Pinoys out there, seeing only what I wanted to see and knowing only what I wanted now. But now, I have awakened and, with the help of allies both here in GRP and beyond, perhaps we can wake others into facing the harsh realities that now besiege the Philippines.
As long as we continue to delude ourselves as a people, I can assure you that our lack of freedom, overpopulation and pollution will just be the beginning of our problems…
No comments:
Post a Comment