As I was growing up, I noticed a strange trend among the
classmates I had back in high school and college. At the beginning of
every school year, the teacher would always ask the students what they
expected from him or her. While everyone said something different, the
most common would be the following: “Please don’t be too strict with
us.” It was as if just about everyone hated the notion of an authority
figure who would impose rules upon them. I, for one, don’t really mind
rules so long as they do not interfere with legal interests and promotes
a sense of safety and personal order. Of course, I will admit that I
also broke the rules every now and again back then but I can always say
that most of us were teenagers at the time and you know how being a
teenager can be.
But
then, I soon came to notice that this attitude of derision towards
being strict was not just inherent in teenagers. It was also very common
among many adult Filipinos as well, much to my dismay. As I’ve said
before in some of my previous articles, a lot of Filipinos have a
problem with being “them”. Relatively few people in this country want to
be responsible for difficult duties and make difficult decisions and
not because they care about their fellows; it’s because they don’t want
to be responsible for the mishaps that might occur. It’s like the Drow
society of Forgotten Realms or the Skaven of Warhammer wherein theft,
rape and murder are completely okay as long as you don’t get caught. So
technically, you’re stuck in a place wherein committing crimes and
atrocities is essentially permitted but the only things your accountable
for are what you get caught with.
For instance, I remember an incident during my younger years in one
of my ill-fated walks with my father. A police officer had called him
out for urinating in public and was initially going to fine him for
doing so. For some reason, when the cop saw me, he just decided to give
my father a stern talking to instead of fining him. The policeman
lectured my father on what kind of example he was presenting to his own
son and that if he wanted to make a good impression as a father, he
should at first think about discipline. Later that day, my father got
drunk again with the excuse that he was blowing off steam because a
police officer had called him out on his behavior and asking why don’t
the police just focus on capturing real criminals like snatchers.
Then, in another incident, I remember the drunk driver of a jeep
being arrested for driving drunk. Ladies and gentlemen, let me tell you
that drunk driving has actually killed more people than shootings. It
goes to show that driving drunk doesn’t just put you in danger, it also
puts in danger people who might be sharing the road with you or any
passengers who might be with you. Being a jeep or bus driver isn’t just a
means of making a living. Being a driver of public transport also holds
you responsible for the passengers your vehicle is carrying and driving
drunk is a good way to endanger them. Still, the jeep driver went on to
berate the police for being thieves and criminals even though the jeep
driver could have easily gotten his jeep over a cliff while under the
influence of alcohol.
Finally, no one can ignore the fact that the weather seems to be
getting worse every year. The news keeps us well-informed of people who
get killed by floods or those who have become homeless because of
typhoons. What’s really sad is that most of the death tolls of these
disasters can be mitigated if some people could at least discipline
themselves into making preparations. For instance, consider the fact
that littering is usually one of the major causes of flooding these days
because of the way they tend to clog drainage pipes that are meant to
control floods in the first place. Now, as I’ve said before, candy
wrappers are certainly small but when enough of them are thrown away
casually unto the street, they can cause quite a headache for the
community.
Also note that this aversion to responsibility is also one of the
major causes of cultural and intellectual stagnation in the country. No
one can deny the fact that many of the country’s major institutions, be
it political, cultural, academic or economic refuse to make any steps
towards progress to improve the lives of its people. This is again due
to the fact that the common Pinoy does not want to take any
responsibility for any mishaps.
When the risk of failure and shame is too great, Pinoys tend to just
withdraw in cowardice. I once compared the Philippines to a basement
dweller and I noticed there were those who actually reacted negatively
to that. Well, I’m not withdrawing that statement now because I see just
how true it is with a lot of people. The greatest achievements
humankind has made in its history is due to the men and women willing to
took great risks to improve their fellow man and the institutions, be
it a government, a school or even just a community of like-minded
individuals, who supported them. Powered flight, the invention of radio,
the development of the internet, all of these were developed through
the risks taken by brilliant individuals and the people who chose to
support them.
I’m not saying that we should simply go out on a limb to make
achievements. What I’m saying is that we should strive to become better
even if we run the risk of making failures. Failures are a part of
growing up and life itself. When we learn to stand, we run the risk of
falling down. When we learn to walk, we run the risk of toppling over.
When we learn to ride a bike, we run the risk of falling over or getting
pursued by neighborhood dogs. Unfortunately, many major institutions
and the very Filipino people don’t seem to understand this. They cling
to old ways, claiming such methods have always worked for them even if
they are far outdated by more modern systems today.
Please people, it’s high time we, as a people, matured and developed.
The time for petty differences and childish squabbles should have been
long behind us. We are under threat from both within and without our
nation and if we fail to face these as mature adults then I can assure
you that our dear Philippines is going to die like the “Girl in the
Gutter” I wrote about.
Grimwald
Thaddeus Grimwald is an avid writer and supporter of the GRP website and writes his own fiction in his own Grow Up Philippines website.
To check out his works of fiction, you can check the following:
Hired Help.
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