by: Chita Heap
Culture of Fear
It occurred to me recently that we are living in a society which is largely based on fear. It seems that we are living in a society in which people are all too often reluctant to express their ideas, to make their own decisions, or to act upon their own initiative, either through fear of losing their job or else through fear of displeasing someone in authority.
Nowhere is this more apparent than in the area of local government, where employees are often told what to say, told what to do, told what to think, and in some instances are also told how to vote.
It is a known fact that as Filipinos so many of us simply wait to be told what to do, regrettably to our detriment, for a society in which people feel unable to act on their own initiative is a society which will be slow to progress. Perhaps this is why Filipinos make such good domestic servants, because we are so good at doing what other people tell us to do.
Personally I feel that we are better than this, and that as Filipinos we have an enormous potential, if only we have the courage to think for ourselves!
Perhaps our reluctance to make decisions or to use our initiative is a legacy left over from the years of occupation and brutality at the hands of foreign invaders.
Perhaps we still carry within us the genetic imprint of these events. Or perhaps during those four hundred years of occupation by the Spanish we also learned their ways and have now learned how to apply them to our own people.
In his book ‘Animal Farm’ George Orwell described how the animals in the farmyard became sick of the way that their human masters treated them, and finally drove them off. With their new found freedom all seemed well, until one night they noticed that the lights were on in the farm house. Creeping up to the window and peeping in they saw that the pigs had broken into the house and were now dressed in the humans’ clothes. The pigs were now in control!
Many western countries underwent a social revolution in the early 1960’s, the essence of this movement being powerfully expressed by the legendary folk singer Bob Dylan who I quoted in a recent article, in his famous song ‘The Times They Are a Changing.’ The words of this song I consider to be so poignant that I feel compelled to record them here.
‘Oh come all you people wherever you roam
And admit that the waters around you have grown
And accept it that soon you’ll be drenched to the bone
If your time to you is worth saving
And you’d better start swimming or you’ll sink like a stone
For the times they are a changing.’
‘Come writers and critics who prophecy with your pen
And keep your eyes wide the chance wont come again
And don’t speak too loud ‘cause the wheel’s still in spin
And there’s no telling who it is naming.
The looser now will be later to win
For the times they are a changing.’
‘Come senators, congressmen, please hear the call
Don’t stand in the doorway, don’t block up the hall
For he who gets hurt is he who has stalled
The battle that outside is raging
Will soon shake your windows and rattle your walls
For the times they are a changing.’
‘Come mothers and fathers throughout the land
And don’t criticize what you can’t understand
Your sons and your daughters are beyond your command
Your old road is rapidly aging
Please get out of the new one if you can’t lend a hand
For the times they are a changing.’
‘The line it is drawn, the curse it is cast
The slow one now will later be fast
As the present now will later be past
The order is rapidly fading
And the first one now will later be last
For the times they are a changing.’
The social transformation that took place in the west has yet to happen here in the Philippines, and in the meanwhile many of our people continue to endure their subservience, which leaves our social development some fifty years behind that of most western countries.
Please do not misunderstand me. I am not advocating revolution. What I do feel our country needs though is social change, together with a much needed change in our attitude.
Hopefully this will come about through education and a corresponding rise in awareness, together with a rise in our standard of living. Change is needed. Change is a rejuvenating force, and as such is a natural part of nature. Change is something that we should not fear. But for change to come about we must be prepared to embrace it, which we cannot do if we continue to cling to the past.
Without change we will never become empowered as a people. Without change our politicians will continue to remain unaccountable as is so often the case. And without change corruption and bad practice will continue to proliferate. Just as a snake must shed its skin in order to grow and develop, so it is that we too need to discard our old ways so that we can flourish and thrive as a nation. /TE
Culture of Fear
It occurred to me recently that we are living in a society which is largely based on fear. It seems that we are living in a society in which people are all too often reluctant to express their ideas, to make their own decisions, or to act upon their own initiative, either through fear of losing their job or else through fear of displeasing someone in authority.
Nowhere is this more apparent than in the area of local government, where employees are often told what to say, told what to do, told what to think, and in some instances are also told how to vote.
It is a known fact that as Filipinos so many of us simply wait to be told what to do, regrettably to our detriment, for a society in which people feel unable to act on their own initiative is a society which will be slow to progress. Perhaps this is why Filipinos make such good domestic servants, because we are so good at doing what other people tell us to do.
Personally I feel that we are better than this, and that as Filipinos we have an enormous potential, if only we have the courage to think for ourselves!
Perhaps our reluctance to make decisions or to use our initiative is a legacy left over from the years of occupation and brutality at the hands of foreign invaders.
Perhaps we still carry within us the genetic imprint of these events. Or perhaps during those four hundred years of occupation by the Spanish we also learned their ways and have now learned how to apply them to our own people.
In his book ‘Animal Farm’ George Orwell described how the animals in the farmyard became sick of the way that their human masters treated them, and finally drove them off. With their new found freedom all seemed well, until one night they noticed that the lights were on in the farm house. Creeping up to the window and peeping in they saw that the pigs had broken into the house and were now dressed in the humans’ clothes. The pigs were now in control!
Many western countries underwent a social revolution in the early 1960’s, the essence of this movement being powerfully expressed by the legendary folk singer Bob Dylan who I quoted in a recent article, in his famous song ‘The Times They Are a Changing.’ The words of this song I consider to be so poignant that I feel compelled to record them here.
‘Oh come all you people wherever you roam
And admit that the waters around you have grown
And accept it that soon you’ll be drenched to the bone
If your time to you is worth saving
And you’d better start swimming or you’ll sink like a stone
For the times they are a changing.’
‘Come writers and critics who prophecy with your pen
And keep your eyes wide the chance wont come again
And don’t speak too loud ‘cause the wheel’s still in spin
And there’s no telling who it is naming.
The looser now will be later to win
For the times they are a changing.’
‘Come senators, congressmen, please hear the call
Don’t stand in the doorway, don’t block up the hall
For he who gets hurt is he who has stalled
The battle that outside is raging
Will soon shake your windows and rattle your walls
For the times they are a changing.’
‘Come mothers and fathers throughout the land
And don’t criticize what you can’t understand
Your sons and your daughters are beyond your command
Your old road is rapidly aging
Please get out of the new one if you can’t lend a hand
For the times they are a changing.’
‘The line it is drawn, the curse it is cast
The slow one now will later be fast
As the present now will later be past
The order is rapidly fading
And the first one now will later be last
For the times they are a changing.’
The social transformation that took place in the west has yet to happen here in the Philippines, and in the meanwhile many of our people continue to endure their subservience, which leaves our social development some fifty years behind that of most western countries.
Please do not misunderstand me. I am not advocating revolution. What I do feel our country needs though is social change, together with a much needed change in our attitude.
Hopefully this will come about through education and a corresponding rise in awareness, together with a rise in our standard of living. Change is needed. Change is a rejuvenating force, and as such is a natural part of nature. Change is something that we should not fear. But for change to come about we must be prepared to embrace it, which we cannot do if we continue to cling to the past.
Without change we will never become empowered as a people. Without change our politicians will continue to remain unaccountable as is so often the case. And without change corruption and bad practice will continue to proliferate. Just as a snake must shed its skin in order to grow and develop, so it is that we too need to discard our old ways so that we can flourish and thrive as a nation. /TE
No comments:
Post a Comment