Otherwise Maladroit

28 January 1999 Reaction paper to Cuban film Memories of Underdevelopment

28 January 1999

Reaction paper to Cuban film Memories of Underdevelopment

People like me and Sergio populate the majority of the "educated" class. People who like to think that they are masters of themselves, yet remain completely apathetic to the issues pertaining to their lifestyle.

I for one, until recently, had not even known that a Communist party existed in the Philippines. All I knew, and was contented to know, was that all Communists were heathens and anarchists. I was taught to think of the opposition to the State as troublemakers who had nothing better to do than to complain incessantly about the ills of society. Furthermore, it was glued into my mind to think of Communism as a failed cause, one that fell on its nose upon the fall of the USSR. I was not even aware that there was still Communism outside China. My world began and ended with the Catholic faith, being a product of a Dominican school.

There was a phase in my life that I was proud of acting like a Puritan. I was convinced that ever since I went through confirmation, a sacrament, that I was part of the army of God. As an odious bluenose I raised an eyebrow, wagged my index finger, and condescendingly reprimanded the tiniest suggestion of "scandal". I believed in my infallibility. I could have been a reincarnation of the primitive witch-hunts in Europe. Back then I was ashamed to think thoughts like, "If Jesus Christ was an Israelite, then why doesn't he look more ' arabo'?" whenever I gazed into a Caucasian image.

The Catholic Church may declare itself a separate, independent entity from the Philippine state, but regardless of this the truth is otherwise. The teachings of the Catholic Church compliment the objectives of the government, and that is to keep us meek and subject to its authority. The Filipino vice of " Bahala Na", is a scout of the Church. To place all hopes and dreams to a higher being, rather than to pursue those wants ourselves. Instead of fighting against oppression, a Filipino would wait for his oppressors to meet an unfortunate fate by our avenging God. The advantage of the people in government is that they know that God is far enough not to retaliate anytime within their lifetime.

The difference between people like Elena, and people like me and Sergio is that we could grasp the events in our environment, and those like Elena cannot even begin to comprehend it. For them life is basically "survival"; to be like everybody else and to want what everybody wants. People, of Elena's kind, are clones of each other. They have generic opinions. They are the peasants described in Anna Karenina, or Pavel Syerov in We the Living. All coherent thought is focused on attaining "success" as defined by society.

In a way, it is better to be ignorant like Elena, because people such as she are not really answerable for their actions. If an animal kills to feed, it is not murder in the animal kingdom, since it was driven by the instinct to survive. When all one's being is focused on survival, there is little rationalizing one's decisions and actions.

And for those like me and Sergio? Why do we remain as we are at the cross-roads of ignorance and action? It is because we are worse than either extremes, since all we care about is ourselves.

posted by Otherwise Maladroit @ 5:13 PM