Thursday, March 15, 2007

Hopelessness

The one reality that truly surprises me in my many meetings with many people is the depth of hopelessness that pervades the entire Philippine body politic. Rich and poor, old and tragically, the young have been infected. Many people appear to have given up to the point where they don't care about the future any longer. My friends in the US will be amazed to see me, next to many of my countrymen as some wild-eyed idealist, a too hopeful loon.

When did the slide begin? Was our nation programmed to descend to these hopeless depths? Were we destined to become the most corrupt nation in Asia? I think the descent began when we took for granted the basic respect for human life which begat rampant corruption among our politicians who soon did not care about the weak and the poor and triggered the cascade which trivialized the rule of law.

We need to hear more lonely voices from out of the vast wilderness, we need to quit cursing our sad lot. We need to take our country back.

1 comment:

mae ann said...

I am optimist. I have to be. Like the saying, ... there is nowhere to go but up, 'cause I can't go any lower. It's very sad when I hear people say,"yari na ang mga balota... the winner had already been decided". We are making a mockery of the elections. What are we voting for here anyway? It's your future, mine and everyone else's. In those moments when I cast my sacred vote, I am given the power to change the course of my life and that of others. I will not waste that chance by making a wrong choice of candidates. I hope all of us realize that power and use it wisely.