In review and in prospect
The audacity to dream and imagine fuels the exploitation of opportunities. It took leaps of imagination to prompt kings and financiers to send ships halfway around the world to discover new lands and treasures, for Einstein to undertake the monumental work involved in formulating his Theory of Relativity, for Steven Jobs to develop a product around the idea that ordinary people can use powerful computers. Ideas borne out of leaps of imagination are powerful motivators for risky behaviour. If Filipinos cannot even imagine a fundamentally different society that will underpin a prosperous future, there can be no inspiration to drive deep systemic change. We have delegated the courage to dream and work at fulfilling these dreams to politics and our politicians.
This is a monumental tragedy because Filipinos lack any context to hold to account the politicians they elect to office. This contextual void in Philippine society is reflected in the lack of any thought leadership in any of the mainstream political parties in the Philippines. Political parties in the Philippines do not stand for anything. In Philippine society, political parties are created and dissolved at the drop of a hat and politicians readily hop from one party to another to suit the personal agendas of the powerful. This is a situation that is blatantly obvious but routinely escapes the attention of most Filipinos. Ordinary Filipinos cannot grasp the degree to which democracy has been perverted in the Philippines by such a state of affairs simply because they lack the conceptual tools to comprehend it.
Instead of framing our politics around a clear vision of where we want to see ourselves in five to ten years, we will forever trapped by a complex that is content with merely surviving one crisis at a time and from one term of office to another. Very little imagination is required to do just that.
Last week’s blog posts
December 18, 2022 by benign0
"Why the silence? It seems to be the biggest mystery of the week considering the passing of no less than the founder of the Communist Party of the Philippines and its terrorist arm the New People’s Army (CPP-NPA) is the biggest news of the week for the Philippine Opposition."
Communist Party of the Philippines founder Joma Sison is dead. GOOD RIDDANCE!
December 17, 2022 by benign0
"He spent the last years of his life holed up in the Netherlands very likely fearing for his life even as his comrades sowed terror across his home country’s hinterlands."