7++ years ago I made a no money value bet against one of my closest friends.
I bet that in 20 or 25 years; I have conveniently forgotten the exact time frame, that our country would be awesome/great not as shitty as it was currently. That was a fearless forecast if I may say. We were smack in the tail end of the election stealing president with no true leadership in sight (Well I believed in a few people then but let’s keep this simple). I believed I would win because of Before Sunset and Chuck.
There was this hopefulness that Jesse’s character had discussing how hopeful he was because even a decade ago protecting the environment was not part of the conversation and now it is front and center. The other half of what made me hopeful was an insight that Chuck had. The generations that grow up after EDSA would be different. They would be better.
The successes of the last 3 years of the GMA administration and the strides of the economy and government tranparency during the Pnoy administration made me think I would win the bet.
The election of PDuts and the utter lack of outrage for the Extra Judicial Killings happening left and right made me realize I was overconfident.
The burial of the Philippines Biggest Thief led me to despair. It has made me face something that I wrestle with during times when I can collect my thoughts and the most that I can say about this is that I am considering leaving the Philippines for freedom.
But as the cliche goes the night is darkest before the dawn. It is still not dawn but in this darkest of nights a few tens of thousands of lighters light the night up.
In their conceit, the Marcoses miscalculated. In their thirst for power they made such a fundamental miscalculation. They made people make a stand. When they could have just counted on their loyalists, their money and their power to catapult them to the highest elected seat in the land, they had to force a burial. They had to demonstrate their power over their lapdog. They had to reveal the true colors of the false gods on black robes along taft avenue.
Now the force of social proof is working against them. It has become fashionable to stand for something. Little by little the values of a modern democracy is being taught through the classroom of the streets and social media.
When faced with a choice between good and evil I am one of those who believe that people will choose the good. I also believe when choosing good is hard people will choose to do nothing. They should have just made people stay in the sidelines. They should have just buried the biggest thief of the Philippines when one of them were in the iron throne. Stupid.
By making people take a stand they have unleashed the youth.
Never forget the wise words of Margaret Mead that I first heard in the awesome first season of The West Wing:
Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.
a. Physical health — I take a walk everyday. If nothing else, I at least walk. Or do pushups. I don’t want my muscles to atrophy. I want to walk my daughters down the aisle and be happy for them. I don’t want to be distracted by pain. And in the short term, (because my daughters are at least 30–40 years away from marriage), I can feel better about myself. I can check the box. b. One new thing — I learn at least one new thing everyday. Read, watch a documentary, look around, observe, engage in a conversation
