Beyond the latest trivia
By
OUTSIDE
the home, as ordinary citizens, we are confronted with an environment that thrives on the superficial and the comical. Just listen carefully to the conversation we have with friends, colleagues, and other acquaintances. What topics figure prominently in the conversation fare?
• Food and entertainment (with some focus on a few celebrities) would be close to the top of the list.
• The latest gossip (tsismis), celebrity scandal, political gimmicks, and explosive revelations compete to get to the center of daily attention.
• Complaints about the deterioration of everything we have around us, from politics to job opportunities and to the challenges that traffic and floods inflict upon us: These too get frequent comment.
These are valid, necessary, and understandable concerns that naturally should figure prominently in our social inter-action between ordinary citizens. They should be talked about.
But for the Dream PH we seek to build, on many occasions we also have to rise above them. There are other topics, which may require deeper thought, more rigorous analysis, and a wider cultural openness (in the sense of our ability to listen and draw lessons from the experiences of other peoples at other times). This may mean that through the many small circles with which we inter-act, we along with at least a few of our friends should view events and issues with more than the usual passing interest we invest in them.
• As ordinary Filipino citizens, we should learn to be much more discerning. This means we have to be open to many different views, from many different people. We should listen. We should also open our minds to the good perspectives each view presents. We should then pull all these different perspectives, and try to see possible interconnections (let alone divergences) between them. Finally, we pick and choose those that – in our judgment – would be for the best interests of society and of PH as well as of the Filipino people. All this would require a bit more thinking, a little more reflection, and just a bit more pensiveness over events and issues than what we have been used to investing on them.
• It is never enough to do personal reflection on events and issues alone. It is also necessary to compare notes with others. We ask others what they think. What judgments, if any, have they arrived at concerning those events and issues? What answers can they give to the questions and doubts we may have? How might we come to a better and deeper appreciation of the judgments and opinions they have – even if these may contradict those we hold – such that our own preliminary judgments and opinions get enriched and better nuanced in the end?
• We then extend our circle of friends beyond those we interact with on a day-to-day basis. Indeed, we should enter into a dialogue and conversation with more men and women, who may have grappled with the same events and issues, in their own place and time. This is where reading comes in: this is where using the Internet to check for other knowledge and sources of experience, concerning the same events and issues,do come in. In sum, we read, and we go further afield. It is amazing how much we can learn from many other sources, especially in this day and age.
From the ordinary Filipino citizen, who may have been superficial in our thinking and concern over events and issues, to a more discerning responsible citizen, who reflects a bit more, thinks more deeply, discusses more openly, and studies more widely: This indeed can be a transformational change for Dream PH.