Two Sides of Diversity
These past days unfolded the idea that our country has been so divided in terms of our political views. Most of us have taken sides as to what political views aligned to our beliefs. There is also an active search for the truth, which turns out to be both convenient in terms of access but challenging because of the lack of authenticity and the increase of fear to be judged because of one’s political beliefs.
At first, I see this diversity to be healthy. As a teacher, I find beauty in the diversity recognizing individuality meshed beautifully in the canvass of the classroom. After all, I would rather have a rainbow than a group of robots programmed to believe and act the same way. Diversity adds more color, excitement and life.
But, after putting much thought in the political landscape of our country, I would like to retract my statement and assert that I am wrong! While there is a certain beauty in diversity, too much diversity tends to push people away from each other. Diversity in our context becomes divisive.
I have never felt our country to be as divisive as what is happening now. All the clutter we hear in various media brings us to a lot of confusion, hopelessness, and despair listening to bickering politicians to inconsistencies in reports and news. There is immense restlessness to compete with individual and self-seeking personal truths which deliberately tramples the truth of others. We, likewise, lacked the desire to listen and dialogue using the right channels or even the right manner.
But my forecast is that this ordeal will be more or less the same scenario until our President ends his term or maybe the same instance until we have our next set of leaders or a shift to a different form of government. This political landscape will sadly persist not because we have changing leaders but because we have stagnant mindsets and beliefs.
For one, the expectations of the opposition to meet all the demands they ask of the government can never be accomplished 100%. No rallies nor campaign would ever make President Duterte infallible. Contrary to the beliefs of his avid supporters, he is no god! But he is a leader who can make a difference in some aspects which were not resolved by his predecessors. He may not have the best of strategies and decisions, but a growth mindset and the providence of our trust and support might help him. He even acted surprisingly decent in his latest SONA, maybe we could give him the benefit of the doubt and provide him the space to grow and make the changes that he promised and that this country deserves. After all, it is never easy to run a country. Complaining every time he does something is like having a nagging person behind you, which disallows you to make the best actions possible at that given situation.
However, this does not mean that the government should rest on their laurels. It is a tremendous challenge for them to put their acts together because the people that they serve are watching over them. As leaders, they should be models and examples of the people. When they do something wrong, officials should have the courage to be humble and admit that they committed a mistake and be ready to face the consequences. A wrong act will always be wrong! Therefore when the government does something wrong, regardless of which side we are part of, we have a responsibility to call them out and say that they are wrong. Let us not sugarcoat wrong things done to make it appear right or decent. We need to be consistent and fight the temptation and urge to have double standards. Swearing, sexual harassment, drugs, plunder or corruption can never be right! So hopefully, the government would be able to walk their talk and prove their words through concrete programs and actions.
Whatever the country is experiencing now, including most especially the divisiveness, is brought about by our collective actions or the lack thereof. We should stop the blame game. We need to be a more discerning community having in mind that we are supporting each other for our country and not because of political figures. Though there is a great tendency that our biases on issues or with political personalities may persist and may move us to react logically and feel sincere empathy to the members of our community who need most of our help.