Youth IN REVOLT
What are you mad at today? How young people are powering up the Philippines.
What is everyone mad at today? In recent weeks, the Young
STAR team’s daily routine begins with that one question, used as a starting point for the day’s coverage.
Every day, we get a range of answers. One morning, it’s an influencer’s misguided opinion on the daily plight of the working Filipino. The next afternoon, it’s about a local TV show’s misrepresentation of an LGBTQ+ character. Every day, we are reminded that the Filipino youth are an angry bunch. And when you think about it, we have every right to be. Our generation is filled with bright, beautiful minds intent on making a difference for the future of our country. But the beloved nation we’ve inherited from our parents and grandparents was already sick to begin with. A whole product of the wrong decisions made by previous generations, as well as our own. It is broken by internal conflict, bullied by bigger nations, and plagued by leadership set on backward ideologies. All of these, on top of looming worldwide concerns (the climate crisis! nuclear warfare!) forces us to ask the question: is there still a future to look forward to?
Every generation has had something to fight for, but rarely have they been underestimated as much as we have. They call us “entitled” and “self-absorbed.” They say we spend too much time on the internet and have no concern for what’s going on in the world. And perhaps, this is what riles us up the most. We understand that we’re the only ones who can turn the tide for the future. We want change, and we’ll do everything we can to make it come.
In this age of fake news and troll armies, we were taught to be critical of everything. It’s natural, then, for us to see the problems and point out solutions. But the path isn’t that straightforward. All of this can be overwhelming for anyone who is still trying to find their footing as an individual person in the real world, and oftentimes, it leads to a classic case of analysis paralysis. Where do I fit in this bubble of chaos and what can I do to help?
In some ways, anger is one manifestation of this frustration. We cope with it by comforting ourselves with self-deprecating humor and nihilistic memes. We yell for our countrymen and mobilize through Twitter threads and hashtags. Apathy is no longer in our vocabulary as long as there is something within us that continues to hope. A fighting spirit that refuses to die out.
There is hope in discovering how these realizations can stir us to action in big and small ways. We head to conflict areas to advocate for peace education. We create art to show how we (and everyone else) #NeverForget. We march in droves, promising to #ResistTogether and fight bigotry with love. We run for office to make the voices of our marginalized brothers and sisters heard.
Right now, it can be a struggle knowing that we’re somehow closer and further to true progress. For every Bawal
Bastos Law that gets signed into law, there’s a hypocrite leader who cracks rape jokes in his speeches. For every supposed improvement to the country’s infrastructure, there are unbelievable human rights violations committed against the poor. With our open minds, we understand that there is still much to be done and much to learn.
Until then, we’ll continue to harbor this anger, releasing just enough to keep us on our toes each day. Every day, we will continue to ask what everyone is mad at. We’ll keep responding with the actions and words for as long as can. Or at least until we work towards a future worth looking forward to.
Gaby Gloria is the online editor of Young STAR, the youth and culture section of The Philippine STAR. Tweet her @gabyabbyy.
APATHY IS No LONGER IN Our VOCABULARY AS LONG AS THERE IS SOMETHING WITHIN US THAT CONTINUES To HOPE. A FIGHTING SPIRIT THAT REFUSES To DIE OUT.