Waiting for the ‘perfect’ president

Written on Thursday, July 17th, 2008 at 7:55 am | by benign0

If Chuck (aka “Cvj”, or whatever) has one particular talent it is this: He is very good at encapsulating — in the personal sentiments he routinely expresses all over the blogosphere — the particular aspects of the nature of the Pinoy mind that keeps its gearbox permanently shifted to Reverse.

Here is his latest truism:

It is the Middle Class (along with the Upper Class) who has the spare resources to step back and act if it chooses to.

That comment is such a classic example of the sentiment of the backward mind, the embodiment of our world-renowned Juan Tamad archetype, and the absolute antithesis of what I express in a 2003 article on self-reliance where I say:

We pester the elite of our society with calls for acts of heroism when the burden of extra hard work in reality falls on the shoulders of the poor masses.

Dark clouds do indeed loom overhead as we face a future in a society dominated by the primitivist thinking of the majority.

Our inspiration should be drawn more from the true “heroes” of our sad republic — the Filipino-Chinese. They expected NOTHING from their hosts, maneuvered around the same dysfunctional governance we complain about, came to terms with our vacuous culture, and in the process of doing all that, self-made themselves into the captains of our country’s industry.

Maybe our goal should be to TOP THAT ACHIEVEMENT — not lie on the ground and die with our mouths open while we wait for the perfect president to be elected.

We Filipinos have been imbued with the idea that our hopes for prosperity lie squarely on the shoulders of the elite, the “haves”, a handful of leaders and/or a few “extraordinary” individuals. Our society has come to (or, more appropriately never matured beyond) a penchant for giving heroic labels to these “messiahs”, as if the Philippines is constantly waiting for a hero to rescue her from her dysfunction.

We expect heroic efforts from the few and continued mediocrity from the majority.

We expect the low product of the majority to be subsidised by the execptional output of the minority.

Our prospects for prosperity, however, lie within ourselves — not in a messianic bunch of leaders and exceptional few who are yet to come and not in the altruism of the more fortunate. What we need is the courage and open-mindedness to understand clearly what we need to do to re-tool our culture, mindsets and thought processes, and approach to doing things so that a nation-building machine that is truly able to compete could emerge out of the collective and quiet achievement of the majority.

We’ve already had our fair share of heroes. It is clear today that, for many of them, the size of their sacrifice has not been commensurate with the willingness of the people they sacrificed for to help themselves.

Great nations were not built on good intentions. They were built on business sense. Real change in Pinoy society will never be achieved through the “sacrifice” of altruistic “heroes”. True change will be driven by people who find no shame in expecting a buck for their trouble.

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About The Author: benign0 is the Webmaster of GetRealPhilippines.COM and has once been described as "one of the most enthusiastic hecklers of the politically-passionate" by a respected journalist.

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36 Responses to “Waiting for the ‘perfect’ president”

  1. Ding G. Gagelonia on July 17th, 2008 8:47 am

    Minus the derisive reference to cvj, you are entirely correct.

  2. Bencard on July 17th, 2008 9:17 am

    exactly the sentiments i have expressed time and again. maybe someday soon we will have a general consensus on the existence of this problem, and individually make our own little contribution towards helping eradicate it in our national psyche.

  3. Jon Limjap on July 17th, 2008 9:17 am

    Ding,

    Considering how cvj maligned even my last entry into a “it’s the Middle Class’s fault!” campaign, the derisiveness is tit-for-tat.

    =========

    Who’ll indulge my wager that, even with a completely efficient and uncorrupt government, most people will stay in the same state of poverty that they are in?

    Anyone? ;)

  4. Bencard on July 17th, 2008 9:20 am

    btw, there’s a point where we have to stop talking about it. we have to just do it.

  5. benign0 on July 17th, 2008 9:25 am

    Who’ll indulge my wager that, even with a completely efficient and uncorrupt government, most people will stay in the same state of poverty that they are in?

    Jon, that bet is the CORNERSTONE of what I have been trying to communicate over the last eight years! :)

  6. cvj on July 17th, 2008 10:28 am

    Benign0, the Go family of Sulpicio would agree with your last paragraph, particularly the last sentence.

  7. Jon Limjap on July 17th, 2008 11:07 am

    cvj,

    Does benign0 really have to qualify that we need to assume that homicide due to negligence is a crime?

  8. cvj on July 17th, 2008 11:20 am

    Jon, i think he does or else his sloganeering (for whatever it’s worth) would be incomplete. We can’t take any moral framework for granted as it seems even you are willing to tolerate corruption based on your statement above (at 9:17 am).

  9. Jon Limjap on July 17th, 2008 11:43 am

    Hmmm, I can’t see where I said that Chuck. I must be blind (or myopic, perhaps, as you believe).

    I’m dense today I guess. Can you expound? ;)

  10. Jeg on July 17th, 2008 12:17 pm

    Why benny, that post could almost be construed as your abiding trust in the poor to help themselves.

  11. benign0 on July 17th, 2008 1:42 pm

    Jeg, guilty as charged! :D

    The alternative (to seeing a world where Pinoys decide to practice a bit of self-help) as I mentioned is for Pinoys to lay down and die with our maws open waiting for the perfect president to come along and rescue us from our wretched existence.

    cvj, again repeating this concept I keep ascribing to you:

    Just because molecular irregularities cause a ballbearing’s radius to vary by nano-meters along its surface does not stop us from attributing a spherical quality to it at a macro level.

    Keep on pondering that, dude. You have the rest of your life to do so. :D

  12. Ding G. Gagelonia on July 17th, 2008 5:09 pm

    Your exchanges are what make FV the unique focus-group blog that helps distill an informed and intelligent perspective that is positively biased to Philippine and Filipino interests. Refreshingly biting, your generation, given that this writer is more old school.

  13. benign0 on July 17th, 2008 5:51 pm

    Ding, age just a number and is all in the mind. ;)

    Our youth is never lost. It just gets buried in conventions, protocols, and belief systems (some are good, some are useless, and some are downright counterproductive) that we accumulate over the years.

    We just need to do a bit of preventive maintenance once in a while and throw out all the useless and counterproductive layers of our character once in a while.

  14. Jeg on July 17th, 2008 6:33 pm

    But benny, one of the models (i.e., models of what success looks like) our Pinoy poor have are the examples of the Middle Class with whom they have a more direct contact. And what do they see? A bunch of consumerist, uncreative, cellphone-toting, fashionistas who dont want to have anything to do with them. They need better models than this. The other models of success they come in contact with are government officials. Need I say more?

  15. benign0 on July 17th, 2008 7:33 pm

    That’s true, Jeg. A friend of mine wrote about that need for a role model for the poor here, particularly in this excerpt:

    2. Élites will always be the source of widespread change in society, good or bad.

    The masses instinctively take their cues from the 鬩te or members of the 鬩te. In fact, historically, the leaders of mass movements have often been members of the 鬩te themselves.

  16. caffeine_sparks on July 17th, 2008 8:09 pm

    our Pinoy poor have are the examples of the Middle Class with whom they have a more direct contact. And what do they see? A bunch of consumerist, uncreative, cellphone-toting, fashionistas who dont want to have anything to do with them.

    So spot on. Middle-class, mediocre zombies.

  17. cvj on July 17th, 2008 8:52 pm

    Jon (at 11:43 am), from your statement (at 9:17am) above, i don’t think you believe that eliminating corruption in government is a priority since you believe that.

    even with a completely efficient and uncorrupt government, most people will stay in the same state of poverty that they are in.

    So why bother? Let’s all be entrepreneurs, right?

  18. Bencard on July 18th, 2008 1:19 am

    “…age (is) just a number and its all in the mind.” benigno

    i guess folks like me, who’s “been there”, should let the young (in age, as well as in the ways of the world) vent their desire to change most everything they find as they develop, in their mind, a sense of ‘omnipotence’ and ‘invincibility’ or ‘immortality’. testing the waters (regardless of ability to swim or lack of it) is kinda natural to the young.

    there’s a million discoveries awaiting them in the course of their life, some may surprise them, others may not. but at the end of each discovery is a realization that most things are not what they seem to be when you were young.

    caveat: the youth must be warned not to throw their life away because of irreversible error of judgment,. e.g., one may not become a lawyer or a doctor, or an immigrant, with a serious criminal conviction.

  19. Jon Limjap on July 18th, 2008 9:06 am

    Jeg,

    I guess they’re able to imitate a lot of bad things from the middle class. Unfortunately they aren’t able to imitate the “earning money” part. Sad.

    sparks,

    It’s not that it’s not a priority, it’s just that there should be a balance struck somewhere: one cannot waste their life waiting for other people to fix things before they can fix their own lives.

    We will speak against corruption, we will ask against it, sure. But when we fail in making our lives prosperous I don’t think we should blame it either.

    ============

    One thing that I have seen amongst my peers in the IT community is that no amount of poverty or hardship can stop a brilliant mind from rising above it.

    A lot of my colleagues are children of farmers and laborers who were able to find scholarships first hand or do a lot of freelance work while studying and then succeed in their careers and businesses afterward. Some have gone abroad, others are staying. All of us are doing great, despite the economic downturn.

    I’m not saying that all of the poor should go to IT, or only geniuses can come out of poverty, but my point is for people who know or, at least, believe they can beat the odds, no bad economy nor shoddy president can stop them.

  20. Jon Limjap on July 18th, 2008 9:07 am

    chuck,

    The problem, I think, is the disparity in our own definitions of entrepreneurship. I’ll write about that next.

  21. benign0 on July 18th, 2008 9:17 am

    there’s a million discoveries awaiting them in the course of their life, some may surprise them, others may not. but at the end of each discovery is a realization that most things are not what they seem to be when you were young.

    Great lead into your caveat, BC. I’ve also got a video with an equally strong message to Young Filipinos. Check it out here.

  22. Jon Limjap on July 18th, 2008 9:30 am

    sparks,

    I had meant “we will act against it” rather than “we will ask against it”, sorry.

  23. cvj on July 18th, 2008 9:51 am

    Jon (at 9:07 am), looking forward to it, but i hope you’re not going to just redefine entrepreneurship to somehow exclude the Classes D & E who are self-employed.

  24. Jon Limjap on July 18th, 2008 11:36 am

    cvj,

    Well, it might look like that. But I will cite an example as to how some Class D & Es succeeded despite staying self-employed. ;)

  25. Jeg on July 18th, 2008 3:07 pm

    Unfortunately they aren’t able to imitate the “earning money” part.

    What do you mean, Jon? Get hired, earn money. That’s about it. Then spend them all on… stuff. The poor have that part down pat, too. I suppose they havent learned the ‘max out your credit card’ part since card companies dont target them. But as soon as they earn enough, theyll get that part down, too.

  26. Jeg on July 18th, 2008 3:10 pm

    Well, it might look like that. But I will cite an example as to how some Class D & Es succeeded despite staying self-employed.

    Looking forward to that. But youre preaching to the choir here. That message has to reach the right people, and those people dont have internet, and the middle class in general — in general — dont want to have anything to do with these people. I think we should take benny’s other post to heart and preach to the unconverted, but how to get your message of financial success to the poor?

  27. Jon Limjap on July 18th, 2008 3:14 pm

    Jeg,

    When they get a credit card, doesn’t that mean that they’re middle class already?

    Seriously, what are today’s middle class? Former members of the lower class that sent a relative abroad propelling them to the middle class? Grandchildren of farmers, laborers, and soil tillers?

    If a huge chunk of the middle class are former members of the lower class, doesn’t that mean that, deep down, they’re just one and the same?

    I don’t see what you’re driving at Jeg.

  28. Jon Limjap on July 18th, 2008 3:17 pm

    Jeg,

    I will mainly be preaching to Chuck, actually. :p But what you mentioned is part of the deal here — a big chunk of the problem that have to be addressed.

    Thanks for reminding me.

  29. Jeg on July 18th, 2008 3:27 pm

    I don’t see what you’re driving at Jeg.

    No, dont get hung up on the credit card. It’s a figure of speech. What Im driving at is that the middle class is, shall we say, uninspired and uninspiring — in general. And I commend you if you are indeed trying to inspire people. (By the way, I think Im middle class, so that doesnt get me off the hook. Im definitely uninspired. But I do my best. :-) )

  30. cvj on July 18th, 2008 3:31 pm

    Perhaps deep down, the Middle Class may have many similarities with the Poor, except that the former has the urge to preach to the latter.

  31. Jon Limjap on July 18th, 2008 3:52 pm

    cvj,

    So the point becomes, let’s just shut up?

  32. cvj on July 18th, 2008 3:59 pm

    No that would be worse. The point is to have a dialogue where we treat the Masa as an equal and not someone who needs to be ‘educated’. IMO, at least the education has to be two-way.

  33. benign0 on July 18th, 2008 5:19 pm

    What Im driving at is that the middle class is, shall we say, uninspired and uninspiring — in general.

    I think you guys hit the nail on the head with this one. There is nothing inspiring about even the most highly-educated of our lot. The only inspiration that seems to win hearts among the masses is the Wowowee sort.

    Maybe it’s the reason why the masses (and characters like cvj) can’t get past their impression of the rich (as also evident in how they are portrayed on TV and movies) as no more than a bunch of crooks.

  34. Jon Limjap on July 18th, 2008 6:38 pm

    As promised, my post on entrepreneurship is up:

    http://www.filipinovoices.com/filipinos-and-entrepreneurship-whats-the-real-score

    Unfortunately I don’t think I was able to fulfill my promise of “citing an example as to how some Class D & Es succeeded despite staying self-employed.”

    I’ll try to do that in a separate article.

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  36. http://www.philippinesnewsvote.com on August 4th, 2008 9:07 pm

    Waiting for the ‘perfect’ president…

    We Filipinos have been imbued with the idea that our hopes for prosperity lie squarely on the shoulders of the elite, the “haves”, a handful of leaders and/or a few “extraordinary” individuals. Our society has come to (or, more appropriately ne…

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