Leaving Is Not An Option
The other day I was having a civil discussion among my friends, talking about the events that had occurred over the past 2 weeks. The rallies, the unwarranted arrests, the abuse of power, and so on. I figured we were all on the same page until one of them mentioned how much easier it’d be to leave the Philippines.
After stifling my anger for the next 30 minutes, I calmed myself down, and asked myself, do I have a right to blame them? Is it so bad to not want to offer yourself for the good of the country, especially if your life is on the line?
Life outside of the Philippines, though I don’t have experience myself, would be easier, comfier, and sane. Much more so than here. Aside from the grave issues that citizens have to face, there’s also the more stable economy, education opportunities, healthcare privileges, and countless others. In short, the grass is greener on the other side than it could ever be in the near future here.
But I have always believed that privilege is blinding, so blinding in fact that even those who feel that they are aware don’t understand the side of the oppressed if they are not the oppressed themselves.
You can always care about the lesser fortunate and still not understand their struggle, pain, and loss. It’s like looking at someone from above.
You will only be limited to an idea of what it’s like to be them, but from below, the view is much more horrid and pitiful. Some activists won’t know what it feels like to sleep hungry, and to wake up hungry, or to see their lives flash before their eyes.
This privilege blinds us so much that we fail to see why the Filipino is worth fighting for. We are the eyes from below. We know defeat like the back of our hand. What life is worth living with no failure when wisdom derives from failure and struggle? Would you rather you were born in a posh comfortable home with no idea of the evils in the world? Limit our lives to what we pleasure ourselves in? If that were the case, you’d be accusing hundreds of thousands of Filipinos not living at all.
I would argue that we are stronger than first-world countries in so many ways, like how we rise even if our hands are tied down with the weight of the world falling apart around us.
Our society is being set on fire in front of our very eyes, and you can stand to leave your home? The home that has taught you that the world is more than flashy plastic packaging and money, that the essence of being alive is rooted in passion, love, diligence, and strength in the face of adversity?
If you can be patient with others, with yourself, learn to be patient with the due process our country has to undergo before it sees better days. Change is not instantaneous, it is slow, straining, and sometimes feels futile, but in the end, our time will come, if we continue to fight the battles every day, one by one, not for us, but for everyone else too.
