SMALL IS BEAUTIFUL... ~ pag me time Nick Joaquins biting essay (A Heritage of Smallness) on our shortcomings -- the penchant for small things, small efforts and accomplishments, etc. -- was spot-on. And with the pervasive culture of corruption in our national (and local) lives, there seems to be no solution in sight for our lack of development and grinding poverty for the majority of Filipinos. But the big and powerful nations in the world today (the US, Japan, China, and even the First World -- Europe) started out small. Japan in the Middle Ages was locked in constant mortal combat (shingoku jidai -- civil war lasting centuries) amongst themselves -- village against village, clans versus other clans, provinces against provinces that were ruled by powerful local lords, the daimyos. However, they had bushido -- the strict code of honor -- that the samurai lived and died by. The samurai were disciplined unto death; and the ordinary people knew their places, and worked relentlessly to serve their masters and communities. They had discipline, and when they were finally united as a single nation under the Shogun (Ieyasu Tokugawa), Japan became an emerging world power when the West opened them up to the rest of the world (during the Meiji Restoration). We were granted our independence by the Americans right after World War II. Ever since then, our kind of democracy has been unique in the whole world. Why? Because we never had the discipline to fully observe the rules. No national ideology, or one united national consciousness -- and therefore no single recognizable identity of the Filipino. Then, when the diaspora of OFWs began, we also started to have the reputation of being maids (domestic help) -- but very good quality workers! And why not? These OFW maids were usually college graduates and professionals who couldnt find fulfilling and sufficiently supportive livelihood here. Then, our really talented and brainy people (doctors, lawyers, nurses, engineers, academics, etc) also joined the diaspora to everywhere and anywhere in the world -- to find better work. Leaving behind the teeming millions of backward poor more and more unable to get the services that would enable them to develop into better citizens, themselves. Instead, that work was left to the government, which of course has always been mired in the swamp of personality politics -- and, yes -- corruption. So today what we have is essentially a kind of controlled anarchy. Utter chaos with the semblance of a sedate state of non-development. And, as always, we fight amongst ourselves -- even for such small matters as a difference in opinion. Or as the urban legend goes, a lot of karaoke singers have already died for daring to sing the Sinatra song My Way wrongly. We cant seem to get our acts together long enough to really make a difference. We are always divided -- a characteristic fact that has never been lost upon our politicians, who divide and rule accordingly. Our traditions -- like the commercial annual festivals -- are based on the principle of patalbugan and like the local town fiestas, have an annual cycle... a horizon that never varies. Its a self-fulfilling prophecy that follows unerringly the economic boom-bust cycle. Which is just as applicable to the national economys performance. Howsoever, there is one thing going for the diminutive Filipino: our inherent smallness. Pacquiao started out small (flyweight or thereabouts) in his incredible journey to winning eight world boxing titles in different weight divisions (and still counting). He personifies the modern Filipino phenomenon. Our farmers are small producers. So are the many Thai or Vietnamese farmers -- but they have a lot more expanses of rice lands than we do -- so its not surprising that they would out-strip our rice production and be exporting to us. We have lots of coconut lands -- and our small coconut farmers/tenants (now known as leaseholders) harvested small and also paid small (one peso per kilo of copra) dues to the government -- which eventually grew into hundreds of billions, now known as the infamous Coco Levy Fund. The lowly coconut (which we hardly think about) has 37 products and by-products, exported to 114 countries. One third of our population is dependent on coconut production. Our rural communities should forget about Imperial Manila and develop themselves as best as they can. If they have/elect good leaders (like the late Jesse Robredo), they could make a turn-around in a few short years and enjoy an economic renaissance. Some national government agencies (NGAs) still have able civil servants that work tirelessly to bring national resources down to the grassroots level. Not all are corrupted, although the corrupted system as a whole, unfortunately, seems always able to poison many government services and programs. Anyhow, the local government units are the saving grace for many local communities. Look at Davao City and its lion -- Mayor Duterte. Many dont like him -- but he has made Davao what it is today. You cant argue against success... This is not to say that every local town should have its own Duterte. That is like using a sledgehammer on thumbtacks. But local communities have far more manageable issues and problems. If the national budget resources (IRA) are only allowed to really reach the local levels, we will see our countryside bloom -- slowly, and hopefully, in a sustainable manner. Then we will see that, indeed, Small is Beautiful. ^_^
Posted on: Thu, 27 Mar 2014 18:26:46 +0000
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