Post-Sona: Ending An Endless Culture Of Hate

Friday, 29 July 2011 05:21

Written by Aaron Benedict De Leon

In the wake of all commentaries and reactions to the President’s State of the Nation Address last Monday, I’ve been led to believe that there have been groups doing the same burning of effigies, the same old political street theater and the same old cries year in and year out. These movements are always premised to their claim that the government has been a constant failure in their eyes.

I don’t know if they have correct sense of political activism in their ideological foundations, nevertheless, I feel that its sense has been distorted because the aforementioned people just never seem to get contented, or at least give reprieve and just period for any administration which comes new.

Political Activism loses its relevance when it seems that all the vigilant networks are doing is to simply pin point what the government fails to do for them. It seems as if government has been doomed to fail with their lofty and overly ambitious expectations.

I will not name names, and mention what group or groups have continuously been in front of these anti-government movements, calls for resignation and many other forms of callousness.

But I wish to echo a common sentiment I do not only share with a few people, but with many young people who choose to keep silent about the issue. Yes, we are not only suffering a culture of corruption in government, but also a corruption in branding.

We, the youth, have been judged to be rowdy activists who know nothing but whine, complain and blabbermouth the government about what it has failed to do.

In no terms shall we allow people to judge us further than what we have been subjected to for many years and even decades now.

Young people, in general, are not all activists nor are we full time whiners. Let me remind the general public that young people too, have achieved and labored, despite these turbulent times.

Young people have taken the lead in several volunteer efforts. Young people have creatively and artistically echoed their ideas and advocacies through the medium of arts and independent film making. Young people have excelled in Sports and other recreational activities.

But we refuse the idea, that because of the actuations of a few, that we are currently branded as a generation of whiners and no good achievers.

The young generation on our side, does not wish the government ill, though we are of the belief that constructive engagement and criticism is an essential feature in the improvement of the democratic governance process in our country. We want the government to succeed, and we do not take our criticism to a level of callousness that hit personalities, instead of issues.

We want to send across an important message, to the public, and to our government, that on the other side of the youth sector’s fence, there is a group willing to cooperate, participate and help government in the attainment of our sector’s dreams.

We are not overly ambitious about what government can do for us. We simply want reforms to slowly take place, for gaps to be narrowed and for young people to slowly realize that there is a civil society and government working together to help them attain their personal goals and ambitions in life.

We cannot fall into this system of retribution, anger and hate over the problems that have beset our youth sector. Instead, the focus should be geared more towards building bridges, creating mutual points of agreement and having consensus on concrete plans that will make quality education for everyone a possibility.

Educational reforms will only take place if we stop antagonizing government. It does not mean our vigilance or lobbying would stop as well, but we must keep an open mind about the people who shall carry forward the reforms that we want, meaning that we must act and treat other Education stakeholders like partners, instead of bullies.

We are not asking civil society to be friends with our government, but all we are asking is that a code of civility and respect be started by our friends from the youth civil society sector towards people that represent our government. At this time, we just cannot afford to divide an already fragmented Philippines, structurally, topographically and culturally.

The youth should start to realize that they can be engineers of peace and reform, but only if they put a stop to this culture of burning bridges, and come to a reflection that what they are burning is not just an image of what they hate, but also the sector they wish to represent.

The State of the Nation Address can be interpreted in so many ways, but the State of the Nation is not solely in the hands of the President or the government. The State of a Nation is shaped by the collaborative effort of the government, the general public and the civil society, which includes groups and leaders of the youth sector.

Therefore, the failure of the government is also the failure of our youth sector to pressure the government to live up to its duly elected promise.

Thus, instead of wasting our efforts in futile endeavors such as burning effigies and calling our government officials’ various names, let us pressure them to initiate programs and reforms without having to resort to personal attacks, and instead focus on the urgency, form and substance of our claims.

At the end of the day, it is only through our goodwill to also change, that government will feel a need to respond and deliver what it ought to, to us, and to our people.

We must end this endless culture of hate, rebuild the brand of the youth sector and help government create programs and projects that we can support, for the good of our constituency.