Opposition should never be done for its own sake

The “opposition” keeps on going against the current administration under Duterte. But often, instead of putting out sensible points, they just say, “Duterte, dictator” or “Duterte, puppy of the Americans.” Despite the prevalence of tales of Duterte’s hand in death squads in Davao, these tales remain allegations – tsismis or gossip – so “Duterte, murderer” could only stand on a sign and not in a court of law. The left and SJW sides continue to oppose because they likely believe opposition should be done for its own sake. Because, it is argued that opposition for its own sake is a sign of democracy.

Is it?

Photo courtesy of CNN Philippines

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True opposition is never done for its own sake. You oppose an act because you believe it is wrong and you want it corrected. For example, you oppose insurgents doing violence, because they are violating human rights. You would oppose a tax law because of how it adds burden to the taxpayer, not because of who implemented it. You would oppose the Philippines annexing Sabah because, if we are a democracy, we should allow democracy in Sabah, letting the people there decide who they want to be under. You could oppose Duterte’s own foul mouth because it isn’t really good to let go in public. We bloggers here oppose a lot of habits and beliefs that Filipinos often cherish because we believe they are part of why the country stays in the pits. Opposition is done for a purpose.

I generally believe things should not be done for their own sake. Many things we do for our lives have purpose. We eat in order to find sustenance to live. We work in order to get the exchange currency for what we eat. We have hobbies to keep us stimulated and our minds honed. All actions are bound to have a unique purpose attached to them, because they are linked to our survival and well-being. If something has no purpose, it is wasteful and could hurt your chances of survival.

Sometimes, we get this temptation to do silly things for no reason. For example, people pretending to be in a travel location or pretending to be in a relationship. Why pretend? Because they don’t want to be left behind against people who do these things. But that’s not a good purpose. Some people might say, “but you have to be in a relationship, or you have to travel.” Why? “Because you just have to.” Why do you have to do something even if it serves no good purpose? You spend money to do this, go there, buy that, try to have someone do this. Sometimes it gives you unnecessary headaches. So what does it give you at the end? It only gives you a temporary high and nothing good for the long term.

One inspiration for this “for its own sake” mentality is commercialism. For example, fuel companies, travel companies, airlines, and more are experiencing a downturn in business, so they engage in some compaigns to convince people to travel, even for its own sake. Even blogs and social media are used for this. I consider this dishonest marketing and leading people to have wasteful lifestyles, leading to cases like those who beg for travel money. Sometimes, there is even badmouthing or pretentious moralizing against people who don’t get into fads. Things like, “you’re a closed-minded person if you don’t travel” or “you don’t appreciate this, you’re uncool!.” Now look at the political arena: “you’re evil if you don’t protest the Marcos burial or don’t support ousting Duterte.”

Back to the “opposition;” perhaps they are just putting up a show, to make it look like they’re doing something. As in, “Jesus is coming, look busy.” That would just be mere dishonesty. That’s just it, opposition for its own sake is intellectual dishonesty.

And there are those who like opposing to piss someone off. They’re probably bored in life, or don’t feel they’re getting enough “respect” or “brownie points,” so they try to oppose someone to try and makes themselves look cool. Then there are these who are pissed with people who don’t hate the things they do, so they “oppose” those other people without the same hate. But that’s all nothing more than trolling.

Now, what if someone you oppose is actually doing right? Say, Duterte reduces the steps to create businesses to just one, and all the anomalous fees are eliminated. Will you oppose this just because you’re the opposition?

Opposition for its own sake is not a sign of democracy being active; rather, it’s a sign of democracy’s being abused. Opposition is best done when it’s needed. Of course, it’s a problem when opposition is brutally suppressed; but that’s not happening now even under Duterte. It’s more like the “opposition” demonizes whoever doesn’t agree with them. Opposition in order to overthrow, certainly that’s not a good thing to do. Opposition should be based on substance instead of form, and not simply because you don’t have anything better to trip on at the moment. Opposing something for its own sake is just going on a wild goose chase.

ChinoF

I believe, as my cohorts here do, that what Filipinos embrace as their culture is what actually pulls the country down. And those who seem to be anti-dictators, who may also believe themselves to be “heroes,” are the real dictators.