3 Steps Towards Progress That Most Pinoys Find Too Difficult To Implement

The Philippines is a country with great potential, I will not deny that. However, I will go on to note that time and time again we fail to make anything out of these potentials and continue to flounder about as a failed nation. No matter how skilled our athletes, regardless of how beautiful our beauty queens and despite the intelligence of our intellectuals, we are still regarded as a nation of fools, whores, scoundrels and, most importantly, slaves.

Yep, that’s one thing people on the media never tell you. The media would probably kill just to cover up the simple fact that majority of our countrymen might be free in the physical sense but are mentally, emotionally and spiritually enslaved by a feudal culture and a biased media. But enough of that. If you’re sick and tired of the garbage our society is trying to shove in our faces, then I think it’s time we tried something different. It’s after all true that expecting a different result while repeating the same wrong methods is a sign of madness.

So if you really want to make a little difference, here are some ideas on how to start. Remember, the biggest of changes often begin with small steps.

We Need to SHUT UP

Yes, as hurtful as it may seem to your neighbors who are straining their vocal chords to sing Never Say Goodbye by Bon Jovi, we really need to shut up. As mentioned in my previous article, we are not at all that different from a rowdy classroom where all the students want to get the teacher’s attention at the same time. Yes ladies and gentlemen, we are a loud people not just vocally but visually as well. This can be best seen in the way that the President’s sister, her fanatics and imitators are trying to shove her life in our faces, even though most of us probably have problems of our own and could really care less about an aging woman’s love-life and opinions.

In the end, our inability to keep quiet all too signifies our “me, me, me” mentality and our tendency to raise our voices when everyone is already talking. At the end of the day, I can only shake my head and agree with fellow realist Gogs that KSP really is the “root of all evil” and that it is all too often our attention-whoring and sense of entitlement that prevent us from making any real progress.

So please people, let’s shut up, even for just a while; not just verbally but also visually and culturally. Instead of shouting our alleged “achievements” at everyone around us and instead of bellowing at our critics, let us first take a step back, take a few deep breaths, close our eyes and…

Learn to Listen and Read on a Deeper Level

Well, Filipinos aren’t the only people who are not prone to listening. Heck, the Americans tend to be quite well-known for being stubborn. But really people, while being stubborn is okay, I still think we should at least think about what is being said to us.

Now look, it doesn’t mean that we’re simply going to accept all criticism and keep our mouths shut; what I’m saying is that we should at least take the time to hear what needs to be said and understand what is written. Sometimes what is being said and what is written aren’t so simple. Sometimes, there’s more to it than what we can immediately see. As a people, we need to learn how to read between the lines and listen for what is not being said instead of just focusing on what is immediately obvious.

Connected to the statement above, majority of Pinoys need to just shut up so they can hear themselves think. And, speaking of thinking…

Thoroughly Thinking Things Through

Another major problem with most Pinoys is that they just react immediately instead of putting things under careful consideration. If anything, this kind of behavior is a fairly primitive one and is not at all that different from the way that certain animals will bite you if you step on them. It is our tendency to react instead of making a proper response that has made so many of our efforts to save or improve our country an exercise in futility.

As a people, we really need to think things through if we want to get anywhere. Related to the statements above, we need to shut up and mull over the stimuli we get if we want to make some right and proper sense of it. Unfortunately, being attentive to stimuli has never been the strong point of many Filipinos. Okay, here’s a rundown of what needs to be done.

First we need to think about the past. What brought us to this point? Why did we do what we did in the past? What could we have done to make things a little different? These are questions we first need to think about before we go on. This is very important because not knowing where you made a mistake will probably just lead to even more mistakes and the problems will just go on and on.

Next, we need to think about what’s happening and what we’re doing about it. So just what are we doing as a people to help out our country? Do we even know what we’re actually doing?  So just why are we doing what we are doing in the first place? Try asking yourself those questions first before you choose to go on.

Lastly, let’s plan ahead. Where are we going as a people? Are we sure that we’re headed in the right direction? If so, what are our reasons for traveling in a given direction? While there may always be a tomorrow, are we truly prepared for the tomorrow we’ve prepared for ourselves? Does a bright future await the Filipino people, all things considered? Or are we doomed to become a dystopia if we aren’t already?

Grimwald

I HAVE RETURNED TO LAY WASTE TO OUR ENEMIES!