I blurted, "I am getting out! This country is going to the dogs." Just that, out of the blue.
"No, it isn't," my friend argued, who I forgot was seated at a spitting distance from where I was contemplating life.
Yeah, right. She could say that. Probably her manicured nails and dolled-up face could finally stop the perverted system that would soon annihilate this country. But first she has to get past her nightly clubbing to see the social illnesses plaguing every institution there is.
I am a believer of all that's good but I soon realized that good is just a tiny speck in a gargantuan crap. I and the million others live in a world where hope remains a pacifying concept and reality speaks of destruction.
The Filipinos built a system that would not only eradicate them but the country as well. We set up governments to serve the good of those we elected and their cohorts, but not really the masses.
I am a witness to it. Though many would argue that my reality is not everybody's…then good. If that were a fact then that fact would prevent us from spiraling downward fast.
Every politician speaks of good intention for the lot of many, especially the unfortunate. But then, a politician is a walking contradictory. He acts to defy what he speaks about. From where I came from, every project and program enacted purportedly for the good of the people would mean cover-up for generating funds for the next elections or to sustain a newfound or old addicting lifestyle.
Cohorts would take advantage of every opportunity possible. They would cunningly squeeze out taxes money from all government transactions to pay for their vacations or fund their kids' school fees. Taxes fund even the trip to the beauty parlor while government employees complain of impossibly low salaries.
An ordinary government employee who more likely than not is a relative to the politician makes it a point to ensure that everyone is aware of his familial ties and punctuates it by carrying a gun. He carries his weight around demoralizing further those who are already demoralized by the system.
And a government institution is home to countless perversions and immorality. Authorities flaunt their immorality like a war medal, beaming with pride. Immorality becomes the norm. And if you are a happy family-oriented person, then you are a big loser.
The science of our politics is simple. Result of the elections is decided by money. Once seated, the politician works on paying back himself and his benefactors every way possible. Relatives and friends are given government positions or government projects because the politician feels he owe them more than the majority. Those who are inopportune come to the politician for money. They come in multitudes and their needs could not be adequately supported by the politician's pay slip. So he works harder to find ways to get money for these people and the next election.
Majority of us are starting to accept this as the norm. We are losing the strength to fight for the right because we have successfully made a hybrid of the wrong. We made a science out of it that it appears now like human nature working.
I could not blame my friend for not feeling the same way as I do. The science of our system made the wrong so natural that many of us no longer find fault in it.
And this is how we annihilate ourselves.
