Linggo, Oktubre 13, 2019
Do you ever wonder why some democratic countries are highly disciplined while others aren't? It's because of the kind of democracy that runs these countries. The problem of the Philippines is not democracy itself but the kind of democracy that rules it. Before you want to go full Amos Yee bratty type of behavior - you better try to take a look where Singapore is now. Yup, I'm also silencing a certain stupid Peter Griffin lookalike who calls Singapore as "everybody's favorite tyranny". Singapore is still a democracy in spite of the strict rules but it's these strict rules that make it a functional democracy. Democracy is after all defined as a government by the people, for the people, and of the people. It's not a government that's only by the majority, for the majority, and of the majority. Karl Marx's quote that democracy leads to socialism can be true - only if it's a government that only caters to the majority. Sadly, the majority can be dead wrong and the minority can also be dead right.
The Philippines already has democracy. The missing component in itself is discipline. In truth, Filipinos today have too much democracy and too little discipline. They, like many Western countries today, really need more discipline than democracy. A good example of a country that has too much democracy and too little discipline is the United States of America. Why do you think children in a democratic country like Japan can have violence in their children's programming and not have school shootings? Why do you think children in the U.S. have all the baby-ing on TV shows yet school shootings happens a lot? The key is in the kind of democracy. Japan is a democratic country with good discipline. The U.S. is a democracy where discipline is hardly done. Japan has parents sitting down with their children as they watch TV. Americans? Well, you can think of Timmy Turner's parents from Fairly Oddparents as the norm in the U.S. right now.
Why do I think many Filipinos themselves just can't follow simple guidelines? There are rules but they aren't strictly enforced. How can you expect these rules to be strictly enforced if the SYSTEM itself is faulty? It's stupid to say, "Well, let's just replace the people but not the systems." It's like firing incompetent people in your company yet you refuse to upgrade your equipment for better performance or change the company flowchart. It doesn't matter how many competent people you hire if your equipment and process systems aren't working well. You can hire the best programmers in the world but if you're still using Windows 95 or lower - you can't expect them to do a better job. I would see that Filipinos who can't follow simple guidelines are a symptom of a much bigger problem. The much bigger problem itself is the SYSTEM that guides Filipinos.
Why are Japanese and Singaporeans more disciplined than Filipinos? Do you know Singapore used to be a country infested with crime and corruption? Do you know Japan had to struggle to get up out of the ashes of the fallen empire? It's not because Japanese and Singaporeans are born disciplined while Filipinos aren't. Nobody is ever born disciplined form the womb! People have to be taught right and wrong as they grow up because they're born ignorant. The difference is the system that runs people and not the race. Put Filipinos in democratic countries with good discipline and many of them will succeed in life. Illegal Chinese have long used the Philippines as a haven for their drug dealing because the country's system is so bad. If the Philippines had a good system then those illegal Chinese would think twice before hiding here! I remembered how saying that a change of environment is not the answer. Well, sending Filipinos to the U.S. and becoming worse can be attributed mostly to this - it's the system. American democracy is a severely flawed system that has caused many Americans to become that stupid. Fix it and many Americans will start to get out of their current state of stupidity. What's the use of politicians insisting on self-discipline if the system itself discourages it? I hope that Isko Moreno himself isn't just asking for self-discipline but implementing a SYSTEM that encourages discipline.
The system that runs the political arena (the constitution) itself is the reason why stupid, undisciplined voters arise. I used to be quite indifferent about the parliamentary and presidential while I was open to important amendments. Some people can argue that some presidential democratic governments are still progressive such as Taiwan and South Korea. Yet, they don't realize that these presidential governments have incorporated attributes of a parliamentary system. The Philippines is run by a popularity contest where the winner takes all. It's not a democracy anymore when the majority thumps the minority. The minority is still part of the people. Both the majority and minority are still part of a healthy democracy. The problem of the Philippines is not the issue of plurality votes which got Noynoy Aquino and President Rodrigo R. Duterte into power. The problem is that the elections for a long time have been popularity contests. It's just like everyone knows how Joseph Estrada himself has his problems with vices yet he won due to his popularity. President Duterte only won due to his popularity in plurality and his desire for constitutional reform or charter change gets IGNORED. Noynoy also won only because he's a scion of the Aquino clan and not because of whatever achievements he had while he was a legislator. Bum Aquino also won before because of the Aquino surname and lost because the surname has lost its relevance. In short, people are winning and losing via popularity rather than credibility.
The political arena is also full of undisciplined people for this reason. The current Philippine government is really inconsistent. Senate hearings have been a joke for a long time. Where is the weekly questioning done with the legislators? Where is the proper order in the Senate hearing? Are the majority and minority formalized to give their side of alternatives? Where are the real check and balance where both Majority and Minority duke it out for the common good? Having the mainstream media or any media is not enough. Some of the biggest media companies engage in partisan politics. Weekly questioning would always be covered by the media, which in turn, makes people who missed the live broadcast aware of the summary of this week's hearings. A lack of weekly questionings has made people rather complacent if you ask me.
Maybe, I could also mention the lack of competition contributes to why many Filipinos who stay in the Philippines aren't competitive. Great Filipinos that succeed abroad happen because they choose a system that encourages them to do better. The Filipino first policy sponsored by the late idiot Carlos P. Garcia (and further worsened by the 1973 Constitution followed by the 1987 Constitution) has caused Filipinos to be stuck with the loser mindset. Losers hate competition and they want to own the power themselves. Filipinos who embrace competition are bound to succeed. Filipinos who have succeeded abroad had to face competition before they got their crown. Filipinos who have made contributions to science had to face off against other scientists before they got their brilliant ideas pouring out. Filipinos who have faced much competition and learned from their losses are destined to be greater than Filipinos who stay in their comfort zone.
As said, the Philippines really needs a new system overhaul if it wants a well-functioning democracy. Otherwise, without a new system then they can expect an ever-increasing cycle of the typical problems such as Filipinos who hate to follow rules to persist. Do you want a system that evolves the Filipino or a system that evolves the stupidity prevalent among Filipinos?