THE number of deaths in the Philippines is increasing. Life is getting cheaper. Sadly, while all of these are happening, many Filipinos are not bothered.
Violence is increasing but it is not a doing nor a mere effect of a single cause in society. Violence is a human drama, and its actors are worth knowing.
One, there are those who are not bothered because they really don’t care. They live their lives like business as usual. These are those who would rather take a picture of a dead man on the street than call the police for help. All accidents are instagrammable, and are as fascinating as facebooking. These people don’t see themselves as part of society. Worse, they are even suspicious if society exists. Life is an individual enterprise.
For the lack of a better term let’s call them individualists. Seriously though, this is an ideology that has contaminated the various spheres of consciousness from social media to fashion and even religion.
Second, are those who believe that the killings that continue to happen are not even enough. Unlike individualists, these people care so much for society. They believe that society must be defended. Thus, criminals and deviants do not and cannot belong to society. A good life is free of crime. The smallest act of theft should cost an arm or at least a finger. Rape, therefore, should mean death (perhaps Dr. Manny Pacquiao belongs to this group). These people dream of a perfect society, at least unconsciously. They are not different from President Ferdinand Marcos who believed that his Bagong Lipunan would be the New Jerusalem. It is a world free from sin and disturbance. One cannot hear even a dog’s bark.
Finally, there are those who avoid being bothered because they are tired of being bothered by the killings. These are the ones who would leave everything to divine providence. Heaven will have its way of punishing the oppressors and vindicating the oppressed. After all, there is such a thing as God’s will. Let us just bow down in silence therefore and pray harder.
Different reactions all leading to the same effect: violence. There is violence not just because people are getting violent. Sadly, it has increased because we are all contributing to it. It has increased because a fraction of society thinks that they do not have anything to do with it. Worse, others feel that they should not have anything to do with it. Equally worse are those who support and justify it. The worst are those who are already conscious of the presence of moral evil and still prefer to stay silent.
While violence continues to increase, some would prefer to just continue watching. Many of us remain sad; some are hopeful but, honestly, still sad. We cannot do anything about the things happening around us except but be sad. The most that we can do is to reflect on our sadness. This sadness must have a reason.
The Slovenian philosopher and social critic Slavoj Sizek analyzed violence as a compound of various acts and their contexts. For him, it is a complex combination of humanity’s activity and inactivity. Depending on the context, even our non-violent decisions can be the best contributions to violence. In Sizek’s words “sometimes a polite smile can be more violent than a brutal outburst.”