“There is a tide in the affairs of men which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune.” Brutus, in William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar.
Come to think of it, what is flood but the convergence of many drops of rain? Rain is good. It causes our crops to grow. It provides life-giving water to our rivers and streams. But rain becomes destructive when we irresponsibly, as ecology experts say we did in Tino’s case, allow the many drops to become a rampaging flood.
Protest groups are forgetting that separate initiatives do not change unjust systems, do not topple corrupt governments or remove greedy officials. To accomplish any or all of today’s socio-political imperatives, individual pushback initiatives have to be taken at the flood and thus become an irresistible force that would move things in the right direction.
It’s another way of saying that individuals cannot make a difference. Filipinos must unite to stop political dynasties from pushing millions of us to the edges. Divided, we will never have the fortune of an egalitarian economic system, a proportionately participative political system and a liberating cultural system.
Our brokenness is precisely why our protest marches are not a bit scaring people on top. More than thinning crowds, our smug executive and legislative officials see two, three, even more separate groups that cannot agree on one narrative. Those in power don’t even have to divide to conquer us. We are already divided. We are already a conquered people whose protest marches are nothing more than a pesky fly to a dog that is feasting on a chunk of fetid meat.
Among the groups are so-called progressives who cannot go with religious groups. There is also a pro-Duterte group that wants BBM to resign so Sara can take over. This is opposed by a pro-Marcos group that believes a Marcos is better than a Duterte. Disjointed group leaders were even throwing shade on one another.
They are one in anger but not in the object of their anger. Some are angry at the abstract moral evil of corruption and calling for the abstract values of transparency and accountability. Others are angry at an unjust system that should be replaced with an egalitarian system, peacefully by one group but violently by another.
Unity can start around the most basic goal of dislodging corrupt political dynasties by reforming an election system that gives them exclusive access to power. More people will also rally around the idea of attaining the above objectives without resorting to violence. We can all unite for a nationwide call to not vote for anybody that belongs to a political dynasty in 2028.
Disclaimer: this is not a call for the “United Front” that the extreme left has co-opted. For once in our troubled nation’s life we need to be just simply Filipinos. Not liberals or conservatives, not Christians or Muslims, not rich or poor, but just Filipinos who are done being pushed to the edges by political dynasties.
Learn the lesson of the rain. Unless taken at the flood, individual initiatives cannot make a difference, cannot lead to fortune.