Therein lies, their lies
Originally published in Heraldo Filipino Volume 38, Double Issue
It’s always easier said than done.
Progress is something that we strive to achieve, be it in any aspect. We have our personal goals that we aim to progress on, the communities we belong to create collective standards as a key to progressing, and there lies a larger, objective view of progress that not everyone wants to attain, yet everyone deserves. Often, in campaigns, most especially political ones, a “progressive” agenda is at the forefront of their banners, yet genuine progress remains a dream for the majority as even though they can see it, they can’t feel it.
From the promised change to a new society, the idea of progress is warped in the worst way possible. After all, the system, which is supposedly bound and held by truth, is also twisted by the food of fools: deception. The poison could guise itself in sugar-coated truths or an outright lie through and through. Societies ingested this toxin for years that it has become its fuel to function, rotting the system to the core. Corruption stretches to the extent of no hesitation to exploit every single crevice of the masses they are supposed to be serving, even before power is acquired.
It’s infuriating to see the needs and hopes of the people be used as a catalyst by the ruling bodies, mainly for their own accord.
Services, promises, and the likes are depicted, or rather marketed, to be the dream of most. Words that spew out of the mouths and public materials of aspiring leaders could be, at the very least, one step away from their crippling status quo, or so many believe. Social mobility, in the dawn of rapid inflation and insufficient wages, is a faraway dream for the majority. However, people in power will exhaust their promotional images to embody the affirmations of a better tomorrow. From the campaigning proper to annual addresses, political promises of progress will always be included.
It’s tiring to hear the chants or read taglines within the plane of “We are inclusive! We rise together! We will be better!” when there’s barely a concrete vision of genuine, inclusive progress. The what is always promised, but never the how. The compromise is to be burdened by many, but as long as the upper echelon feels enough, then it is progress made wrapped with a bow.
Before, the flags of inclusivity waved pride, resistance, and empowerment, yet in the eyes of the power-hungry, there is no exception. They say there are safe spaces here, but not to all as wearing the clothes that fit your skin is too much; equality is alive yet there is a clear disparity in bureaucracy, where whoever clings harder to the padrino system could process things easier; and freedom is valued until someone uses it for dissent.
Under those with power, inclusivity and progressiveness are skewed to be mere tools that weave the web of lies.
Privilege is a bitter pill, but as meds work, it’s necessary. Recognizing where we stand is vital in ushering a progress that would not leave anyone behind. The power that lies within our privileges could do wonders, be it revolutionary or ruination. In the right hands, this prerogative is the catalyst for the genuine progress that is locked behind the chains of false promises. Before possibilities are created and opportunities are opened, there is a needed reform which without it, words remain empty.
If genuine progress could be measured by the mere amount of events organized or by the towering heights of buildings, I would not have spent my time writing this.