‘America’s experience, something many Filipinos politically inclined are quite familiar with, just tells us that in a society proud of its democratic heritage and of its democratic institutions, there is no end to the struggles of 1776, of the 1860s, of the 1960s and of the years from 2016 to the present.’
HAPPY birthday to the United States of America! It’s been an amazing 245 years, albeit with a number of hiccups, but reaching 245 is an achievement to be proud of. Of course, the first 100 years were tough, what with the Civil War erupting on or about the 85th year of the country’s birth and ending only in 1864, the same year the country saw its first presidential assassination. But at least the emancipation of the Negro had been proclaimed.
One hundred years after that, America was again wracked by civil disturbance, once more involving the way the majority WASP society was treating the Black minority. A Civil Rights Act was to emerge from the conflict, but at the price of the fourth presidential assassination. The turbulent Sixties in America was mirrored around the world.
On its second decade in the 21st Century, America celebrates its 245th birthday once again deeply divided, with the supporters of its 45th president on one side of the divide and the rest of the country on the other. Civil rights issues remain, once again including voting rights issues as elements in the country seek to impose limitations on a citizen’s right to exercise his right and flex his power in the world’s leading democracy. But an economic divide lingers as well, fueling in part the greater social malaise; it will not be an exaggeration to say that as America celebrated its 245th over the weekend, its democratic ideals are facing their toughest challenge in decades.
America’s experience, something many Filipinos politically inclined are quite familiar with, just tells us that in a society proud of its democratic heritage and of its democratic institutions, there is no end to the struggles of 1776, of the 1860s, of the 1960s and of the years from 2016 to the present. Democracy as a system of government is something that has to be defended every day, supported every day, enriched every day. As generations go, especially those who had actively fought to preserve democracy usually in some form of war, new generations arise that have never known what it was to live in a far less democratic society, and who easily take for granted the freedoms they enjoy.
But even in a democracy there are interests that would flourish if some of those freedoms could be curtailed or even extinguished, and hence are threats to democracy. Some of these threats are benign — like business interests who would love to get a grip over elements of government who have the power to regulate their operations; others are more malignant because their intentions are more subversive. But both kinds of threats exist, side by side, within any democratic system, waiting for the proper moment to act.
Desiring to keep a society fit, democratically speaking, is no different from an individual desiring to keep himself physically fit. It is a never-ending, life-long, day-to-day battle.
There are many challenges: the weather may not cooperate today; a professional’s work schedule may be too tight tomorrow; the body itself may not be in tip-top shape another day. All these have to be taken into account, and dealt with properly, but they should only be temporary hiccups in an otherwise consistent program because, let’s face it, as you get older it gets tougher and tougher to stay fit, or even to just run in place.
As a society gets older, expands, and becomes far more complex, it also gets tougher and tougher to keep it cohesive and functioning well under a democracy.
I was at S&R Global yesterday, and I witnessed a glimpse into what is one of the basic problems of our own democracy, all of 123 years old (virtually half America’s age!).
S&R is a members-only club that allows patrons to shop mostly at wholesale prices so you can buy 10 boxes of corned beef at a much cheaper price than at the grocery, never mind that you only really need four cans of the stuff.
Being a members-only operation, a guard stands at the door checking if someone wishing to enter has a valid card (and, these days, normal temperature!). No card, no entry.
But yesterday I saw an exception.
I was standing inside the club waiting for a friend to enter, when in walked a well-dressed lady (pearl earrings and all) who was not pushing a cart. Ah, I said to myself, maybe her husband is doing the pushing.
Soon enough the husband enters, also well-dressed albeit older and a bit stooped, and with a shoulder/messenger bag hanging from his left shoulder. Wife went up to him and spoke a few words and husband then started to look for something. To do so better he handed his messenger bag not to his wife, but to a third person — someone who obviously was a bodyguard! But guess what — bodyguard had no cart too!
As I glanced towards the door to check on my friend, so did bodyguard — and we both saw another bodyguard type pushing a cart (finally!) about to enter the store. But wait — he was stopped by lady guard (LG) who asked for his card. I saw him point to bodyguard — who by the way had now been left by Mr. and Mrs. VIP — and so bodyguard approached his colleague and that’s when I heard LG say, “Ilan ba ang card ninyo? Pag walang card, di pwede pumasok” as she continually blocked second bodyguard (aka BG#2) from entering. BG#1 was forced to turn on his heels and look for his patrons. Meanwhile, I kept an eye on BG#2 and on the door because now a line was building up and so many patrons could not come in.
Because of the congestion, BG#2 asked LG if he could simply stand inside the doorway as they awaited BG#1 to return. LG hesitatingly let him, but sharply instructed Security Guard (SG) to keep an eye on BG#2. Which was unfortunate, because SG was thin and meek and no match to the menacing appearance of BG#2. So I started to picture what would happen next, some of them comedic-like scenes from an imaginary movie.
BG#1 returns, and shows tough LG a membership card. “Iisa lang ang card ninyo? Dapat isa lang ang pwede pumasok!” This meant that Mr. and Mrs. VIP themselves should not have been allowed to come in together in the first place, because only one had a card. And now here were two additional “freeloaders,” their own factotums, who were trying to get in, apparently because Mr. and Mrs. VIP could not find it within their powers to push a supermarket cart themselves.
Guess what? As LG as arguing with BG#1, BG#2 had been taking baby steps away from it all and before you knew it he was no longer within my line of vision. When both LG and BG#1 turned and could no longer see BG#2, BG#1 said he would go and look for his colleague while LG turned to SG to berate him for failing to do his job. I thought SG would faint — but since St. Lukes was just across the street I said to myself he wasn’t too far from some of the best doctors in the country today.
Of course, BG#1 didn’t return; I bumped into the party of four between the stacks of chocolates and cookies with Mrs. VIP pointing to items which BG#1 would get from the shelves and hand over to BG#2, who would then put them in the cart. Meanwhile, Mr. VIP was looking old and phlegmatic and apparently was just there to pay for the shopping.
What has this story got to do with our ailing democracy? Nothing directly, but enormously indirectly. When the rich, the seemingly rich or, in this case, the (literally) old rich and /or powerful are able to get away with flaunting rules — any sort of rules — then you can indeed call documented rules like a Constitution a worthless piece of paper.
Will we get to our 245th year?
