Our caste system blinds us to human dignity

[Why is ours a damaged culture? Then consider: We are too weak to face a pandemic and the 21st century. How can we then make Juan de la Cruz thrive? Recall the story of creation.]

Our caste system blinds us to human dignity.

And everything is downhill from there, i.e., it explains our failings and why we are on the road to a failed state if we’re not there yet. No one will rescue us, but Juan de la Cruz himself. With due respect to our “institutions” and leadership, or whatever.

Recall the story of creation and Eden and the banishment of Adam and Eve. That was the starting point of the “rat race” of today. Satan was a given. Yet, the Creator said of this creation we call humankind, “It is good.” “It is good” will not fit into our finite minds. 

And why we think we can think like the Creator explains why we are today’s, Padre Damaso. One more time with feeling: Absolutism is folly. 

Recall that inherent in the story of creation is dynamism. And the photosynthesis phenomenon demonstrates it 24/7. Even Einstein conceded that there is a creator. That is unsurprising; he can’t be an Einstein if he didn’t recognize his mind was finite.

But he wasn’t stuck in dualism and was at the higher level of human development that the word relativism (or relativity) is associated with him. Patented, if you will. A highly respected person, people gave him space, yet a schoolgirl just walked in, introduced herself as a neighbor that she needed help with her math homework. She came again and again. 

How come we are what we are? We are parochial and insular. We value hierarchy and paternalism that we rely on political patronage and oligarchy that ours is a culture of impunity.

How far have we strayed from what this “rat race” is all about?

Imagine Adam and Eve are here with us today, in the 21st century. Recall that early on, they reinvented their world, from the old world to the new world – that we now call America.

They will, for their sake – and Juan de la Cruz – want the basics of water and electricity. They had everything in Eden, so they will want to replicate their world and rapidly pursue infrastructure development. From Eden, they learned what a virtuous circle is – as in the photosynthesis phenomenon, and will as swiftly move from a service-consumption economy to an industrial-investment economy.

They won’t let a despot like Satan tell them ever again, how to lead their lives. Eden was the best school to teach them personal responsibility. Precisely why they won’t offer dole-outs, as in paternalism. They won’t pull rank either as Satan did to them, as in hierarchy. Because they know what a culture of impunity can lead to – their banishment from the garden.

Respect for human dignity is what humankind learned from Adam and Eve. It is the mirror image of the 21st-century phenomenon we call “innovation.” And fundamental to human dignity is the hierarchy of human needs. Juan de la Cruz must have the basics of water and electricity. And beyond that, he can aspire to be a wealthy nation.

It is this aspiration inherent in humankind that drives innovation even in the 21st century. 

Human dignity is not limited to the elite class and oligarchy and institutions, including the church. We cannot pull rank and sprinkle dole-outs to Juan de la Cruz while we keep to our gated communities. And that, in our lifetime, is merely the basic unit of parochialism and insularity. It has migrated beyond this physical manifestation. And in spades. 

Why can’t our largest enterprises stand against one Vietnamese enterprise? They are more impoverished than we are. Why can’t our MSMEs move beyond livelihood undertakings?

Why are innovation and global competitiveness not inherent in Juan de la Cruz? But we created the Competitiveness Commission, supposedly to raise our competitiveness quotient. Yet, and we all know it, there is form, and there is substance.

Economists and lawyers and legislators can create commissions, including initiatives to alleviate the poorest of the poor, but innovation comes from Juan de la Cruz. How much he respects human dignity is how far he will go in the pursuit of innovation and global competitiveness. Because it demands internalizing how much humankind can aspire to raise one’s well-being.

Innovation is beyond 5G and artificial intelligence that we in the elite class like to discuss. Innovation is in the everyday need of Juan de la Cruz. That is why the blog speaks to the writer’s Eastern European friends.

They found themselves in liminal space, the realm between the known and the unknown, after the fall of the Soviet empire. Please tell us the rules of the free market. We are new at it and have not made money in eight years. Was turning their back to a world where they had jobs and daily rations of food the right thing to do? [Think of the OFW phenomenon and the 4Ps that we celebrate. See above; we’re on the road to a failed nation if we’re not there yet. Recall paradigm shifts.]

The one thing they could easily get into is day-to-day products, but then Western global behemoths already invaded their land. What to do?

There are no rules, only principles. The mindset is a carryover from the tyrannical regime they knew. Because the answer to their challenge is to create a culture of innovation, not to be automatons. And when the writer introduced them to Marketing 101, they were perplexed that it starts with the hierarchy of human needs. Because it is a perpetual fountain of innovation.

Even more when it got to the imperative of creating a virtuous circle. Imagine why humankind thrives. You know the photosynthesis phenomenon.

If it is not apparent yet, this posting is an attempt of the blog to open our eyes to the demands of the 21st century. Being overseas, the writer was free – from parochialism and insularity. Still, in his heart of hearts, he is Juan de la Cruz – and why he can speak to him as the blog does.

Our caste system blinds us to human dignity.

Beyond trade and global competition is foreign relations. Let’s pause some and ask ourselves, why did we put ourselves between a rock and a hard place? How else can we call what is happening in the West Philippine Sea and all these talks of Chinese intelligence in our midst?

Consider: Satan is a given. There are despots and authoritarian states, and history is replete with lessons.

We must get over our caste system so we can figure out who our friends must be despite their failings. Nor should we look at superpowers as superior to us, like America. That comes from our value of hierarchy and paternalism that reform and innovation aren’t inherent in Juan de la Cruz. 

This “rat race” is not about black and white or right and wrong, as in dualism. Respect for human dignity should dictate who these friends must be – as in pluralism and diversity, not despotism.

Think of why we didn’t pursue industrialization and settled for the OFW phenomenon. Why has “pwede na 'yan” become the mantra to raise the well-being of Juan de la Cruz? The pronouncement – “It is good” – did not exclude us.

We cannot wait for another global or local crisis before we wake up to the reality of this “rat race.” The story of creation and Eden and the banishment of Adam and Eve are lessons in spades.

Yet, we cannot turn on a dime. And to shift paradigm can put us in limbo, that we won’t know if we’re coming or going. What to do?

Enter: liminal space. We Filipinos can relate to how the Franciscans talk about liminal space. Because they would relate the story of John of the Cross, who is our namesake, Juan de la Cruz. He was imprisoned by mainstream Carmelites for being a reformist, in cahoots with Teresa of Avila. It was the worst prison cell, tiny except a space to lie and a teeny window way above the head.

While amid a liminal space, instead of being broken, he found it transforming, and rediscovered the courage to even more pursue his reformist agenda. We must give credit to the Catholic Church for canonizing both Teresa and John. In today’s evolving rightist-nationalist sentiments, they are pariahs for being progressives. Not unlike Christ, the greatest reformist of them all, who embraced the poor, the lame, and the sinners.

Gising bayan!

“True social reform has little to do with politics. To unmoor ourselves from the burdens of the past, we must be engaged in the act of continual and conscious self-renewal. All men are partially buried in the grave of custom. Even virtue is no longer such if it is stagnant.

“Change begins when we finally choose to examine critically and then recalibrate the ill-serving codes and conventions handed down to us, often unquestioned, by the past and its power structures. It is essentially an act of imagination first.” [David Henry Thoreau; American essayist, poet, and philosopher; 1817-1862]

“Why independence, if the slaves of today will be the tyrants of tomorrow? Moreover, that they will be such is not to be doubted, for he who submits to tyranny loves it.” [We are ruled by Rizal’s ‘tyrants of tomorrow,’ Editorial, The Manila Times, 29th Dec 2015]

“Now I know why Paul dared to speak of ‘the curse of the law’ (Galatians 3:13). Law reigns and discernment is unnecessary, which means there is little growth or change in such people. When you do not grow, you remain an infant.” [Faith and Science, Open to Change, Richard Rohr’s Daily Meditation, 23rd Oct 2017]

“As a major component for the education and reorientation of our people, mainstream media – their reporters, writers, photographers, columnists, and editors – have an obligation to this country . . .” [Era of documented irrelevance: Mainstream media, critics and protesters, Homobono A. Adaza, The Manila Times, 25th Nov 2015]

“National prosperity is created, not inherited. It does not grow out of a country’s natural endowments, its labor pool, its interest rates, or its currency’s value, as classical economics insists. [A] nation’s competitiveness depends on the capacity of its industry to innovate and upgrade.” [The Competitive Advantage of Nations, Michael E. Porter, Harvard Business Review, March–April 1990]

“You have to have a dream, whether big or small. Then plan, focus, work hard, and be very determined to achieve your goals.” [Henry Sy Sr., Chairman Emeritus and Founder, SM Group (1924 - 2019)]

“Learning and innovation go hand in hand. The arrogance of success is to think that what you did yesterday will be sufficient for tomorrow.” [William Pollard, 1911-1989, physicist-priest, Manhattan Project]

“Development is informed by a people’s worldview, cognitive capacity, values, moral development, self-identity, spirituality, and leadership . . .” [Frederic Laloux, Reinventing organizations, Nelson Parker, 2014]