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“In Australian governmental discourse the indigenous peoples are always said to be either excessive or lacking: excessive in their political demands, their drain on the public purse, their poverty; lacking in their recognition of the government’s ‘good intentions,’ in their community health standards, in their spirit of enterprise and individual responsibility.”
This analysis is also applicable to Philippine politics. The Philippine government attributes the same characteristics of excess and lack to poor Filipinos. The academe provides ideological support while the media popularizes this type of thinking.
It is common for politicians and mainstream commentators to complain about the excessive political demands of poor Filipinos. They are always asking for more human rights, democracy, rice, jobs, land, housing, cheaper medicines and free education. These popular demands are viewed as irrational since they deplete the resources of the state, which make public services more inefficient.
Aside from being “excessive,” the poor are accused of being ungrateful for the numerous assistance packages provided by the government. Philippine President Gloria Arroyo is upset because the poor are always forgetting the pro-poor programs of her administration. The poor are always questioning the noble intentions of the president.
Reactionary scholars insist the poor are to blame for their own poverty since they lack proper education, skills, English language proficiency, good manners, civic virtues, and a sense of entrepreneurship. The poor are not maximizing the opportunities that society provides to everybody.
A variation of this theme is: The poor are multiplying fast. They are extraordinarily fertile. They eat tons of rice. They send too many text messages. Workers buy too many cigarettes and beer. But at the same time, their worldview is parochial and they lack the spirit to succeed in life. (Read: they are stupid and lazy.)
Take for instance the reproach against farmers and overseas Filipinos. During the 1970s, Filipino farmers profited from high agricultural yields. But economists said the farmers didn’t use the money to invest in modern farming machines. Instead, the farmers bought TV sets, washing machines and other home appliances. Now farmers are poorer and the agricultural sector is declining fast.
Overseas Filipinos and their families are also criticized for their wasteful spending habits. They are buying too many consumer goods instead of investing for the future.
It is indeed peculiar that the poor are seen by the elite to be both excessive and lacking. However, the elite’s perception is contradictory, myopic and unfair. The truth is that the elite resents the ability of the poor to “indulge in pleasure” despite their excesses and lacks. The poor are accused of being perverts – they enjoy their excesses and lacks.
What is the implication of this prejudiced viewpoint? The poor are ridiculed as abnormal and incomplete individuals. They are treated as parasitic citizens. They are part of the community but excluded from enjoying genuine economic, social and political privileges. They can vote during elections but the unthinking, emotional, and uneconomic poor do not deserve good governance.
The analysis above can help explain the current cash subsidy program of the government. The insulting dole outs are given to the poor precisely because the elite government views its unfortunate people as both excessive and lacking.
The poor are looked down upon because of their wretched conditions. Token measures are enough to satisfy their minimum needs. After all, they may be numerous but they are unable to comprehend what constitutes effective leadership.
In the eyes of the state, the poor are not mature enough to handle more rights and privileges in a modern democracy. Therefore, pitiful cash subsidies will suffice.
The same thinking governs the policies of the state toward radical activists. The extreme left has excessive demands (agrarian reform, national industrialization, peace negotiations). But they lack sincerity and right attitude. Their ideology is outmoded. They are inherently violent. They cannot be trusted. Their goals cannot be assimilated to mainstream values. Therefore, they must be eliminated from the body politic.
Activists should not be allowed to corrupt the thinking of other Filipinos. And this is what we are witnessing today – the abhorrent slaying and kidnapping of activists and other critics of the state.
There is excessive exploitation in the Philippines but resistance seems to be lacking. Filipinos are angry but they seem to be helpless. The equation should be reversed. The poor should realize that oppression is excessive because they allowed it to happen.
French philosopher Alain Badiou writes that “a truth is solely constituted by rupturing with the order which supports it.” He adds that new perceptions come about through events that reorganize the previously known. The poor, in their very excess/lack, will decide whether it is already time to rupture with the order and create a new event.
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(Mong Palatino is a Filipino youth activist, news editor of Yehey!, a Philippine-based Web portal, and regional editor for Southeast Asia of Global Voices Online. He can be contacted at mongpalatino@gmail.com and his Web site is www.mongpalatino.motime.com. ©Copyright Mong Palatino)
