Crisis Past, Crisis Present
(on the anniversary of forgotten glory)
The past is supposed to give us insights for us to maturely live our lives today in a society that has resulted from that very past. More often than not, understanding the kind of past that haunts us in the Philippines leaves us with the feeling of hopelessness, a disbelief in anything and everything in leadership, in government.
As KATIPUNAN’s guest columnist Manuel L. Quezon wrote of the ‘90s for our special issue, “collective self-loathing” is what has prevailed. And everything that once served as “inspiration” now end up “a tired, unsatisfying parody of all that came before.”
The ‘90s were a life-changing time for me, but I didn’t really know why it all happened until later. Now that I understand I find myself stuck with the dilemma of fighting pessimism while actually trying to apply this knowledge to my living today—in a present that needs to savor a bit of the past while spitting out the rest of it.
*These are excerpts from my column, (Memoir)izing, in KATIPUNAN’s special issue on the 1990s which is available now. Contact me or leave a message to order.
The past is supposed to give us insights for us to maturely live our lives today in a society that has resulted from that very past. More often than not, understanding the kind of past that haunts us in the Philippines leaves us with the feeling of hopelessness, a disbelief in anything and everything in leadership, in government.
As KATIPUNAN’s guest columnist Manuel L. Quezon wrote of the ‘90s for our special issue, “collective self-loathing” is what has prevailed. And everything that once served as “inspiration” now end up “a tired, unsatisfying parody of all that came before.”
The ‘90s were a life-changing time for me, but I didn’t really know why it all happened until later. Now that I understand I find myself stuck with the dilemma of fighting pessimism while actually trying to apply this knowledge to my living today—in a present that needs to savor a bit of the past while spitting out the rest of it.
*These are excerpts from my column, (Memoir)izing, in KATIPUNAN’s special issue on the 1990s which is available now. Contact me or leave a message to order.
posted by M.V. at 5:58 PM
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