Living for the moment

That pretty much sums up what i think about what happened to the Angelo Dela Cruz brouhaha. Personally, I think we should have just upped the ante and responded by sending more troops. Then lets see them try that hostage stunt again.
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Caution: Another fiery entry inspired by tonight's news

We are a petty nation

Why else would GMA back down on a well-established international policy of not giving in to terrorists demands? Knowing her, she does not care for a single countryman whos life was considered lost the moment he was abducted by the Iraqis. But she gave in because of pressure from the clamor of soft-hearted activists who are either up to no good or cannot tell the difference between peacekeeping and peacemaking and shifted the blame on his impending doom from the evil terrorists to the government of La Gloria.

Peacekeeping is not always good. The guardia civil kept the peace, but beneath the surface was a boiling mass of anger ready to explode. And in this case, its much worse. Yes, we saved one man's life, but we endangered the rest of the 85 million filipinos. It is a dangerous precedent that'll just give ideas to the rest of the terrorist federations on how to better negotiate with our petty nation. We also showed the world how little of a backbone we have.

Whereas other countries would have children going to museums and zoos for fieldtrips, cultivating their appreciation of art and culture, we have... noontime shows. God knows what the kids learn from there.

It doesnt stop there. This distorted culture of ours prides itself in texting, singing, dancing, boxing and stripping our way to stardom. And education has taken a backseat to all these things. Where else can a man who basically scorned the educational system hope to occupy the nation's highest post?

We have no heroes. Only superstars. Rizal is no longer the vogue. The advent of the telenovelas, reality TV and inane Lunchtime shows corrupted our values and sense of individuality. We are enamored by beauty, skill and eloquence, focusing nothing on the true strength of character. This generation has become too soft, too focused with the wrong kinds of dreams.

We have lost our edge as an english speaking country ever since some misguided "nationalists" decided to standardize on filipino as the learning instruction in the schools. Add to that the fact that texting basically kills any spelling aptitude we have left, we find ourselves becoming less and less the Little Brown American Brothers we once were. It has been so bad that the call centers are finding it more and more difficult to find new recruits who could speak unhalting conversational english.

We are dying as a country. The masa clamors for the government to help them... to dole out more food, to create more jobs, create more housing. Always asking more and more, doing less and less and procreating more and more. But still saving up for prepaid cards.

The future is grim. For one, we're going to end up in a major power crisis in two years. Why? Because Meralco/Napocor cant upgrade their plants. Why? Because their rates cant increase. Why? because the government doesnt have the backbone to implement any increase? Why because they are so scared of a lot of people getting angry.

Petty reasons. Petty lives. Petty country.

It is said that in the absence of a great dream, pettiness prevails. It grieves me to know that there is no higher purpose in what we are doing. There is no desire to prove everyone wrong, no desire to leave a legacy for the next generation. No one is angry enough to do more than stand idly by. They just get fed up, pack up, and leave.

I feel so helpless about what is happening. I feel a passion welling up inside wanting to shout out to the world that I want to help. I am sick of our society. I truly, truly want to change this.

But i dont know how.

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Disclaimer: This is a lament, not a rant