Paradoxical society

By Joshua Corcuera

When we were young, innocent children, we were taught by our parents and teachers some values that they claim will be useful once we grow up. To have more friends and connections, we must be kind and helpful, grown-ups claim. To achieve our dreams, we must be disciplined and responsible, they added. And they were right, sort of.

For one, self-discipline enabled genuine learning and excelling in academics. Kindness also paved the way for one to gain more friends and receive help in times of need. It is ironic, however, that the values grown-ups teach to children do not necessarily transcend beyond the four corners of the classroom or outside one’s home. Case in point: some grown-ups teach children to be respectful, yet the same grown-ups support—or even idolize—icons who act without regard for human lives and human rights.

Aside from values, children were taught to dream—to aspire to be somebody to become productive members of society. To be lawyers who promote the causes of justice and fairness; to be accountants and auditors who uphold transparency and accountability; to be doctors who assure everyone is healthy; to be journalists who amplify the truth and fight disinformation; and so on. These professions are some of those that are taught and perceived to be honorable, yet members of such professions are being disregarded.

To prove such a claim, it is important to simply look around right now—there is a raging pandemic that has devastated the world and the Philippines. In this public health crisis, we obviously know who are the selfless people that dedicated their lives—medical frontliners. Although society has showered them with honors which they deserve, we have to be frank that many of them struggle to receive fair and just compensation. This is why there are frontliners who join protests calling for benefits as they sacrificed a lot.

It is not only medical frontliners who are perceived with high honors by society but are not heard by those in power; some lawyers and auditors are killed in connection with their work. In Cebu, a human rights lawyer was ambushed by perpetrators who are still unknown. Likewise, journalists in the country are facing harassment and threats for merely telling the truth. Where there are those who amplify the truth into power, a ton of cases will be filed accusing them of bias and not complying with the country’s laws—which is, frankly, kind of shady and questionable. In our country, people claim that we must value and acknowledge the truth, but some of the same people cannot accept the truth if it does not conform with what they wanted to hear.

Candidly speaking, we live in a paradoxical society—a society that contradicts itself. A society where doctors are praised but not paid sufficiently, a society where lawyers are hailed for being brave but unprotected from death threats. We must stop fooling ourselves and start standing up for the values and principles we learned in real life.