Kids on the Pork Block

MANILA, Philippines - For the most part, the rage against those implicated in the pork barrel scam needs no explanation. It’s interesting though, how the perpetrators themselves are never the only targets. More than anything else, social media seems to find deep satisfaction in going after — not so much their spouses or mistresses — but their offspring. Perhaps this is in part because millennials are usually the ones who are technologically savvy (and insensitive) enough to flaunt their #blessed lives online. But let’s be honest. We also love to hate rich kids.

Yes, this includes even those who were born to parents with honest sources of livelihood, despite the fact that their charmed circumstances weren’t any of their doing. It is an envy that I understand, as someone who grew up with the knowledge that anything that I wanted, I had to get myself. It hasn’t been easy and it still isn’t. And then you learn of people who were born into a life without struggle (to our perceptions, at least), with the world constantly at their fingertips. It’s hard not to have at least a part of yourself resent that, even when you’re fully aware that said rich kid is a decent person, with zero entitlement, and 10 times your work ethic.

The Pork Barrel Kids are the perfect outlet for this kind of angst, because here, real transgressions have been made (by their parents, but by now we’re too rabid to bother with the distinctions. A rich kid living off our taxes! Attack!). Most notably, these are transgressions that are directly responsible for the huge compromises we’ve had to make in our lives, such as the quality of our education and how difficult it can be to provide for ourselves and our families. And so we take it out on Jeane and the two Jolos, making their lives of ridiculous luxury go viral, and pouring down the Internet hate via tweets, comments, and shares.

How responsible are they?

So, just how much do they deserve our hate? I’m not quite sure how to answer that. At 25, it has become clear to me that I was neither born into, nor was I going to inherit, a blank slate. There are things that my parents have done right and things they have done wrong. Whether I like it or not, I’m going to have to live with both. I’ve also started to become aware that, as a full-fledged adult, perhaps it has ceased to be appropriate for me to stand back as a child. Maybe it’s about time I engaged in the discussion and handling of practical affairs; about time I pushed back — not in rebellion, but just as human beings who constantly need to help keep each other and our circumstances in check.

It’s the same with the Pork Barrel Kids, I guess. There are issues that may definitely not be their fault, but are now part of their realities anyway. I can’t imagine having to come to terms with the fact that a nation’s stolen taxes funded everything I have, and that this was carried out by my loving parents. I can’t imagine seeing my parents go to jail and at the same time being widely vilified because of what they did. I can’t imagine having to be just and fair to a whole country, when I love one person more than the rest of them. I have no idea what they’re going through. You’ll have to ask the Pork Kids themselves, if you genuinely want to know. There’s also a possibility that they’re being absolute defensive brats about it, but even that is a sign of being affected. In any case, this rude awakening is where they’re at, and it’s what they have to deal with.

Angry netizens

I can’t fault angry netizens either. They’re just gravely concerned and fed up that they live in a country where a good chunk of their hard-earned salaries rarely makes its way back to serve them and their children, as it should. And that the kids who may or already have inherited positions of power are being spoiled with stolen bounty, instead of being taught to serve, or at least be mindful of other people’s lives. It’s still cathartic to have a solid reason to hate rich kids, but this is clearly so much bigger than that.

To end this piece, I won’t tell anybody what to do. Get mad. Don’t get mad. Try a little compassion, or perhaps that’s already way too much to ask. Keep in mind, though, that these Pork Kids are still part of our future, as the cliché goes. Even if we succeed at making sure they are never elected into Philippine government (note: it’s the masa vote that has a say in this, not your “enlightened,” middle class mind), they’ll still grow up to participate in society, if they haven’t already. Do you want an embittered citizen who thinks the whole Philippines is out to get him, or someone who can simply recognize where the error was made, what the impact has been on the lives of millions, and respond and act accordingly?

Sure, we ultimately don’t have a say in how they choose to carry on. And yes, I recognize the fact that we are not their parents. Technically they shouldn’t even be our concern. But just like all the other things that are not our fault but we have to work with anyway, this mess is a part of our lives. And as satisfying as it is to play the blame game and to have a good reason to kick rich kids around, it is acting responsibly that has the power to truly move us forward.

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