Increasingly hungry and dangerous country

According to a recent survey by Philippine pollster Social Weather Stations, more and more Filipinos are going hungry. It said that some 2.8 million Filipino families in the country experienced not having anything to eat at least once in the last three months.

With more and more Filipinos earning less than two dollars a day, also according to most recent surveys, the results of the hunger survey could not be otherwise. At some point in the miserable lives of the affected respondents, the results will have to mean the same thing.

Of course, the subject of the hunger survey is literal hunger, meaning the clear physical manifestations of food deprivation. The survey does not say anything about psychological hunger, which can be brought on by other factors other than actual food deprivation.

This is far from scientific, but psychological hunger can come as a result of an empty pocket. One may just have finished a meal. But if he has no money in his pocket as he passes by a restaurant, from where wafts out the most inviting smells, chances are he will feel hungry.

On the other hand, even if a person has not eaten but has a pocket full of cash, chances are he does not get hungry easily, his stomach pacified by the kind of mental state that descends on his entire being on knowing that, at any given time, he has the money to gorge himself.

The point is, the Philippines and Filipinos are now at a very precarious stage in their economic state wherein poverty has now assumed the ability to affect lives not just physically but psychologically as well.

Unless those who are charged with charting the destiny of this country find some miracle formula to arrest this horrifying slide, we fear that we may be closer to anarchy than most of us may realize.

The fear becomes real once we factor in the fact that we are not just talking of physical and psychological hunger here but the lack of any credible means by governmental authority to instill both hope and order.

The government, while far from being hopeless, is increasingly losing ground in the battle to remain credible. With its credibility losing precious value at almost every botched policy, its capacity to retail hope to a growing number of miserable citizens diminishes further.

Along with the loss of credibility comes inability to instill order, providing for the ripe environment for some people to begin taunting and testing authority. Once respect for authority is breached, anarchy cannot be very far behind.

To be sure, nobody wants anarchy. Anarchy exposes everyone to danger. It diminishes our worth as human beings. It reduces us to unthinking parts of an out-of-control herd of animals out to destroy everything.

To ensure that we do not descend into anarchy, no matter how close we may be to it already, every wielder of authority must strive to retain some semblance of credibility as only credibility is powerful enough to catch attention and rein in sensibility.

One of the priorities in any effort to retain credibility is to arrest the slide to psychological hunger. Right now, as the survey said, we are still experiencing episodes of real physical hunger. But this can be remedied, no matter how marginally, by a hot meal.

But the moment more and more people start getting hungry just by mere anticipation or hunger, a condition brought on by the knowledge of being dirt broke, we could be in real serious trouble.

The government, and this means all persons in authority, must start turning the tide by retailing hope that things can still turn out all right. Political lust for power must learn to give an inch to harsh realities. After all, power is the first casualty of anarchy.sent me photos of the murdered girl and I'm sure you wouldn't want to see it. * * *

For e-mail responses to this article, write to [email protected]. Bobit Avila's columns can also be accessed through www.thefreeman.com