The need to think

When was the last time you stopped and realized that you were doing something really silly?

Oftentimes we do things because of tradition, habit, or plain lack of thought. There is nothing more comfortable and convenient than habit. It requires very little thought, predictable results, and is generally accepted.

For people who are not in the habit of challenging or questioning things, tradition or habit is less stressful. Unfortunately, many practices in society have dangerously been cloaked under the concept of tradition, habit or practice.

Half a century ago there were still some “head hunters” in our northern mountains, who were in the business of collecting cranial trophies and not business cards because it was an accepted practice. A decade ago it was still politically acceptable to eat your pet pooch and call him a delicacy.

There is undoubtedly safety in numbers. You could be observing a pagan ritual or idolatry in a Catholic country, but as long as it’s popular, no one really thinks much of it.

Alas, there is the rub. Millions of educated and politically conscious people could be practicing mass stupidity, but because no one really stops to think about it, we go ahead and continue.

Once people stopped to think, it soon became unpopular to display your neighbor’s skull or eat pets that you have given names.

Consider the current obsession with grading or rating the first 100 days in office of President Benigno Aquino. Practically everyone has jumped in to give his or her grade, their rant or their rave for President Noy.

But what exactly is the “First 100 days” game show all about?

In general it has been about perception, impression or expectation. As far as the Philippines and Filipinos are concerned, I have not heard of any scientific, formal or formula based approach by which we can objectively assess the performance of a President and his administration.

What we have heard is largely personal or political opinion based on what people got or didn’t get. 

So where did it all begin? Sorry but once again, because we remain a colony by affinity, we operate a political system erected by colonial Americans and the observance of the first 100 days is yet again another inherited practice that serves no other purpose than to tell us what we already know.

As far as I can gather, “the first 100 days” thing grew out of the Franklin Roosevelt era where FDR faced major economic headaches and had to initiate an administrative and legislative program that covered a period of nearly 15 weeks or what has been rounded off as the first 100 days.

It was a unique event in the fact that, faced with very little choice, the United States Congress gave their full cooperation to the FDR initiatives, something that has never been repeated since then.

So from the looks of it, the first 100 days was about full cooperation between the Executive Department and the US Congress. Which is why historians have labeled it as the “honeymoon period”.

It was not about how the President or an administration fared, but how independent branches of government cooperated for the good of the nation and not political parties or personal interests. They got along fine because it was a choice of survival or extinction.

Interestingly, the First 100 days had nothing to do with the media and rightly so. It was never the right or the job of media to rate the first 100 days. Of course everyone eventually took it upon themselves to express their opinion particularly about a President or an administration they did not vote for.

So following the spirit of the original “First 100 Days”, there is obviously “A need to think” and even rethink a practice, a tradition that we seem to have gotten all wrong. Apparently we were not supposed to stand in judgment, but to judge our selves. 

The question is not how you rate P-Noy but what did you do to contribute to the good of the nation, your barangay or your family?

Yesterday, I was invited by my dear friend Dr. Alex Ayco to the first 100 days gathering of Negrense Volunteers for Change Foundation, a small group of people from Negros who made a commitment to undertake some projects or activities on their own as their contribution to nation building and to move beyond campaigns and politics.

They’ve set up trainings for masseurs for residents living in a popular coastal/beach destination. Another team established a group making beautiful hand stitched Sun dresses, another set up a langka-based flour production facility and another an educational and feeding program. They even have prayer volunteers to cover the President and the nation.

There were no big shot hacienderos or industrial leaders, they were simple, dedicated and committed Negrense who decided to go outside their comfort zone and in small but do-able ways, set an example of how each and every Filipino can participate rather than anticipate.

Yes, I was overwhelmed by their yellow color, but it was clear that the yellow was just a thread and color of unity for them. Now, they have actively called on others to weave a tapestry of national aspiration and vision.

Whether you are orange, red or green, they welcome you because just like the original first 100 days, we too can follow the example of placing our nation’s interest in front and ahead of our personal interests. It is now about US and not about P-Noy.

So why follow a funeral when you can be in a parade. All you have to do is: “THINK”.