musings and distortions

“We have amnesia. We choose to forget the inconvenient past in the name of “moving on”. We edit history for general patronage. We reduce history to names and dates - as Ocampo points out, we enjoy the non-working holiday on Bonifacio’s birthday, but we never come to terms with his role in Philippine history. The disturbing reality is that the man who started the revolution against Spain was killed by his own countrymen. El Presidente sanitizes history some more by saying that on some level, he deserved it.”

“Nor should we ignore the populist stamp of some of the arguments with which people, even those of humble origins, used to demonstrate their liking for Berlusconi. The arguments are: (1) being rich, he won’t steal (an argument based on the man in the street’s slipshod equation of politician with thief); (2) what do I care if he looks after his own interests, the main thing is that he looks after mine too; (3) a man who has become enormously rich will be able to distribute wealth among the people he governs (although this didn’t happen with either Bokassa or Milošević). This reasoning is typical not only of TV addicts (people who get on quiz shows may become millionaires) but also of those whose roots are sunk deep in primitive, and perhaps even archetypal, beliefs. It suffices to think of the ‘cargo cults,’ a religious phenomenon in Oceania from the beginning of colonialism to the end of the Second World War: since the white men arrived on their shores, by ship or plane, unloading food and other marvelous goods (which were obviously for the invaders’ requirements), the natives began to wait for the messianic arrival of a ship at first, later an airplane, that would bring the same goods to them. When you see these deep drives in your own electorate, you have become a mass party, and every classic populist party uses slogans and aggressive tactics. Perhaps one of the original sins of today’s left is not having fully accepted the idea that the true electorate of a reformist party is no longer made up of the masses but of the emergent classes, and of professionals in the service sector (who are quite numerous). Left-wing leaders must address these people and not the legendary working class.”