I came across an Instagram post by a news agency on Philippines Vice-President Leni Robredo criticizing and calling for an investigation into the alleged smuggling and illegal use of the Sinopharm vaccines – which then has not been approved for use by the Philippines government – by the Presidential Security Group (PSG), the President’s elite close-in security unit. A netizen commented on the post that all Robredo does is talk (an unfair and false allegation) but fares low on popularity surveys. It triggered a barrage of counter-attacks from the VP’s supporters, many of them criticizing the looks of that initial commenter.
In the US, a number of elected officials – Republican Senators and Representatives – have declared they will object to the certification by Congress of President-elect Biden’s November elections victory, calling for an “audit” of election results in key states and for giving Senate President VP Mike Pence the power to declare the losing candidate Donald Trump as the winner.
Is it just me with a vague recollection of a time in the past that a distinction between right and wrong clearly existed? Am I being old-fashioned and nostalgic or have we always been so unsure about what is right? It seems now that only might is right and it didn’t even matter if one is right or wrong. It is scary.
When Trump won the US elections in 2016, not a few were saying that it was for a number of reasons, some of them legitimate – among them the disappointment with the Democrats and with liberal democracy in general for their failure to address structural inequalities (poverty) in society while perfecting political correctness and focusing on racial equality, LGBTQ rights, and climate change, that many in the far-right side of the political spectrum consider as less important than jobs, higher income, and “safety” of their families and assets (i.e., gun rights).
During the campaign and leading up to the November elections in the US, many realized how much the political divide in the US is actually very much along the issue of racism. Donald Trump is a racist and he has the support of almost half of the voters in the US. After Biden clearly, albeit narrowly (in that it was not a landslide), won the Presidential race, Trump refused to accept defeat, has been desperately trying to overturn the election results, and still a huge number of his supporters were loudly supporting him and his baseless allegations of electoral fraud. At this point, there is no longer any plausible explanation for this fanaticism and their behaviour is simply carried by blind, unthinking hatred and anger.
It was scary because what we were seeing in the aftermath of the US elections – the behavior of leaders like Trump and throngs of their rabid supporters – were increasingly becoming common and enjoyed popular support. Not a few were behaving exactly like these leaders – mostly in social media but frighteningly and increasingly, outside of social media, into real life and into the communities.
I am worried that one day, I will be afraid to be on the side of truth and what I perceive to be right – not because I am scared of getting criticized, which I actually welcome, but because it may not matter after all. I am scared that there are equal numbers of good and bad examples out there about things I am trying to teach my children. For the first time in my life, I am unsure of whether predominant social values are still consistent with my personal convictions, and that there is no longer overwhelming evidence and support in society to the values I hold.
Is this the legacy we will be leaving for the next generation?
