“THE DESTINY OF THE NATION DEPENDS ON THE CHARACTER OF THE PEOPLE LIVING IN IT…”
It is not just about sovereignty, but sovereignty and beyond. It is not just about economics, but economics and beyond. It is not what is built, but who builds it. Nation building is about people first, and everything else second. It is about a people’s character first and foremost.
There are many people who went through their suffering, staged their revolutions, and fought their civil wars. When the smoke cleared, they were not a nation. They may have been victorious over their enemies, but that reflected only factionalism, not nationhood. Invariably, triumphs and defeats in battles only led to future wars when disagreements could not be bridged by common goals or dreams. From stages of violence, of the use of superior force to impose unaccepted will, of exploitation of position and power for personal gain, to the equal application of law for all, to the promotion of social justice and the respect for human rights, to the recognition of a human being’s inalienable rights, people grow to nationhood with their own social and cultural refinement.
In the course of history, however, many people did arrive at common grounds, albeit with much pain and bloodshed along the way. From those common grounds were born the seeds of nationhood, the collective state and struggle of people to attain their higher aspirations. Nation building takes on a universal character when universal values are sought by people from different countries. At the same time, the uniqueness of territory, culture spirituality and history will play a major role in configuring universal values to a particular people. Many Filipinos are spread throughout the world as overseas workers who are separated from their families. This divided reality enhances a history of division and makes national unity even more unattainable. The US and China are two more influences that Filipinos simply cannot resist. Their respective and competing agenda will further tear us apart if we remain largely unaware and indifferent to the demands towards a collective pursuit for our own nationhood.
It is the refinement of character, or the development of collective discipline which adopts integrity, honesty, industry, respect and humaneness for the young, the elderly and the disabled that a people rise up to nobility and honor. However, the building of our character starts when we we’re young, as Heraclitus said”, Character is DESTINY”. It is said that when we are in Kindergarten, the building of our character was focused on “Joyfulness, to begin lifelong love of learning”, “Independence, to take care of belongingness, making choices and decisions”, “Self-Esteem, to have belief and confidence to oneself”, “Creativity, to come up with own ideas”, and “Assertiveness, for us to become problem solvers”. When we are in our primary years, the building of our character was focused on “Independence, to search for knowledge, to investigate, to experiment, and to solve problems”, “Caring about oneself and another”, and “Creativity and diligence, as Thomas Edison said Thomas Edison said that genius is 10% inspiration and 90% perspiration”. In our Secondary years, “Independence and Creativity, preparing for and learning to create a role in society Respect and Tolerance for others”, “Loyalty to oneself and to friends”, “Justice to conflict resolution”, “Honour, for doing what we believe is right, no matter what”, and “Idealism, for having a dream and making that dream come true”. As our life continues, the building of our character also continues.
Faith is the nursery of miracles, and people power experiences have shown just how miracles can happen. Our longing for change, our thirst for dignity and nobility, and our journey for nationhood have very material requirements which we must meet. It is our inner challenge, however, the refinement of our spirituality and the formation of our character that will lead us to building the nation we can be proud of, a future full of hope.
