Truth is a prerequisite to freedom, and the faces of which the truth is carried are not reflected in the mirrors of policymakers and the elites.
Poverty persists because of the indifference inherent in the policies enacted by the government, of the elites in their shackling of the proletariat. In marking the International Eradication of Poverty Day, the people must remain the center of all our policies to avoid deflection and refraction of the truth— to show the truth in a different face.
COVID-19 has highlighted the inequalities in our society. The once “great equalizer” furthers the divide to the point that the poor can no longer afford to live, and the rich become richer. A K-shaped recovery is the disease of a symptom long-felt by the Filipinos.
It is the stringent lockdowns and erratic announcements that deflect a true recovery. Even the everyday Juan who has stayed under the sun may not comprehend the complexities of bureaucracy that dictates his life. He can only do so much as following them in fear, not of contracting the virus, but of dying at gunpoint. For thousands of Filipinos who have to rush back home outside Metro Manila after a late announcement, they can only do so much as following.
The shackling is true for all policies that promise to shine over the collective interest. The blinding lights of a utilitarian tomorrow center the policy to its ends, treating humans as mere means.
As some might conclude, human dignity is an abstract concept— one that is philosophical and never objective. But if it is true that every human builds the society, and if it is true that all the progress in the past, present, and future has been, is being and will be built by humans, then shouldn’t we support the human regardless of when the progress has started, emerged or manifested?
Treating human dignity as an objective value—to sustain the constant support in enriching the human condition through policies that do not aggregate the interest of individuals— is the start.
One is truly free, if one practices freedom excellently. In questioning our freedom, one must note if the truth is upheld. One can never really be free without the truth being practiced with or without the human.
Poverty is characterized by unsafe housing, lack of access to nutritious food, impeded access to health care, dangerous working conditions, unequal access to justice and lack of political power. All these imbalances tap on the supposed inherent dignity of the human person but due to the lack of recognition of this particular ‘abstract’ concept, the poor become faceless.
The recognition does not flip all these inequalities to positives. The recognition, at least, pioneers proper representation to the marginalized— something that is lacking in the outlook of our government.
We all have different faces; that’s for sure. And it all reflects different plights and diverse interests and reflections ought to just reflect the truth.
Why, then, should we let distortions happen?
----- Layout and Design by: Dan Kurt Buenaventura and Gerald Reyes
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