You can tell much about the times and the conditions by listening to the language—the words that people are using. What we say reflects what is going on around us and what we are thinking.
During the turbulent times of the late 1960s and the Vietnam war, the United States was seriously divided by that war. The phrase “America: Love it or Leave it” became somewhat of a rallying cry of those that supported the government against the antiwar protestors. That was turned by some on the other side to “America: Change it or Lose It.”
Here in the Philippines, “Sobra na! Tama na. Palitan na” was part of the voice of those opposed to the Marcos government. Here again it expressed a simplification of a complex set of emotions and ideas. After the French Revolution in 1789, the most influential figure of that revolution and following “Reign of Terror”—Maximilien Robespierre—said in a speech, that the motto of France would be “Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité” or “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity.”
These were not just words. These phrases captured the times and the thoughts of the people.
In the last few years, the phrase “Winter is Coming” has entered the lexicon of the English language. It is the motto of the House of Stark from the global television series Game of Thrones. The Stark clan lives in the northerly inhabited part of the mythical world of Westeros and is the first to feel the social and economic effects of the “Winter” that comes at irregular times with even decades between winters.
But winter always eventually comes to pass.
Unless you are living in a mountain cave, you might see that the 2016 Philippine election is the most “destructive”—for want of a better word—since the snap election of 1986. When the Commission on Elections says something like “Don’t let politics destroy your friendships,” you know this time it is different. But that is a global happening that coincides with the long term global political cycle.
Let me say it again: The political upheaval precedes the major economic upheaval. That is what the cycles show. This current political situation is going to last through 2017 when peak political chaos will hit, as we see even more countries going through what the Philippines is going through right now.
Then the economic chaos will hit in full force.
But back to the language that is now being used. Candidates get up and talk about the “paradise” they will bring to the Philippines if they win. But that is immediately followed by saying that the nation will drop to the lowest level of Hell if any of the other presidential hopefuls win. Is that what we can genuinely expect?
This is happening everywhere. Look at the US presidential election. Look at the “live or die” rhetoric as Great Britain decides whether or not to stay part of the European Union. Brazil’s constitutionally provided impeachment process is being called a “coup d’état.” Thailand though is an exception and does not have negative election rhetoric. The military government has a solution: no elections.
What words are you now using to describe the Philippines? They are probably true and accurate.
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