Pride Fueled by a Fear of Freedom
As a history student who is about to make his (hopefully) last hurdle this coming semester while doing thesis work, I’d like to share three lessons that I have learned from our classes, our countless readings, and the back and forth travels of my digital draft from my thesis adviser back to me — that is, 1.) to always check my biases and preconceived notions, 2.) to learn how to accept these facts derived from research, and 3.) to write them down, no matter how disappointing it is or how it runs counter to my long-held beliefs. Perhaps every student in college or the university has, at one time or another, experienced this uncomfortable rumbling within herself/himself as she/he is faced by concepts and ideas that are most often branded as “subversive” or simply, unpleasant by most. It is uncomfortable because deep inside you know them to be logical, credible and true. For is it not true that billionaires have amassed their wealth, not through their own sweat, but by the exploitation of millions of workers? Is it not true that wars in the Global South have been waged, not just because of religion or racial/ethnic hatred, but by the greediness of Western nations and their strive to maintain their control over power, influence, and resources? Well, when you see the realities faced by the workers of Amazon; uncover the truth behind Elon Musk’s family history; or read the declassified files on, let say, the US-led coups in the Latin Americas, then maybe you’d change your attitude of idolizing billionaires or ascribing to the United States’ “policing” of the world.
This process, of checking one’s biases, of searching for evidence and scrutinizing sources, and of drawing conclusions from them is not a new thing, in fact, it has always been there in our high school education — it is our scientific method, our logic and reasoning, our truth table. Ideally, this attitude ought to make us think more critically and to make our world a little better; through the resolution of conflicts, the improvement in technologies, and breakthroughs in science and medicine that are all achieved through the careful investigation of evidence. However, seeing what is happening today, we may find ourselves asking, what led to the growing numbers of “anti-vaxers”, neo-Nazis, and Marcos apologists? Of course, there is the massive disinformation, propaganda, and psychographic marketing proliferating in social media that have entrapped people into echo chambers — shaping public opinion and influencing election outcomes. All of these tools coupled with our neo-liberal education have led to, borrowing from Freire, the further submersion of the people in the “reality of oppression”, a reality maintained by the constant feeding of myths (e.g. lies, propaganda, dogmas) and the dehumanization of people by the dominant elites. Despite the efforts of journalists, scholars, humanists, and human rights advocates in combating these sources of misinformation and manipulation through fact-checking and the presentation of facts, hate, intolerance and prejudice continues to latch onto people like a strong adhesive. What then hinders people from removing this cloak of myths; that even with access to credible information people still choose to believe in illusions which seem to reflect goodness and hope but in truth are inherently oppressive and dehumanizing? One explanation could be pride, a sense of pride which masks a lingering fear of freedom.
Too much pride hinders a person to follow logical reason, which consequently leads her/him to shun any fact or evidence concerning a specific topic or issue. However, underneath that pride is surprisingly fear — a fear of the unknown, of the unfamiliar, the uncomfortable, the unpleasant, and most especially, a fear of accepting one’s faults. Similar to what I have mentioned earlier, facing the concrete realities in our society is uncomfortable, especially if it shatters your world view which had, for the longest time, given you and your family comfort. It really requires both courage and humility to accept that one’s preconceived notions and beliefs are perverted or contradictory, especially when one has devoted so much time and energy to defend and believe in it. I mean, can you even imagine the rage within the hearts of white supremacists when you prove to them that the differences in skin pigmentation between their ancestors and the ancestors of black people were just a result of migration and adaptation to the environment, and have really nothing to do with intelligence?
To better understand this, it would be good for us to take a relevant issue as an example — the case of the presidential aspirant Bongbong Marcos and his rhetoric which revolves around unity and the continuation of the supposed greatness of his father’s works. Marcos apologists — those who have fallen prey to historical distortion and fake news — who are confronted with hard evidence from credible sources (e.g. peer-reviewed journals, government records, bank accounts, court cases, personal testimonies, etc.) find it hard to change their views mainly because they are afraid of facing their contradictions and have been too comfortable in being submerged in this reality of oppression. Bongbong’s rhetoric of a call to unity and its direct reference to the failures of the past administrations offers false hope and (by supporting it) even takes on a semblance of a platform for people to exercise agency, while the overwhelming layers of myths built around their “family legacy” naturally arouses adoration among those who are fed by a bombardment of historical distortion. All of these points, if taken as a single narrative, garners sentiments of hope in bringing back a “golden age” and pride in standing against the “yellows” and “reds” — a belief that is comforting for most, hence difficult to forgo. Like the racists of today, being a Marcos apologist and Bongbong Marcos supporter is a product of constant myth-building and an aversion towards the unpleasant truth, making it an almost inflexible belief.
I say ‘almost’, because there is still hope for people submerged in this reality to free themselves. To do so, we must first return to the basic principles taught to us by our parents when we were children — humility and accepting one’s faults. We can start in our homes by valuing the ability of children to think for themselves and by removing the anti-dialogical relationship engendered by the idea of an unquestionable and absolute authority of parents. If a fault is pointed out by a child, let the parents admit to the child that they were wrong and she/he was right. In high school, we ought to apply the same principles of a liberating education, an education that values critical thinking and which emphasizes the values, practical uses, and the ethics behind logical reasoning and the scientific method. Let them question, let them challenge the existing state of things. Furthermore, our youth must be taught to see that a people’s history weighs heavily on their attitudes and actions in the present, and that its distortion by authoritarian regimes or by the powerful few has led to a continuous state of oppression. Most importantly, let us live every day like students who are in a constant search for knowledge and who are willing to say, after constant self-reflection and engagement with facts, “sorry, I was wrong but now I know”. For as hard as it may be, to admit one’s fault in the face of facts and to act upon this new realization, is truly a liberating experience.
