THE DAMAGED CULTURE by James Fallows

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Philippines is a picture of a nation not only without a sense of nationalism, but also without
much national pride.
James Follows

This is an honest remark of the writer which emphasizes the situational crisis our country
is ceaselessly experiencing. This is an article that put so much emotion to the current background
of the countrys epidemic scene. I think that the "truth" in his article is just really depressing.
Depressing in a way that I just can't help but be emotionally involved. He compared our country
with other East Asian Countries like Korea, Japan, Singapore and others. He said that the
countries that surround us have become the "world's most famous showcases for the impact of
culture on economic development." That was way back years ago. Today? Look around. The
situation is much, much worse, and theres a huge time bomb waiting to explode. You feel it. Its
a cockroach on your skin you cant flick off. I have showcased the slow-moving reality that is
beneath our country. I sometimes wonder how the reign of democracy changes us. Does it really
for the better or for the worse?
According to the article there are barriers to our economic growth. One thing is the
culture of delicadeza, it is being careful in what we say or the avoidance of saying unpleasant
topics directly or indirectly. Filipinos likes to escape their selves to shame, we always put
excuses and reject the reality that is in front of us. Why can't we face the truth? Why can't we be
more open and just say what really is wrong? This Filipino ethic is a barrier to our transparency.
In the current situation of the country, I can say that our culture is custom-built for
disaster after disaster. Look at our chosen government. It seems that we are downgrading
ourselves by letting them rule us in a way that we dont deserve. Does the religiously image or
the saintly perspective of President Cory uplift the shrinking status of our country? Or even the
previous government after her, do they bring a large impact on our economic development? Well,
this addresses the problem that we cant occupy to resolvecorruption. Corruption is
everywhere. We too in our own lack of self discipline and human respect can be considered
corrupt. Who would have let our own selves cursed with infinite patience, able to accept even as
this gathers at our feet and in our surroundings, hardly ever tossing in the winds of uncontrolled
rage over our misery, over our poverty, over our adversity. Filipinos are accepting the structure of
inequality. According to the Culture of Poverty theory, some cultures are crippled by a way of
life that perpetuates poverty from one generation to the next. It means that we have this thinking
that the rich are and will continue to be rich and the poor are and will continue to be poor. This

thinking is, of course, affected by religion and traditional way of living. We can change this if we
reconstruct or way of thinking. Poverty has something to do with the way we live. Somehow we
should learn to leave the traditional way of living in order to move from one class to another.
Follows denominate us the Filipinos as not nationalistic.I beg to disagree with what he say if he
means we do not care for our country and we disregard our own selves as a Filipino. I think it is
not that we are not nationalistic but that we lack nationalism. There is a significant difference
between the two. Nationalism has had a long history in our country. In our struggle for freedom,
there have been periods when strong nationalist feelings fired our people to action and other
periods when nationalism seemed to be forgotten. Not only did nationalism as a sentiment have
its peaks and valleys, nationalism as a political concept has been espoused at one time or another
by different sectors of society which projected particular nationalist goals as their own interests
and historical circumstances demanded. For generations, weve been left with the notion that
nationalism is naturally in the hearts of the people when in fact, effort must be exerted to be
nationalistic. We have to prioritize our countrys interests and promote them. Rather, we are
prioritizing our own interests and promoting them. This is what we have done in the past and this
is what we will continue to do in the years to come. Notice that many Filipinos loves to adapt
what the white countrys have. There are also Filipinos who really find ways to migrate to other
country and change their nationality. Are they that ashamed or they just wanted to escape from
the reality that they have seen since the day they were born? Well, I cannot blame them for what
they want is the betterment of their own selves even it is for the sake of own pity or selfishness.
Through media, it is also noticeable that there are many achievements that our fellow
countrymen had achieved internationally. But this is not a notion for us to be called nationalistic,
that there is nationalism embarking on them. They cannot change their nationality as they
stepped on to other countrys airport. The fact that they are competing carries the responsibility
that every fellow countrymen were expecting from them. And when they bring home the prize,
still it cant be sorted to the word nationalism rather, a national pride.
Our culture is damaged through our own efforts. And our efforts are the only way also to fix
every single thing that is broken. Our culture is not merely damaged, it is dying. And so the
immediate aid is needed. We are the masters of our fate.