The topic of indifference came up in a recent posting when someone
asked for its translation in the local dialects. To me it is an interesting
topic because it is germane to our sanrokan philosophy. In fact, it
is also globally germane to the 9/11 WTC tragedy, which shocked and
awed the whole world two years ago.
The dictionary
gives several synonyms of the word indifferent, as follows: impartial,
neutral, uncaring, unresponsive, apathetic, unsympathetic, uninterested,
unconcerned, unmoved, moderate and mediocre. Indifferent consists
of the prefix "in" which means "not" and the root
"different". Its literal meaning therefore is "not
different" or the same. In my response to the posting I gave
the Unhan translation as "owa et labot". "Owa"
means nil or none and "labot" means different so
to be indifferent is to say it's none of one's business.
The synonym impartial
makes sense since we can't be different when we are all the same.
But for synonyms uncaring, unresponsive, apathetic, etc., it's quite
confusing because people actually become indifferent when they differ
from the others. People who have the same social status are literally
indifferent, but they are not, because they are caring, responsive,
sympathetic or concerned with each other.
In the Philippines,
the rich are indifferent to the poor because of the difference in
social status. The powerful are indifferent to the powerless because
of the difference in strength. The intriguing issue is that even those
who belong to the lower social stratum also become indifferent when
they reach a higher stratum. They are people who are called stiff-necked
because they can't look back to where they came from (sila ay hindi
marunong lumingon sa pinanggalingan).
One irony in the
political scenery is that it is only during election time that Filipinos
in the higher stratum (mostly the politicians) try to show genuine
concern for the masses. Thanks to their very short memory; they easily
forget their promises and soon enough their indifference reappears
like viruses affecting the human body or the computer system.
In the global
scenario there is growing indifference between the rich nations and
the poor, and conversely between the powerful and the powerless. The
9/11 tragedy was not an isolated act of terrorism. It was an act of
isolation of people with indifference to the peace and freedom loving
people of the world. That indifference is actually the result of the
unresolved differences between the U.S. and its former allies and
enemies. The more tragic part of it is that we never know how and
when this terrorism will end.
We never know
the exact death toll of 9/11/01 tragedy and we will never know the
death toll of the wars that followed. When the twin towers of New
York collapsed to ground zero we knew it was a declaration of war
against the U.S. The U.S. retaliated and two reigns of terror collapsed,
namely: the Taliban/Al Qaeda rule of Afghanistan and the Saddam Hussein
rule of Iraq. The war is not over yet as long as Bin Laden and Saddam
are not buried on their own ground zeros.
Life may not the
same after 9/11/01. The amazing thing is that it did not make a big
difference in our resolve to pursue the sanrokan mission. This was
shown by the big turn out of expatriate Romblomanons in the 2002 Sanrokan
Convention in Romblon, Romblon. It was the first of its kind and hopefully
it would only be the beginning of a brighter prospect for a narrowed
indifference towards the convention of RDL-CLEAR sharing.
There may be Romblomanons
who are indifferent to the sanrokan cause - it's but natural. Some
listers have unsubscribed because they think differently from us -
that's their choice. Some are still kicking and shouting hala bira
- they are not indifferent because they share the same spirit with
us.
For five years
RDL-CLEAR has been sowing the sanrokan seeds through the magic of
Internet. Like the biblical seeds in the Parable of the Sower, some
seeds fell on fertile soil and the seeds have sprouted and have grown
like vines spreading branches and bearing fruits. These are the listers
who continue to serve selflessly to accomplish RDL-CLEAR's mission.
Like plants that need water and nourishment, these men and women need
support and encouragement. Our indifference would only dampen their
fighting spirit.
There is a lot
of fighting to do not literally but figuratively. The fighting includes
fighting indifference to change itself. By nature man is resistant
to change even if he knows his capacity to change. The figurative
symbol of sanrokan is the ladle - not the spoon. We use the ladle
to fight hunger by doing the cooking first before the sharing of the
food. We have to make sure, therefore, that our sharing should start
with teaching people to produce the food and cook it - not spoon-feeding
them. Otherwise, we end up teaching people to be indifferent to the
opportunity of becoming productive kasimanwas of ours.
Postcript: I am dedicating this short essay to the men and women
who conceptualized and materialized the RDL-CLEAR cyber power. My
sincere appreciation goes to our Pinas listers led by DocNems for
their steadfast commitment to the sanrokan cause. On behalf of the
Chicago listers, I commend our founder Uncle Ish Fabicon a.k.a. DocSimp
for his inspiring leadership. BTW, we are honoring DocSimp on the
occasion of his belated retirement party on September 13, 2003. Please
join us in wishing the celebrant an enjoyable and refreshing retirement.
He deserves a break after personally overseeing the 2003 sanrokan
projects in Romblon.
For a contended
retirement life for DocSimp there are nine requisites to be satisfied
according to Goethe: Health enough to make work a pleasure. Wealth
enough to support your needs. Strength to battle with difficulties
and overcome them. Grace enough to confess your sins and forsake them.
Patience enough to toil until some good is accomplished. Charity enough
to see some good in your neighbor. Love enough to move you to be useful
and helpful to others. Faith enough to make real the things of God.
Hope enough to remove all anxious fears concerning the future.
