UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES CEBU

New Era of Activism

Ma. Nikka Andrea Oquias

Democracy and Independence

The struggle for independence and democracy has been so much of an issue in any
nation and this does not exclude our country- looking back how our ancestors fought for our
independence from the hands of our foreign oppressors and even in the hands of a Filipino
dictator. Asian countries with an exception of the West Asians, the long run for independence
and democracy has been held a common notion. That is why, it is really much of a surprise for
many of us to hear and see news flashing in our television screens, where people across Arab
and Muslim countries are audaciously marching along streets, boldly expressing their revulsion
on the government that dominates them. For Middle Eastern and Northern African countries, to
see fearless people shouting for freedom, independence and democracy against the tyrannical
exercise of those who are in power, truly challenges the conventional notion of many people
towards Arab and Muslim countries being intolerant and unreceptive especially when it comes to
democracy. But to see the dire experiences in Libya, Iraq, Iran, to name a few, serves to be a
living proof that things can go differently when we talk about liberty. What happened in the Arab
Spring illustrates that the public is sensible and cognizant when it comes to issues concerning
freedom and democracy. The struggle every nation had gone through just to gain the title of
being an independent nation is continuously evolving. The phenomenon the whole world is
witnessing today in many societies, to all intents and purposes follows the same trend with the
prior revolutions; only, this generation offers us a new wave of stronger nationalism and radical
activism that is backed up with social interactionism- this we call, a new era of revolution.
Struggle for Power and Control

The upsurge in massive uprisings- demonstrations and protests during the past years in
Egypt and Arab countries particularly, poses a major threat to Western powers. Obviously this
event was unforeseen by the United States, because if this was [foreseen], the world would not
have witnessed or even take a glimpse of such. Western powers will and always will impose
their control over other countries given any chance of doing so. As long as they sense possible
threat that would impinge their personal business, they will try to prevent and subvert it. This
was what happened in Iran during the time of Osama bin Laden and during the 6 th month
bombing in Libya. Major oil producing countries like Saudi Arabia, Iran, Kuwait, and the like
have been subject to major concern and harsh military intimidations by the advance powersand the reason? No doubt this is because these Arab countries are the imperialists foremost
competitor in the sphere of oil production. It has always been and will always be about them- on
what they can get and gain in everything.
Military power is also a great factor to consider when we deal with issues concerning the
exercise of power and control. United States, we are aware is a superpower especially when we
talk about its military capability. Agreeing with what Noam Chomsky said that- although United
States is not a strong economic power but it is still capable of dominating other strong economic
power because of its strong military capacity. We can firmly see in here how the US is able to
manipulate and play with others. In this game of power, one can never win unless he masters
the rules and learn to apply appropriate attitude in every circumstances. Acquiring power at the
expense of oppressing others and placing their lives on the line no matter what angle we look at
it still is unjust. Power already is within us, instead of using it by risking other peoples interests;
why not use it in developing your own? Imagine a world without domination, - a world where
every state is masters of its own, where no one is oppressed and nobody is abused. It is so
Page | 1

good to picture a world characterized by cooperation among countries that are aware of their
power and uses it to promote prosperity among other states.
Denuded Democracy

The dichotomy between democracy and capitalism has become more and more elusive.
The problem with the context of democracy is that, it is becoming more crucial to us because of
the presence of these private corporations. It is an observable fact that majority of the
democratic countries are as well capitalist states; however, to deduce that a capitalist state
should be a democratic state is an impertinent fact. As Tariq Ali said, there has been no
historical evidence that validates this claim. The notion that capitalism and democracy go hand
in hand stems during the Cold war. In the desire of US to create a bad image (which they did)
against the communist states- Russia, Eastern European countries and China, they used the
media as a medium to preach distorted information to the whole world about communism. This
instance provided an avenue for the United States to establish a widely held notion that
capitalism is good and when there is capitalism there is also democracy. The problem now is
that, contrary to that idea, capitalism in fact, gradually denuding the true essence of democracy.
Instead of functioning as an ideology that represents the voice of many, the true picture now
presents to us quite the opposite and I can tell that this denuded democracy now operates a
little less like a totalitarian ideology. Lets take for example our government, on the outer side,
politicians may seem to sympathize and pretend to know the plight of the oppressed even offer
their pretentious promises but in the end these politicians are subject to the whims and caprices
of these men of property who truly hold power in the society. The concept of democracy as I
was saying is becoming more and more contaminated with these self- absorbed capitalists in
power. Capitalism apparently being naturally exploitive will never truly seek for the welfare of
many; instead, it will go on perpetuating the interest of those on the higher echelons of the
society- making the rich richer and making the poor poorer.
Corrupted Mainstream Media

Capitalists circumscribe not merely the political and economic arena but they infiltrate
also the social domain. Media shapes our basic perceptions, opinions as well as our social
orientation. My point here is that, it is very important to treat this profession with utmost fidelity.
However, we cannot escape the fact that the mainstream media even before suffers a major
setback because of these capitalists. The type of information fed to the masses is always
subject to the full discretion of the capitalists who owns the network. They control the flow of
information- what to and not to show on television. Now, what makes this even problematic is
that, not just it affects the whole society but to the extent this mires us in a situation wherein,
even there are those who are aware of the real deal on any issue, they will automatically be
outnumbered by a majority of parochial thinkers and passive individuals who merely relies on
what is reflected on their screens, without being skeptic about it. The role that the mainstream
media plays particularly in this technologically dependent generation is getting more and more
narrow and is tainted in context because of the prevailing influence of the dominating capitalists
that prevents any issue from getting outside the bag, and prevents any inciting debates that
would trigger and stimulate the minds of the people.
New Generation of Activism

Page | 2

The path towards realization of ones true situation in the society will never be opened
until and unless someone will shed light upon it. What our society needs is a collective force of
individuals that encompasses a broad understanding and awareness on the different issues
happening around them. What our society needs is a collective force who will take a stand on
issues that concern themselves and concern everybody else at the same time. These selfless
individuals will then take the lead in mobilizing even a greater number of people in achieving
higher class consciousness, which will pave the way towards greater equality and in achieving
true independence.
It is true, generations differ from one another, especially when we talk about the form of
activism that is occurring now. However, Id like to see it in a different perspective, every
generation does not really function in the context of differences when placed abreast each other,
in contrast every generation operates in a continuum of modifications.
Today we live in an era where compared during the early times, drastic changes are at
par, changes in which all of us continuously adapt. The form of activism we have today follows
the same pattern; it now works on a modified manner. Apart from the traditional form of
mobilizing people through one on one discussions, we can now resort to a mechanism with a
broader scope and is far reaching- the internet. People today- adults, young adults, even
children alike have now become internet radicalized. This form of mobilization proves to be
effective and efficient to some extent because most people around the world have access in the
internet- a new way of being active and getting people to be active. Different groups of people
from different worlds are now using the internet to inform and open the eyes of many to what is
really happening in the society. Undoubtedly, this form of activism poses a great threat on
Western imperial powers because they no longer can regulate the information accessed by
people all over the world. Western powers are now losing its grip and control over states
particularly Egypt, the Arab countries and Southern America.
Indeed everything runs with a cost, but the Arab Spring and any other collective
revolutions demonstrated a significant lesson worth appreciated-- that no matter what the costs
are if it means political freedom, democracy, independence and equality in ones society, it is
worth fighting for. The silhouette of the goal of every uprising is getting clearer, time can only tell
us when the whole picture be revealed, perhaps even faster than we ever anticipated. Time is
quickly passing by and is causing so many changes around us; this just means that we have no
more time to waste. It is time for us to take charge in changing the traditional norm of passivity
and apathy and recreate a norm that encompasses the principle of activism that will shed a light
of hope to those who are in despair. It is time for every one of us to work together in motivating
other people to become active also and be critical about the media, the government system that
dominates them and be skeptical about the agenda of the capital owning class. This norm will
not be bordered in the context of particular societies but we will make it a widely held notion that
reaches every breadth and depth of the different parts of the world.

Page | 3

Page | 4