What's behind the pride?
(Courtesy of manilafitness.com)
On a day when we celebrate our Independence, I am overcome with amazement from two things.
My amazement at how our forebears fought all attempts to deny us our sovereignty. And my amazement at people who think being Filipino is supposed to be the "source" of one's pride.
We do need to be reminded of how those who came before us sacrificed their very blood and lives so that we may be able to be "on our own". We should be grateful for their actions, which paved the way for the freedom we so wantonly desecrate and denigrate by repeatedly electing "leaders" who do not care about the country. At least not more than what riches and power they can amass with the goodwill of the people translated into votes.
But what boggles me is when people say "I was born a Filipino...Pinoy Pride!"
Being born into a particular country/culture/race is not a cause for pride. It is happenstance. You just so happened to be born in the Philippines. My definition of pride is always defined by a single parameter: Did you do anything to deserve feeling that pride? It has to be translated and measured in terms of something achievable.
Saying that you are proud being born a Filipino makes as much sense as being proud that you were born right-handed. Benign characteristics are just that until you do something about them - benign.
With that in mind, Happy Independence Day to all.
Hmm...it makes me wonder, do people of other nationalities express pride at being born of those nationalities as well? Are Americans for instance proud that they were born American? Or perhaps just proud of being American, which is of course an entirely different thing?
ReplyDeletePerhaps what people really mean is that they're simply happy at the fact they were born Filipino, or whatever nationality they happened to have been born as?