"Ambition" Is Not a Bad Word, nor Is "Unity"

I recently wrote a blog as if I were making a speech for President Aquino. As I went through the reader comments, it struck me that the tenor of my speech was very different from what you would ordinarily hear from President Aquino or any other Philippine leader in a popular speech.

The typical Philippine presidential speech mainly extols achievements. The President may talk about plans, too, but in a practical way. He itemizes line items achieved and line item goals.

My own speech was instead centered on something more generalized and bigger. An ideal. A vision. Specifically, I wanted to rally the audience EMOTIONALLY around a nationwide commitment to independence, unity and good behavior.

My talk was also tailored to some important audiences. It spoke directly to them. It spoke frankly and firmly to China,  the U.S., businessmen, churches, dynasties and the Filipino people.

The central theme was the same for all those audiences: the importance of a nationwide commitment to independence, unity and good behavior.

As an expression of vision, the speech tried to raise a feeling of "emotional pride" that I think is largely missing from the Philippine Constitution as an adaptation of the US Constitution. It seems to me that Filipinos don't "feel" their Constitution as representing the national character. It is just words on paper. So this "emotional pride" is largely missing from the cultural identity of the Philippines as a nation, and it fails to motivate the nation toward a greater union.

Please don't misunderstand me. I think Filipinos have tremendous soul and character and pride. But the national glue is not Mighty Bond. It is some kind of pasty stuff made of rice starch that does not congeal and bind. It is made up of cheers for popular heroes or favorable ratings in polls rather than something more substantial. It easily becomes unglued and re-pasted into the smaller provincial interests that represent the uniqueness of the Philippines: the families, the clans, the islands, the cities, the religions, the classmates, the provinces.

The idea of "nationalism" in the Philippines is tied to a kind of "national regret", the negative notion that the Philippines has spent its modern life under occupancy, and therefore has never had a fighting chance. So Filipinos bristle at American influence, rightfully. And they are starting to bristle at China and the Catholic Church and the overbearing self-interest of dynasties, rightfully. But these are a bad form of motivation. A bad sense of vision. They are like grouching and grousing along, blaming and making excuses, rather than a positive and uplifting declaration that says, "Hey, this is who we are. We've been through several centuries of oppression and trouble but we are now out of it and we like being out! Upward!"

Line item achievements are great. Essential. Gotta have them.

But there needs to be more to the national spirit than that. I'd offer a suggestion: that the Philippines might be well-served by redefining the word "ambition" as a positive character quality, not the insult envious people throw at those who are achieving success"

"Ambisyoso!"

America thrives on ambition. It is the energy that drives competition and the search for knowledge and solutions and, yes, more profit and wealth.

In the Philippines, it is an insult. And I am taken aback.

An insult?

To want to be better? To be more skilled, more prosperous? An insult?

No, no, it is not.

• Ambition is the power that drives fulfillment.

• Fulfillment is the satisfaction that leads to happiness.

Ambition is the power to be happy.

Well, sure, if you get too much of it, and fail, it can also lead to heartbreak and depression and unhappiness.  That only means you have to dig deeper. Try harder. And find the peculiar deep richness that can be found in overcoming setbacks or failure.

Life's full of risks, you know? You either take them on with relish or live like a vegetable.

Well, I've gotten off track here.

All I wanted to say is that I think the ambition for a unified, uplifted Philippines that I expressed in that speech is a pretty good one. It seems to be missing from the speeches and documents and reasons for passing laws that I observe.

Let me restate it:  missing from the national attitude, and many presidential speeches, is a nationwide emotional commitment to independence, unity and good behavior. Missing is the call to a real, binding, positive patriotism.

Well, point of fact, President Aquino is doing a fine job working on on good behavior. And independence, too, given his skillful handling of China and U.S. affairs, firm and with good sense.

But the unity that exists is negative, except when we cheer for entertainers. It is important to make it positive. Deeply positive. When it is negative, people look to other allegiances for the place where they belong. The famiy, the church, friends, the local town or city. Because the national union doesn't grab them or inspire them.

It is up to Filipinos to decide what they want, for sure. It's not up to some outside Joe. But it seems to me desirable to belong to a nation that is:

• Above the family.

• Above the Church, the province, the classmates.

• Above the dynasties.

And -- very important -- a nation that has moved past its historical troubles.

When this commitment becomes fact, the Philippines indeed stands tall, equal to the U.S. and to China.

History is fine. Achievements are wonderful. But they are not as important as giving of oneself to the building of a unified state where all Filipinos are joined at the heart, and in deed.

Imagine one nation, independent, acting earnestly and honestly and thoughtfully for the well-being of all.

As I say that, I recognize that a big problem is the Filipino penchant for being 100 percenters. Weak at compromise, weak at concession. Determined to win arguments by any means, even if means tearing down others. Even if it means tearing down the Philippines.

Well, here's my take on that.

Get over it.

The fabric of the Philippines is a glorious pattern of interwoven differences. Stop dividing according to those differences and instead celebrate them.

Maybe that is the unity that is missing in the Philippines. The celebration of the many differences here, of language, of faith, of island, of family, of education, of money, of lot in life. Instead they are used to discriminate and divide.

When every Filipino individual stands equal in stature and value to every other Filipino individual, the nation will finally stand equal in stature to every other nation on earth.

But until then, it seems to me, this is a nation that is not quite glued together right.

I would be relieved to be told I am wrong, and would welcome being told I have missed the mark regarding the importance I place on ambition and unity.