Kella Ortega

INTSOCI

Insight Paper on James Fallows A Damaged Culture

The Philippines is a picture of a nation, not only without a sense of nationalism but also
without much national pride. The Philippines is a picture of a nation; it is a nation but its
authenticity as one is similar to that of an image printed into something as flimsy and shallow as a
piece of paper. This picture can only run so deep and last for so long. It is not like those images
carved into stone or painted into concrete walls. The Philippines is not only without a sense of
nationalism but also without much national pride. It is a nation that is not united. Its citizens
thoughts and plans are not for the sake of the country and its race, instead it is a country whose
citizens wish is to be born and raised from another nation elsewhere. This is what the Philippines
was, is, and will be, if its culture is still not mended in the future.

James Fallows (1987) A Damaged Culture illustrates the state of the Philippines after
Corazon Aquino takes the mantle of President after the countrys suffering under the ten year rule
of the Marcos Family, and how the countrys condition during that time was not brought about by
the rule of Marcos but by many other social forces, namely its culture. The culture of the Philippines
is a hybrid of the beliefs, values and traditions the Spaniards and the Americans have taught the
Filipinos during their time of colonization. Even now, the Americans still have a great control over
what the Filipino culture contains. For example, the language the Filipinos use is not just Filipino;
many Filipinos use English or code switch between the two languages whenever they speak. Some
of the folkways the Filipinos use come from the Americans, saying Hi or Hello and shaking
hands as a form of greeting. Even James Fallows (1987) attests to this, reiterating from his sources
that We (Filipinos) have to wait and see what the Americans have in mind., and that This is a
country where the national ambition is to change your nationality.

Aside from the part of the Philippine culture that is influenced by the Spaniards and
Americans, it is also within the norms of the Filipinos to have a great sense of familial care and
loyalty, but they only have these traits in little amounts with regards to a public or national sense.
While it is seen as an admirable trait to love ones family, it is deplorable to only care for those
within the familial circle and care so little for those who live outside it. The carelessness expressed
by the Filipinos towards their nation would, in effect, result to disregard towards the lands of the
Philippines and also to fellow Filipinos. Examples of this behaviour is found all over the country; the
piles of litter, the stench of urine and the nauseating site of fecal matter scattered all over the roads
without regard to the other people who unjustly suffer the maltreatment of these public places.
Politicians stealing the money of the public to ensure their own comfort and leisure, while
disregarding the injuries they cause their own nation and its people. This self-catering attitude of
the Filipinos greatly affects the unity of the country, and in the process, becoming a major
detriment to the Philippines improvement.

Evidently, the Filipino culture is fractured with many components that are disadvantageous
to the improvement of its nation. Fallows work is sincere as he points out many causes of the
fractured culture, stating that one of its main causes are the interventions made by America to aid
the Philippines. Since the Americans have been giving the Philippines a hand in managing its affairs,
the Filipinos have become dependent to them, thus making the Filipino culture weak to the
influences of its American conquerors.

The culture of the country is its main source of power; it is like the gas that fuels cars and
like the program that runs computers. Without it, the cars will stop running and the computers will
stop working. In order to prevent the Philippines from becoming like disabled cars and computers,
its descent further into incapability should be halted. To do this, the Filipinos should become united
in its efforts to rebuild the Filipino culture into becoming a culture with better non-material
components that can help the citizens in achieving superior results without relying on any other
culture but their own.