Is this word not in your vocabulary anymore?
It used to be a byword, a household term, in the days of yore far beyond our recollection. Idealism was already in Eden when the world begun. God planted the seed of idealism in Adam and Eve.
Arguably, it is somewhat utopian in meaning, if it is not yet utopia to you.
Idealism is the superlative description of every good thing that a person desires. I say good because idealism identifies itself with the positive, not with the negative. It is the best of every situation there is – in governance, in the state of our relationship with our fellowmen, in our romantic relationship with the opposite sex, in the state of our relationship with God.
In our human existence, idealism is a goal, an unreachable one if I may say so because it calls for perfection. Our lives are intertwined with desires and goals, ambitions and dreams in our individual effort to achieve our ideals.
Shakespeare wrote, in a soliloquy of Macbeth, the over-ambitious Scottish general who stole the king’s crown: “Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage, and then is heard no more.”
Is idealism, like life, just a fleeting moment; it comes and it goes?
When idealism is lost, can it be found again?
I am connecting idealism to our present state of consciousness because evidently, from the looks of things, it doesn’t exist anymore.
We continuously search for qualified leaders to serve our country and people faithfully but what do we get in return for electing them into office?
They steal, fortify themselves and their relatives and amass unexplained wealth while discharging their so-called duties. They establish political dynasties and make sure they have implanted their kind and serve first their own interests before the interests of their constituencies. Their businesses grow and flourish while the community whose support catapulted them into office is suffering and the poor are ever increasing.
The words of the late US president John F. Kennedy should ring in your ears: “Ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country.”
This is idealism per se. By these words, Filipinos can survey and see for themselves who among our leaders – national and local – are ready to give up the amenities they are enjoying and sacrifice a piece of their time to uplift the conditions and circumstances of their countrymen.
Our elections alone are not ideal, in standards and in manners they are conducted. Cheating is prevalent, despite the computerization. People involved in our electoral system do not possess the idealism that Rizal, Bonifacio, Mabini and the rest of our heroes ignited in us.
Where will this lack bring us to?
I never lost my idealism even as I grew older. It just waned as I aged. It’s still there flickering but it did not die.
I pray the young generation today will pick up from where their elders left off.
Idealism is a call for justice, fairness and equity. No one should be above the law. Opportunities for advancement and growth should be within reach by everyone, regardless of his/her station in life.
Filipinos should not give up. Whether we like it or not, change will come. (Email your feedback to fredlumba@yahoo.com.) God bless the Philippines!
