I hope that I interpreted correctly the seamless essay of Micah Dagaerag*, CDM Dan-ag, on Human Dignity, a portion says that even well ordered societies can be oppressive ones.

Norway, home of the Nobel Peace Prize award, one of the most peaceful countries and a well-ordered society both politically and economically was besieged by a vicious attack last Saturday by a lone gunman in an island and in Oslo, and this unspeakable horror was a symbol of oppression on the universality of human dignity.

Norway is grievously hurt because of a very unreasonable fundamentalist view of what a multi-cultural society is and should not be in their well-off and well ordered country.

The massacre proves it that an economically well off and well-ordered country is not an assurance that it has perfectly secured its own people from fundamentalism, extremism or domestic terrorism, particularly in securing their thoughts or ideas on tolerance to other peoples not belonging to their own race, culture, faith or state.

There is a widespread trend in Europe today on the rise of far right extremists who are blaming immigrants, Asians and Muslims citizens for the ills of their society, and considered them as impurities to their nation. The gunman himself is a member of a right-wing Progressive Party in Norway who is gaining seats in their Parliament, and like in some Eastern European countries, these rightists are slowly holding power in their governments.

It is not only political ideology or economic rewards that may define a nation, which will make a person and will shape the destiny of a country.

It is the core value of a person as shared and accepted collectively will determine a nation. As he’s a citizen of a particular state and engages himself with others in the community, it is the most important element that will define a nation. Such is inherent to him as a human being and which is the summation of everything that happens to him and to those prior to him, and are accepted as generally good to everyone in his own community.

The extreme rightist view of that lone gunman as shown in the manifesto he wrote and posted in the facebook and the presence of a rightist political party in their parliament is very contrary to what we expect and believe of Norway.

Probably he acted alone but there is a discontent in their own country and the rightist political party which unfortunately shares the same views with him as to what is generally acceptable only and exclusively for their society as not for all cultures, faith and races.

This rightist ideologue with an individualistic core value is a growing movement in some European countries. Something to act upon before this rightist thought will become credible and will ultimately get hold of political power in the entire Europe. Then history will really repeat itself as what happened to Hitler when he rose to power by stoking the fire of prejudices of white supremacy.

Political thinkers all over the world are closely observing the rise of this rightist movement. One of those is the timely removal of the grave of Hitler’s sidekick which recently is becoming a popular pilgrimage of the rightists and Neo-Nazis not only from Europe but including as far as America.

Our country must condemn this act and shall make it known that fundamentalism and extremism even in our midst has no place in a civilized and modern world.

I believe that we don’t have the same propensity of the rightists in the Philippines, although we have prejudices to some of our fellow Filipinos. What we are very proud of as a nation is our core value on Kapwa, that being a member of a community and in solidarity with others. This is the reason that by how many times we have been oppressed, in captive and conquered, Filipinos remain to love humanity.

This Filipino core value is the model value that should be universally emulated for we view every person possessing not only of body and spirit but on our belief that we are part, connected and attach to other persons.

I am not saying that we are thankful that we are Filipinos with strong belief on human dignity, but we have major deficiencies also for we never translate this to our political and economic system. What I mean here is that everything will always go back to the basic, and that is the core value of every human being.

Our present political and economic systems and the way we bring this country are the results of how we are instigated by our own human values and principles. We have a good core value that we are very proud of as a Filipino but probably because we have too much of it but not critical or because of this we are too forgiving and can easily forget that we remain however to be of having colonial mentality and with captive consciousness, a downturn perhaps of our nation for the meantime.

 

*Micah is a proud Iliganon, a Centrist Democrat of Central Visayas, 2011 Most Outstanding Iliganon and whose essay where I apprehensively quote won him an international award two months ago.