tytartz's Friends

Dude, Where's My Decade?
Many of us started this decade expecting really bad things to come. Back in 1999, during the height of the Y2K Error fears, everybody was expecting The End Of The World As We Know It. A lot of people stocked up on batteries and canned goods, expecting the breakdown of civil society but, not surprisingly for those of us who understood computers, their worst fears did not come.

Of course, there were troubles holding out from the previous decade and for most us here in this archipelago, things started to look really bad once allegations of massive corruption on the level of the highest office in the land started coming out. And then the pictures of mansions purchased from really sinister means were revealed Just when things could not get any lower, the economy followed suit while the impeachment case was filed. And, somehow, despite all evidence against him, the former actor managed to get his allies in the Senate to bail him out.

But things started to look up and we were all filled with hope as once again the forces of 1986 joined together and our collective capacity to join hands and sing Kumbaya managed to boot him out but we failed to see that we were replacing him with someone much worse, someone who had qualities that he did not have, cunning, patience, and skillful negotiation. The masses who tried to stage their own version of People Power may have seen the sinister nature of this personality but we laughed at them and their little riot. After all, they were uneducated. What did they know?

But we should have also taken heed from the military, from the Oakwood mutineers who might have known about the indiscretions of the one in power. It was 2003, she was still in her first term and already fecal matter was hitting the fan.

The decade was supposed to be full of hope and joy for my generation, of meaningful transitions,this was the decade that we would graduate from high school and college, the years when our principles were untainted by experience and cold, hard reality. But as we all bitterly learned, there can be no true change in a country that wallows, complacently, in mediocrity. Greatness can never be achieved by a people so unwilling to make sacrifices.

Of course, I could insert personal anecdotes here about how horrible life turned in this decade but since I prefer to disengage all my identities, I will spare you the details and the tearjerkers that I have gotten too old and too tired to repeat.

And, yes, every year we thought things could not get any worse. And every year we were always surprised at how things plunged to even lower depths. And, so, since 2003, we've had mutinies, maritime disasters, corruption, allegations of election fraud, more corruption, national disasters brought about by our reckless disregard for our environment, still more corruption, violence, mutinies and rumours of mutinies, sex videos and even more corruption. Perhaps the crowning dubious achievement was when our country was branded the most dangerous for journalists.

There is a joke in the US Navy that a submarine captain when he orders his boat to submerge just yells out "Do what Filipino politicians do!"

And even our bright spots, so few and far between, are tarnished, even effaced. The boxing champion has been dogged by issues regarding his indiscretions. And, thankfully only briefly, CNN's Hero of The Year for 2009 kept on getting offers from various politicians who would dare to use his name for their own gain.

The double aughts: they will be over in a matter of minutes. And with them, the final curtain, hopefully, for an era marked by troubling milestones.

May they never come back.

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