*Larita Kutsarita - n. see THE AUTHOR
*Spoonfuls - n. articles/dispatches/scribbles by Larita Kutsarita
(Background photo by Aiess Alonso)

Saturday, January 1, 2011

Hope Is Not Enough



Every New Year, people are all about wearing polka dots, lighting firecrackers and blowing horns, and what have you, all in the name of good fortune. Most of us even come up with New Year's resolutions if only to start the year right. An optimist stays up until midnight after counting down to 2011 and watching the fireworks light up the skies. Meanwhile, a pessimist stays up to witness 2010 end. The former hope for better things to come, while the latter are just glad the year is finally over. Both people, however, have something in common: all hope for change (even if the pessimists do not admit it, exactly).


Hope is good. Hope saves. But it does not end in hoping alone. You see, the revolutionary stays awake not only on a New Year, but all year round to not merely hope for change, but actually make it happen. We are not superheroes wanting to change the world overnight by slaying the villain and getting the girl. No, change is never rushed, for it can only be achieved through a protracted, collective struggle for national democracy.


Yes, the calendar indicates that the year has indeed changed, but society remains the same. It may be New Year, but we Filipinos are still not free. Not unless all people, young or old, rich or poor, have decent Media Noche set on their tables; not unless everybody looks forward to earning just wages enough to feed their families and themselves; not unless every 16 or 17-year old is eager to take on college in the coming semester in a school without having to pay a fortune.


As "Iskolar ng Bayan," it is our responsibility to not stop fighting for a just and humane society, in which ALL THE FILIPINO PEOPLE, and not just the foreign, the few, and the privileged, are entitled to a truly prosperous 2011 and all the years to come. An awesome, progressive New Year, everyone! And may all of us remember that it is not only about hoping for change, but collectively making that change happen. Steadily. Tirelessly.


Rakenrol, mga Tol!