The Ghosts of Those Thirsting for Justice Roam the Land

There is a belief among old people that spirits of victims of injustice still remain on earth. They roam the landscape, seeking for people to help them get justice. Do you believe this?

A cycle of injustice exists in our generation today because the injustices committed in the past remain unsolved. From the treachery committed against the Supremo, to the treachery committed against Ninoy Aquino, there seems to be no let-up on the crimes committed against people of principle.

This just shows that the justice system in this country is flawed and serves only the caprices of the rich and powerful among us.

It is not that we lack laws that punishes those who violate them---it is that the implementors of the law are weaklings and are readily influenced by money and influence.

As they say, the system can only be as strong as the people who operate them.

Even in a very ideal system, if the people who run this system is corruptible, then, there is nothing anyone can do except accept this or totally fire all these people and throw this system down.

Now, what President Aquino said in his speech is highly relevant. He personally wanted revenge. He felt that his family got the raw end of the deal when his father was assasinated.

However, a friend gave him a valuable advice--save your strength and focus on how to help other people victimized by the dictatorship.

This he did, according to Aquino.

An injustice cannot undo a previous injustice. It is only thru the imposition of true Justice can injustice be undone.

Now, if Aquino decided against using violence, then, why is it that he continues to do injustice to the perceived political nemesis of his father?

The Dialectics of Civic Obedience

Norman Dunn, I think, was the one who clearly stated the obvious---civil disobedience is not the problem, but civil obedience. When a group of people agree on the course or direction that their government took despite large-scale opposition from the masses of people, civil obedience harms rather than promote progress. Civil obedience succeeds when a system runs without hitches. An example would be when the system of justice works in perfect unison with the political system, civil obedience is expected of everyone to synchronize with the workings of a perfect system.


When the system itself mucks up, civil obedience impedes changes because the people themselves accept the unjust rulings rather than do what is expected of them---express their sentiments freely and democratically.


In the case of laws, people are expected to obey laws that promote society's welfare and not a law that pursues the will of a few. Such laws ought to be tested and frown upon by the body politic to discourage rule-makers of making such ridiculous ones in the first place.


Democracy thrives in an atmosphere of dissent and accent. Democracy is not static. It perennially changes depending upon the will of those who adopted it. When democratic societies stop accepting dissent, it is not democratic anymore but totalitarianism. When democratic societies absorb more dissent, they become more anarchic than democratic.


The dialectic therefore of civil disobedience in relation to democracies depends on the equilibrium brought by a system that fully absorbs both dissent and accent and dispenses rules based on both sentiments. Fact is, the true color of democracies are more of grey rather than blue--or the synthesis of black and white. More of the same color harms democracies.