Dear Future Leaders, Activists, Good Doers, and World Changers:

 In the book, Amusing Ourselves to Death, Neil Postman discusses the ideal human ability to distinguish embellishment from truth. He quotes Bertrand Russell and describes an "immunity to eloquence." In other words, the ability to not be swayed by anything other than the logic and truth of one's argument; not emotional impact, not the charisma or any other admirable qualities having to do with the speaker, and not the speaker's "ingratiating tone." As Postman mentions this, I was struck by my realization that the majority of people always fall victim to the persuading devices of others rather than being swayed by the sense and truth of their argument. Consequently, people are often fooled, manipulated, and tricked by those with powerful persuasive diction and personal agenda.

Last Sunday, my aunt invited me to go to a coffee shop with her because she thought it would be nice to work together. While I was working on my summer homework, she was looking for a job as a professor as she had just completed her dissertation and achieved her doctorate degree. I asked what her dissertation was about, and she told me she wrote a personal piece about what it's like being a Filipino-American. She talked to me about many things, and at some point, the current president of the Philippines was brought up. For those who are not aware, the president of the Philippines is Rodrigo Duterte, and in the most basic terms, he abhors anyone affiliated in any way with drugs. President Duterte has policies with a goal to get rid of the powerful drug lords and "better the Philippines" that promote the killing of drug users. But, this killing of innocent and guilty alike is being done in the streets, by civilians and policemen alike. These are policies that permit the manslaughter of a child that is in the way of a target and considers it "collateral damage," or destruction necessary for a greater cause, and these are policies that give the vengeful and immoral a greater opportunity to frame the innocent and threaten their lives. These are policies that refuse to see addiction as a medical issue and that strike that hardest on the poor and needy, policies that have given rise to chaos.

The logic behind Duterte's drug war policies aim to tear down the drug trafficking empire by eliminating its flow of customers, many of which are just people struggling to get by. Will murdering these men, women, and children stop the drug lords from finding others willing to buy? Will this tactic really scare them into quitting what has been successful so far? Does the death of an alleged drug-using civilian really equal the death of a drug lord and thus the death of further drug deals and using in the country? Moreover, is this what it means to be a better Philippines?

What struck me the most about Postman's statement was perhaps the wonderment of how many times individuals and groups alike have gotten away with some terrible things because of the public's lack of this "immunity to eloquence." Even on a smaller, day-to-day scale, many times people are just so easily, for lack of a better term, fooled. Hopefully, I'm not coming off as some sort of condescending big shot and other people have noticed this trend even just sitting in their history class. And, I wonder if anyone else has thought about the many ways to take a stand, or do something to open the public eye and mind, or oppose a bigger force? What is the Mayfair class of 2019 passionate enough to do something about, if there is anything, or is there something you guys wish was different concerning what the majority of society believes? Is there something you wish the public knew or would keep an open mind to? I'm curious to know if we really are the generation of change.


Tabby Verayo