Pathways to Cultural Alienation

Nobody wants to be dominated. The natural disposition of anyone is to be free—free to steer the direction of one’s own life, free to seek one’s own well-being and happiness. But the other side of this mold of thought is the desire to control—to control everything that figures in one’s drive for freedom. It is as much an irony as a mystery. But it is an undeniable fact of human existence and history.

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The Stark Contrast

Again my former student and friend from the Davao School for the Blind, Willie G, gave me a surprise visit the other day. This time he brought along a short but interesting anecdote about animals— a fable, we call it— purportedly to prick my mind into a critical discussion about its allegorical meaning. Immediately after he finished retelling the fable, he asked, “Sir Don, unsa may pagtulun-ang atong makuha aning istoryaha?” [Sir Don what lesson can we get from this story?]

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