Randy David is one the few genuine Filipino public intellectuals. His training is in sociology, but he employs philosophy in his writings with facility, and his political analysis is more incisive than those of my political science professors. His columns are models of clarity and they are suffused by David's abiding love for his country.
In this book of essays, I perceive David's intellectual evolution from a Marxist given to interpreting society through class analysis to more of a pragmatist, focusing more on what institutions work in a society moving from tradition to modernity. David, like other observers, writes about the many failures of Philippine society, but, unlike them, he also sees a lot of hope. He views the experiences of OFWs in better-run societies and the expectations of a new generation of Filipinos exposed to the Internet as contributing to the creation of a political culture that will allow Philippine politics to become less personalistic, and more programmatic, i.e., more modern.
Perhaps he is right about changing mindsets. But the time has come for the Filipino youth to stop simply admiring Obama's success and start acting to make a similar brand of hopeful, transformational politics a reality in the Philippines.
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