A Map of the World

I read this book by Jane Hamilton just because my wife had a copy and I thought it would be a waste not to read it.

It is the story of a couple in the Midwest, living on a farm, whose seemingly ordinary struggle to create a dream family life is totally upended by the accidental death of a neighbor's child. It captures what goes on in the mind of a mother trying mightily to be a good mother and a supportive wife suddenly facing charges of sexual abuse and months of being separated from her family. It also describes the despairing thoughts of a husband whose simple family life suddenly falls apart and who suddenly has to abandon his simple dream of being a dairy farmer.

As a young father of two, I can sympathize with the feeling of how everything is so fragile. The smallest mistake might endanger my family, cause a health problem, ruin our finances, and wreck the dream life we are building. Having a family is immensely rewarding but it also makes the possibility of loss that much more terrifying.

Reflections on Sociology and Philippine Society

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.

A Dream Fulfilled

I began reading Uncle Tom's Cabin a few days before the historic election of Barack Obama.

Harriet Beecher Stowe's work, which some regard as a significant spark to the Civil War, is unsparing in its description of the horrors of slavery. One cannot help but be moved by depictions of families being separated and slaves being maltreated. It's hard to imagine today, but less than 150 years ago, real people with real emotions were treated like unfeeling articles to be bought and sold. I sometimes thought that the book had too many Christian references and passages, but who could blame slaves for pining their hopes in the afterlife if the world they lived in offered nothing but a future of suffering?

America has once more reinvented itself. Not only can the descendants of slaves hope for a better future in their present life, they can even lead the nation that once enslaved them.