i belong to the former. i am most definitely not a realist. i might not be sure about many things about me, but i am with this one. i am a true-blooded idealist. i am not sure if there are many of us in UP, but with the few people i know who are like me, one can construct a prototype of a typical idealist: he is usually immersed in his books, he seldom goes out to rallies and demonstrations and he is a dreamer. it's not that my ilk and i are apathetic, God knows we are not. it's just that the noise and aggression commonly associated with the UP-type activism are not exactly the soil and sunshine our ideas thrive in. we dream of peace, understanding, respect and holy silence. as Gandhi once said, "you cannot shake hands with a clenched fist."
over time the realists have been subtly changing the mindset of the university. as new iskolars enter the school, they are bluntly bombarded with the revolutionary ideas poised as answers to the social realities of poverty, injustice, oppression, ad nauseum. (true these are in fact realities, but are they all that is REAL in today's society?) realists go around demanding, shouting in the streets, exposing injustices and demanding justice.
as an idealist, i am not sheltered from these truths. i do believe in the reality of these things. one need not shun the real world to be an idealist. the main difference, i think, lies in how people think these problems must be solved. in this aspect, the realists become divided further into two subgroups.
the realists-slackers believe there is nothing much to be done. they accept the situation and, well, slack off. they feel action is futile -- nothing will change anyway.
the realist-radicals believe that in order for all these problems to stop, there has to be a radical change in the society. many propose communism, some propose a change of leadership, i know of one who continually pushes for monarchy (who will be king?). what ever the solution is, there has got to be a BIG change.
we idealists believe in little changes. we believe in lending out a helping hand. we believe in creating a change in people. we cannot change the world by changing the order of things, we change it by changing the people who make up the world. and soon enough, the people will change the order of things around them. better said than done, yes. but we can at least try. we are not idealists for nothing.
and so my ilk and i go around orphanages and feeding undernourished kids. we go around underprivileged schools and offer a book or two. we go around drug rehabs and talk to people about their problems. we go to church and pray to God for help and assistance. we go everywhere, but not in rallies and demonstrations. there where noise and aggression reign.
i once told a friend about the Galing Pilipino Movement (The Philippine Ability Movement). It is an organization which aims to uncover what is it about the Filipinos that make us great (now let's talk about idealism!) and then honoring those who have done great deeds in the community. i told her that every month during the GPM's meetings, they start with a prayer and then ushers hand out newspapers for everyone. and then one by one, the members are asked to read aloud a good news from the paper. isn't that great! she scoffed at what i told her and said in a most realist-slacker air: "Too idealist for me. Binayot man na! (It's too dandy!)"
i looked at her and smiled. we belong to the same political party in school, but she is from a different cult.
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