On National pride and Class consciousness
Every nation has its own identity, and in every identity must have been imbued with a unique feature that classified as its own. And one of that feature is National pride. National consciousness, that is, alongside class consciousness may likely to have conquered and survived in a hostile environment set upon to everyone by both nature and fate. And though this, it has survived the wave of time, though progressive means and through the acceptance of what the person is, in order to uplift and to reach what is supposed to. Unlike those whom rather accept-only to become extinct or in the verge of destruction.
National pride, or as what others ought to say as 'Racial pride', coming from this person's own perspective does not mean superiority as what other people used to think of in case of Hitler or any other chauvinist tyrant, but rather keeping one's embedded consciousness as part of a nation, a recognition since that they uphold its revolutionary tradition, its faith, and honour to its homeland; as well as being working class and on how to emancipate from it in order to create a new order in a new society, and to serve the aspirations of the people, both local or from its foreign brethren.
One of which this person is still thinking of is that “how the nation is still struggling to achieve independence despite being independent for years?” Or "how come people continue to clamour for emancipation against foreign and domestic repression? Is it because of events and personalities that exposed the actually-existing repression brought by the system? Yes, but its idea and inspiration emanates from the people who used to work hard yet still being maltreated by foreign as well as domestic oppressor; as well as the fact that in that rotten society, whose policies and actions that hinders the emancipation of both the nation and the labouring people makes a nation itself weak and vulnerable to oppression. The majority of the oppressed, especially those whom doing menial labour and having a low way of life are the bulk of the liberating, forces since they are the ones whom are being disenfranchised, and thus likely to rebel against the repressive social order the system has been made towards its subjects.
Just like the agrarian uprisings, millenarian revolts, and various forms of mass actions in the Philippines or in any other underdeveloped country whose primary intention is to redeem their homeland and themselves from foreign and domestic oppression, as well as to form a new society they have wanted, trying to unite material and spiritual wealth to create a healthy living whole that benefits the individual and the society. And from these unsung masses, along with their leaders whom used to get killed for their beliefs, gave inspiration to others with the idea why they have wanted “freedom”; and that "freedom" doesn’t mean “freedom as a nation” but also “freedom” from its class in order to build an just society, through national consciousness, merit, and of hope towards one another.
In fact, Filipinos can be classified as an example of these as a struggling, proletarian nation. That after centuries of subjection by foreign imperialists and its puppets, of their efforts to degrade and enslave the inhabitants, Filipinos, particularly the oppressed masses in the rural areas has tried and failed in its struggle for national and social liberation, but their heart of being a “free” nation and its identity as a “Filipino” prevail, and so its class consciousness as a proletarian. And in spite of its hardships given, their deaths, banishments, still their identity and their hope remain as they continue fighting.
And to think that these same Filipinos, in spite of being independent since 1946, the remnants of the old system prevailed, and so are the its ruling classes. Being a semi-feudal, semi-colonial country always carries a large strain of its age old repression and disenfranchisement, for since that system, which actually weakens the nation, makes vulnerable to foreign and domestic oppression. Will the Philippines or any other still underdeveloped country be called independent if not for being a vassal of foreign imperialism? Most policies are tailored to accomodate foreign and not of domestic interests while rejecting, if not diluting provision which supposed to benefit domestic interests particularly te laboring masses for its land, labor, welfare. The struggle to destroy the old order remained still, for as the oppressed, imbued with hope and faith as part of the nation, or as makers of history wanted to destroy in order to set a new society under them, or as what Karl Marx said a “Dictatorship of the Proletariat” must have been.
Also to think that National pride, regardless of its deeply-rooted values ought to be kept cherished, has becoming a mere façade within an actually-existing puppet state, acting on behalf of a foreign "overlord" or perhaps "international capital" itself. That through meaningless slogans, sentiments that carried little or no patriotism, it somehow one would really think that today's Nationalism almost becoming worth nothing- especially to nations wherein opened much to cosmopolitanism, and lessening its patriotic, working class appeal in the name of globalisation; or in other words, sacrificing its own dignity all for a few bucks and "an illusion of progress."
Imagine, everyone has encountered the mercenary traditions of the system with its armed forces, the curtailment of civil rights and freedom of thought especially amongst activists and other progressive leaning persons who advocate genuine national pride and class consciousness, of several scandals wherein corrupts the country and of life itself, of policies that hinders domestic development and upliftment of communities, and even the "rise" of false "patriots" who are in fact mere puppets of a foreign oppressor, who utilizes a "washed-out" patriotism and blaming the genuine patriots who supported a dignified state and a progressive community of peoples imbued with patriotic sentiment and of class conciousness as members of the working class.
Noticing about these facts, it seems that "a need for genuine national pride through working class patriotism" is encouraged as a means to counter the growing effects of wholesale westernization, of globalization also encouraged by vested western interests as well as of bourgeois-chauvinist "nationalism" which is limited to buying goods and watching boxing matches and of the like, including contemporary music which in fact emulates much of the west. People somehow may ought to undersand the fact in order to break off ties from it, of needing Bonifacios not Aguinaldos, of needing De Los Reyeses, of Evangelistas and not those of collaborators a la Paterno, Buencamino, or the Boot-kissing Tirona, also including post-war people like Manuel Roxas, who had bannered "buying Filipino goods"while at the same time kissed the shoes of the imperialist with policies catering to the latter.
And to think that patriotism and working class consciousness goes side by side in fighting against the old social order, and to build and just and dignified homeland within the international community of peoples, also wanted to realize according to the late Soviet leader Joseph Stalin's statement:
"In the past we had no fatherland, nor could we had one. But now that we have overthrown capitalism and power is in our hand, in the hands of the people, we have a fatherland, and we will uphold its independence. Do you want our socialist fatherland to be beaten and to lose its independence? If you dont want this, you must put an end to its backwardness in the shortest time and develop a genuine Bolshevik tempo in building up its socialist economy. There is no other way... "
It is somehow true for as workers of every nations, living in a nation in fact a nation of profiteers wanted genuine national pride, this time imbued with class consciousness to counter, destroy the age-old chauvinist "nationalistic" appeal of the profiteers and of the like and to build a real homeland wherein it genuinely uphold its independence whilst cooperating with all nations in building a community of peoples: just, peaceful, prosperous. Due to the fact that nationalism, in a proletarian sense, is more national than the bourgeoisie, since they (the proletariat) showed its real contribution to the country; however they remained poor since their fruits of hard work are destined to those whom are greed in nature.