People Power: The Philippines

• Share

(2 of 2)

Where does one come up with such a radical idea? Bertrand Russell wondered sadly, "If one man offers you democracy and another offers you a bag of grain, at what stage of starvation will you prefer the grain to the vote?" Astonishing that democracy ever prevails, the unwieldy comic hero of stage and screen. The Philippines offered astonishment. Somewhere in people's minds, among the vacillations and flaccidities, an insistent voice resides, murmuring the old familiar lines: Everyone counts. Everyone is responsible for the honor of his life. Try not to forget what you saw last week. It was ourselves in eruption far away.