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Philippine Nobel Award, Social
Threefolding and the Spiritual Tasks of Nations
By
Nicanor Perlas[1] For many decades, thinkers have grappled with a question. They knew that an answer to this question could provide a key foundation for a peaceful, spiritually creative and prosperous global civilization. The two world wars and dozens of other “small” wars have given stark warning of what happens when no adequate answer is found. This
question
can be
expressed as follows. “What is the task of smaller nations in world
affairs dominated by economic and political superpowers?” Recent
events in the Philippines provide a glimmer of hope that maybe, the
beginnings of an answer can now be found. On
February
25, 2001,
the Philippines received a very unusual global award. It is the first of
its kind in the world, as well as the first award given to an entire
nation. The Nobel Peace Prize Laureates Foundation (Nobel Peace
Foundation) awarded the Philippines for their “wonderful gift of the
spirit . . . to the world” in the form of People Power II. The prestigious Center for Global Non-Violence also joined
the Nobel Peace Foundation in giving the award as the Philippines
celebrated People Power I and II. In
a certain sense, this
award is higher than a Nobel Peace Prize since the citation was given by
a foundation whose trustees are composed of Nobel Peace Prize winners.
The award therefore represents the collective wisdom and combined
judgment of global peace luminaries like Nelson Mandela of South Africa,
the Dalai Lama of Tibet, Carlos Felipe Ximenes Belo and Jose Ramos-Horta
of East Timor and Mikhail Gorbachev of the Soviet Union. Leadership of the Third Kind
The
award shows that
the world is hungering for a third kind of leadership. It is weary of
the two-kinds of leadership that have dominated in the world: economic
and political/military leadership. This
third kind of leadership
is cultural leadership. It is demonstrating excellence in the area of
culture—whether this be excellence in moral deeds, intellectual
creativity, ideals, or other aspects of culture. The Philippines
demonstrated in action the cultural ideal of non-violent, peaceful
removal of a corrupt and unaccountable president. This
longing for a new kind
of leadership, for cultural leadership, is a major clue to answering one
of the most difficult questions of the 20th century. Before
following this clue, let us take a closer look at the Philippine
example. People Power II and the
Philippine Spirit
Pierre
Marchand, chairman of the Nobel Peace Prize Foundation cited the
Philippines in this manner. "The world is sick and tired of war and
violence. . . . You have given a gift to a world that knows only force
and violence—of effecting radical change without firing a shot”. The
world continues in its violent ways when only economic and political
considerations dominate
policy decisions. In
this award, the excellence of the
Philippine Spirit has revealed itself. The Nobel Peace Foundation and
its partners observed: “Your People Power II is even more amazing as
it was almost a spontaneous combustion of a nation’s wrath when it
felt that truth and justice were being suppressed. . . . History rarely
allows a people to recreate an already singular phenomenon, but again
you God-fearing and fellow Asians have shown the world that the governed
must be eternally vigilant in holding elected leaders accountable.” The
Nobel Peace Foundation then
further encouraged the Philippines not to stay within
“the shells of your existence. You cannot lie content upon your
laurels that you have so richly won. . . . You were given a national
gift. Do not keep it to yourselves. . . . The world will never be the
same again . . . if the spirit of Edsa [People Power II] prevails beyond
the shores of this tiny archipelago.” Social Threefolding: A Related
Philippine Contribution to the World
The
Philippines is also becoming known globally as one of the pioneers and
innovators of a new approach to solving, in a peaceful manner, conflict
arising from development aggression. Conventional economic and political
doctrines foster one-sided competition and self-interest. These spawn
development aggression, leading to social conflict, and eventually to
violence. In a
potent way, this new approach institutionalizes the peaceful,
conflict-resolving dynamics of People Power II in the development
debate. This
Philippine approach is known as
social threefolding. It is an innovation on related approaches proposed
by social thinkers and activists in search of a better world. It also
builds upon similar efforts done in Europe by Rudolf Steiner and his
colleagues at the beginning of the 20th century in response
to the nightmare of World War I. Social threefolding is starting to
enter the highest levels of national and local government policy. Its
beginnings have been introduced as practice in the United Nations
(U.N.). This UN experience has then become one of the bases for a new
policy of tri-sectoral approaches adopted by over 150 heads of state and
governments at the UN Millennium Summit in September 2000. And it is
intimately connected with the inner dynamics of People Power II. In
essence, social threefolding
recognizes that we now live in a tri-polar world inhabited by three
global powers—civil society in culture, government in politics, and
large corporations in the economy. We characterize it as a tri-polar
world because these three global powers are often in conflict. Social
threefolding recognizes, however, that all societies, of necessity, have
a cultural, political, and an economic realm. Further, there is
recognition that at some point, these have to be harmonized. In the
Philippine context, social threefolding offers concrete ways by which
this tension can be creatively harnessed, where appropriate, to create a
new Philippines. There
is another important task of
social threefolding. This task is to liberate the cultural sphere of
societies from being dominated by the powerful forces of the market and
the state. Social threefolding allows the cultures of countries to truly
express themselves and become a vital force in the overall development
of nations. It enables countries to truly express what they bring to the
community of humanity. Creative Fidelity to the Spirit
and Mission of One’s Country
The
Philippines and other smaller
and medium-sized countries of the world, with rare exceptions like
Japan, can never become world economic or political powers in the sense
of a United States or a Germany, or a France or any of the other large
industrialized nations. However, the Philippine example shows that it is
possible for smaller countries to be a source of cultural excellence
that can provide inspiration for other nations of the world. Its example
of moral strength can enrich the global discourse by showing that
critical aspects of world civilization will never be solved on the basis
of economic and political/military calculations alone. This
then could be an aspect of the mission of the
smaller and medium-sized countries of the world. They can provide
cultural leadership. If the smaller nations of the world are to be true
to their destinies, if they are to be true to their Spirit, then they
must embark on a path of societal development strongly guided by their
unique cultures. They must show, in their own creative ways, how the
vital moral sense for freedom of the spirit, fair play, justice,
compassion, and community, together with other universal values, can
find unique expression in the different parts of the world.
They must deal with economic and political challenges without
sacrificing their cultural excellence. Anything less will be a betrayal
of the their Spirit. If
greater numbers of countries
of the world creatively express their cultural excellence without the
trappings of exaggerated nationalism, then, increasingly, sterling
qualities of humanity will surface as ideals of and in the world. By
being truly who they are as countries, then we, as individuals, can
truly be. The excellence of smaller nations can help complete our
humanity. NP04March01
[1]
Nicanor Perlas is President of the Center for Alternative
Development Initiatives (CADI) and member of the Steering Committee
of Kompil II, the social movement that helped mobilize People Power
II in the Philippines. He is the author of the book, Shaping
Globalization: Civil Society, Cultural Power, and Threefolding,
which has been translated into 7 languages. The author can be
reached at info@cadi.ph.
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