By Atty. Antonio P. Pekas
The picture on the front page of this issue says it all. Christmas is in the air. You can start counting the days and it is just around the bend.
Kids would soon be pestering their parents on what to give during exchange gifts. Good for them. Sadly, so many others who cannot even mention such terms. It would be too painful when your family could not even afford a simple noche buena.
But then again it is not about the material things we could buy or could give. Much less would it be the money we can have or the political power we can amass. It is the spirit behind the season. And such material things or political power or prestige are anathema to the Christmas spirit. More so if you are preoccupied about these.
In the past issues of this paper, I had been quite sure in giving the advice to readers to delay any plan for business expansion, or to start one. That it will take about two more years for recovery gain some economic traction.
Then came the whopping disappointment about the leaders of Saudi Arabia and Russia leading the OPEC+ to cut oil production by as much as two million barrels a day.
It would surely lead to recession in the USA and other developed western countries and could even mean the collapse of those of China and under-developed countries. Yes, things could be brutal.
Thousands would become jobless. Due to inflation, so many would go hungry due to not being able to afford the high prices of everything.
So wait for two years? That is as screwed up as any other advice now. There appears to be no end to the Russia-Ukraine war. And to the corruption everywhere in this country which is the main cause of our poverty and underdevelopment. Se we might have to wait forever.
And with the cynical or negative attitude of everyone, that there can be no change for the better, things could end up to be a self-fulfilling prophecy.
In times like this, my favorite story is the proverbial Pandora’s Box. When it was opened despite all sorts of warnings, out flew all the negativities in this world including diseases, bad luck, misfortune, wretchedness, you name it. But, there was a small bug or creature that also flew out. Its name was HOPE.
With hope we will have a positive attitude. We would be able to come up with positive solutions to all the problems we are facing. If not, we should at least come up with ideas to make us survive and later experience a better tomorrow.
This would be consistent with the Christmas spirit to which we should all attune ourselves, if not forever, at least while we are faced with difficulties which will be our reality in the foreseeable future.**
