International and National Failure

"Tell me Anna, what's the greatest and most influential of powers on earth?"

"The United Nations."

He smiled dryly. "And here I was thinking you'd say the United States." He chuckled and took another beer from the cooler. "Tell me then, why was the UN was put together in the first place?"

"To promote world peace."

He grinned. "Just like Ms. Universe, don't you think."

I frowned.

"Has it done that?" he continued. "World peace, I mean."

"You tell me, since you seem to have all..."

"The UN failed, Anna. When those guys at the Balkans went around murdering each other, it failed. When it bailed out on a country as those African hacked each other to death, it failed. And now, as some war machine rains hell all over Iraq-a war machine fuelled by the very oil of Iraq itself-the UN failed." He shook his head. "For all that ‘influence' it supposedly has, the UN is, simply put, useless."

"It's too easy to just blame the UN."

He looked at me. "What do you mean."

"What you said was simplistic. There's more than just ‘the UN failing' at face value. You of all people should know that."

He started to smile. "Really now. So blaming them is too easy. Like it's too easy to just blame your government for all your country's problems?" He leaned closer. "You Filipinos say your government's useless. And I agree."

"You agree, but you don't even understand why."

"Anna, it's obvious, okay? That pillaging martial law despot you guys exiled-despite all that money he stole from you people, what happened? He started uncontrollably pissing in his pants one day-and now he's dead. What did those billions of dollars do for him? Nothing. What did stealing from his own countrymen do for the Philippines? Nothing. Except plunge this little Lost Eden of yours into unrecoverable foreign debt."

"And look at that so-called democracy you have-it's so useless you guys vote clowns and monkeys into office, like that box office action star turned president! You people vote him in by a landslide, and then regurgitate him out of your system and impeach him-because you finally realize he's a dumb ass. And that's all part of ‘Philippine Democracy'. Now how stupid is that."

"How dare you! That is completely oversimplified!"

"Complicate it then."

"This country is young! We've been independent for only fifty years! We're finding our way around, making mistakes, learning..."

"And flagellating yourselves with that self-styled democracy."

"That we imported from you Americans!"

And Archie actually smiled...

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An excerpt from Orange, the novel
by Joey Silayan
www.orange.com.ph