Dekada '70

I watched Dekada '70 earlier today on DVD and I was appalled at how brutal the times were in the Philippines. The Marcos regime. Martial Law. The Writ of Habeas Corpus was suspended, meaning anybody can be arrested and detained without warrant. Opposition leaders and groups were tortured and killed. It was definitely a difficult time where mere suspicion and accusation can lead one to be physically abused.

When I think about that time in relation to today, with reference to my migration to the USA, I think my migration does not compare. Though I don't necessarily feel my migration was a mistake (in the long run, it's not), when I think of it in terms of today, all I can say is, I can still live in the Philippines. I mean, there's no Martial Law going on right now. Nobody's being arrested without warrant. Nobody's being tortured or killed for being against the government. Sure, there may be economic problems but that's not really a huge concern to me. Ever since 1998, the Philippines has been in economic turmoil anyway, following the 1997 Asian market crash. The point is, it's not that bad.

But when I look at it in the 70s point of view, given the chance to migrate, hell yeah I would. I don't think it's a good time to live in the Philippines with all that Martial Law madness going on. Besides, I think living in the US in the 70s is an interesting and nice decade to live in, not only because of the hippie revolution, the bell-bottoms, the afro hair, and the emergence of free love and all other "cool" stuff, but also because it's a pretty stable and peaceful place. I'd look at the news and be much, much more thankful that I'm far, far away from all that madness going on. I'd be living in peace and be able to breathe deeply and freely.

I guess, the point of me writing this is that maybe I don't put as much importance to my migration to the USA today. It's not that I'm less thankful or anything but in my opinion, I have less of a reason to migrate now than those who did back in the Martial Law years. Those people back then were facing death much more directly (via torture and/or outright murder) than the people today. I, on the other hand, don't have to face that. I'd still be living in peace, anyway.

Maybe I'm just homesick?