It's More Than Time To Address The Problem Of Filipinos Who Overrate American Culture

I'll admit I'm not anti-American. I don't deny that some of the stuff I use are American-made or born out of American influence. The Internet and various social media are born from American influence. Some of the cool video games I'm playing are made by American companies. So what am I raising right now? It's the problem of overrating American culture as if it's the best culture ever. No culture is perfect and every culture has its flaws. That's why there's the need for cultural reforms every now and then.

I have nothing against American media in general though I tend to avoid a lot of them these days. Is it me or is most American media really making more Filipinos stupid aside from telebasuras? I've noticed how a lot of American media tends to be that simple-minded. One could say that the plots are usually too predictable. Most of them don't make you think. I do watch some American shows but most of them tend to lack the depth that a lot of Chinese, Taiwanese, Korean and Japanese shows have. With some Filipinos thinking that American culture is the best, I think that's why a lot of local television shows tend to suffer from such mediocre writing performance. I guess preferring mostly American shows is also making the average Filipino weak-minded because of what they show to people.

Some want to think of the United States of America as an "escape route" from whatever hardship they're in. They think that country will solve all their problems. Just a little problem and maybe some of them say, "That's it! I'm going to America!" Did they realize that America is a lot more fast-paced than the Philippines? Besides, a lot of Americans today are really that spoiled. Some people also go to America only to realize that maybe, just maybe their life was way better in the Philippines. It's a problem that some Filipinos who may be complaining about their circumstances aren't living life harder than the rest. I guess it's easy to be a pessimist when you don't know how hard life really is than when you know how hard life really is.

There's also that mentality of thinking of, "Don't worry, Captain America will save us." that needs to be addressed. It's a shame that the Philippines may have gained its true independence on July 4, 1948 as a state but it's still dependent on America for help. Not that I suggest severing ties but isn't it more than time to modernize the Armed Forces of the Philippines? It's a shame that neighboring Asian countries are doing what they can to defend themselves but the Philippines is stuck with asking help from America whenever something happens. While I do appreciate America lending a hand but it's stupid to turn the Philippines into a damsel of distress. Why not get tips from America on how to defend the country instead of overly relying on it?

Nothing's wrong with still keeping American influence and being glad that it exists. I would say without American influence I don't think I'd be using a PC right now or be writing this post. The problem isn't American culture in itself but overrating it. Every now and then, there's a lot to learn and it's not just from America. The Philippines can learn more from its developed countries like Japan, Taiwan, Malaysia and Singapore to how to become a more developed country.