Phony Nationalism: The Road of Destruction

The decree that liberated the slaves who lived in Puerto Rico was signed one hundred and forty years ago.  It was a combined effort of many, but a historical figure who stands out among others would have to be, Dr. Ramon Emeterio Betances.

Who was he anyway?  Not from the point of view of some  who used him as an icon when trying to convey a false sense of  fatherland or as they call it "patria".  Or from others who only convey him as an important historical figure to be read about in History  classes.

As I recollect my thoughts about Ramon,  I think he was an amazing guy actually, probably Catholic, well educated, with a broad sense of the world due to his travels, with an inner voice that conveyed him into writing (he left an amazing literature heritage), and an activist.  What surprises me the most was that he was born into a family that were landowners, so probably in his father's lands there must have been slaves.  What triggered his desire to see all men free and equal?  That's a question that we can only wonder about.   

It's no surprise he chose to be a doctor, he seems to have been a healer by nature.  History being as always the eternal witness,  tells us that in 1855 he built a hospital and "saved" people, fellow Puerto Rican brothers and sisters, from the cholera epidemic. 

Also, Ramon had an inner drive to become an activist, people in his social circles weren't activists.  So, he had to be darn brave as well.  Ramon seemed to always be wanting to help others that were disadvantaged.   Thoughts rushed around my head, thinking about what pushed him.  Today are world is in dire need of men like him,   with a hard driven push to make change happen through hard work and combined efforts not with words that can only be taken away by the wind.

Ramon strived on trying to build a better world during the time frame of his life.  He was not a  by stander, but someone willing to take an active role in change.  He could have been a symbol for President Obama’s slogan, “Yes, We Can.”   He  took on whatever needed to be done to change things around on a hands on approach.  I am  more than sure that he also had  a powerful inner drive to help him navigate the difficult sea of change.   

He was a strong believer, but in what? Certainly in the fact than men can change their way.  He was sure that if given the tools we all could be believers as well and build a country that is a fatherland.  In our Puerto Rico of today (or any given country)  I am  not sure this can happen.  Many of us have become permanent by standers and have left the activist that lives inside us in the closet.  Ramon was known as the "Father of the Puerto Rican Faterhland".  I think he earned that title and paid it’s price,   his obliged and permanent absence from this  tiny spec in the Caribbean he called home. 

 He was a strong believer, but in what?? ...in the fact that men can change their way.

He died far away from his hometown and country, and yet was able to witness two important historical events evolve in front of his eyes, not being able to be part of it, but as a distant observer.  First, he would feel great joy as his lifelong project would become a reality, when in 1827 slavery was abolished from our Island.  But also to cause him great sorrow,  by the end of his life he would come to learn that American troops occupied Puerto Rico during the Spanish-American War.  The promise of freedom he made to all Puerto Ricans in "The Ten Commandments of Liberty" written in November of 1867 would not be fulfilled.   

To change men, you first need to heal their bodies and then their souls.  We the people,  have the power to  make change happen, but first we need to get our act together building a country, territory or state, ridden of phony nationalism based on superficial things which only are significant for those who get something out of it for their own gain through their cheap propaganda.

(Photography:  Miller, Paul Gerard. Historia de Puerto Rico. Chicago: Rand McNally, 1992. p. 296)