Incapacitation
In this grim future, the Filipino people find themselves trapped in a web of manipulation and exploitation, shackled by the very institutions meant to serve them:
The government, once entrusted with the welfare of its citizens, has become a tool of oppression and control. Education, once seen as the key to unlocking a brighter future, is now a privilege reserved for the elite few. The government's failure to invest in accessible education ensures that the masses remain mired in ignorance, their minds dulled by a lack of knowledge and critical thinking skills, along with overexposure to disinformation and misinformation. Meanwhile, the arts languish in obscurity, their potential stifled by a regime that views culture as nothing more than a tool for propaganda.
As the government tightens its grip on power, international tech giants swoop in to exploit the vulnerability of the masses. Platforms like TikTok, Facebook, and Alphabet prey on the unsuspecting populace, luring them into a cycle of mindless consumption and addiction. With their sights set squarely on profit, these companies care little for the well-being of their users, pushing for constant engagement at the expense of human creativity and fulfillment.
In this dystopian landscape, the Filipino people find themselves trapped in a vicious cycle of exploitation and despair, their potential stifled by the very institutions meant to lift them up. As they languish in ignorance and distraction, their dreams of a brighter future fade into obscurity, crushed beneath the weight of greed and apathy.
Filipinos spend almost half of their day scrolling social media platforms; they find themselves unable to close these apps willingly because of the way they're designed.
Politicians proudly show the artworks they've commissioned from local artists, all of them being works of propaganda.
Even when the government relays wrong information, Filipinos are unable to question it. To them, whatever they say is the absolute truth. They don't know any better.
Selected Quotes
[I feel like]...things wouldn't change. That really is my default answer for [the] pessimistic [scenario]. Because right now, [what we have is] still nice...it's already nice, eh. But what I'm thinking of is, if it were 2040, and things are changing around the Philippines, and we're looking at it in a pessimistic view, and also with a hint of reality with how the Philippines operates in terms of the government...things will still be the same from now until 2040.
I kind of just wanna generalize nalang na for me...I think if it's gonna stay like this, where there's still so much like so many hurdles. And the hurdles aren't just...technology...but are there other factors like societal, corruption, infrastructure, traffic, economy like money, and all that, accessibility. Like...it becomes also the, the other question...is the Philippines gonna keep stagnating or regressing?
I think most people are doing kind of living online already, which then heightens the risks...for example, cybersecurity...information security, [and] fake news because we're all online. So these platforms define our existence now. And for example on Facebook, to digress slightly...that has now taken the role of mass media. It's taken the role of news. It's taken the role of advertising, but we're not in control of that platform and algorithms. AI runs those platforms.
So there won't be creativity anymore. Again, the highlight would be, humans would be seen as sources of income, and the human experience would be worsened. And so you would be suggested, incentivized by these platforms and companies that "Hey, you should keep on watching. You should keep on playing. Why? Because it's giving us money." So if they do their best [which is actually what they're doing right now...and really put all their effort into making you as profitable as possible, all just gonna be stuck going like this on our phones.
But for entertainment, I think it would be a worse version of what we have now, in which a lot of people in the industry are still underpaid and puro nepotism nalang. Basically, people in entertainment, overworked and underpaid. A lot of the arts aren't valued or given a budget by the government, unless it's to further, like, some more anti-history propaganda or something.
...[T]he government doesn't find a way to give accessible education to people...I think it benefits them that people aren't educated enough, because it makes it easier for them to manipulate these people. So I would say...the most pessimistic would be...40 years from now, [or] 20 years from now, we're still in the same spot: education is still not accessible to most of the students [in the country]...For the education systems that we currently have that people are in, people aren't elevated to do more. People aren't elevated to the same level as other countries are, because...we really are super, super, super, super, super, super, super behind. So yeah...my worst vision for this would be stagnancy.
For [a pessimistic future of] health and wellness, because everything is abandoned, it would only be natural if people's health in general went down. I did not cover mental health like when I was talking optimistically, but I will mention it now. Obviously, people would not be feeling very good. There would probably be so much more people who are depressed, anxious, possibly even suicidal.
