Rizal and the World at the Time
Jose Mercado “Rizal” lived in a time that had quite the background. Globally, slaves were getting freed, powers were rising, powers were declining. Locally, it was more oppression and religious brainwashing than progression. How could these events influence Rizal? Of course, being an individual of high intellect, how could he not? You have to imagine what Rizal could see and learn around him at that time. He was one of the few who were that of a well-to-do family.
This meant that he could attend school and receive education. He read books when he wanted, he learned history and philosophy, and many others that when combined with a brilliant mind, could see things more objectively without being clouded by passion. If he could take an objective stand on situations and yet as reflected in his works, be passionate about them, then that means that his passion is backed up by something objective. The whole world was entering a time that respected the rights of the human being.
Slaves were being freed and because of this, a lot of human rights laws were being made. At the same time, the world’s powers were expanding and decreasing at the same time. Locally, news of oppression spread. These things give you a good idea why Rizal took his stand against the rebellion as he did. The oppression around him was definitely not acceptable in the eyes of Rizal because human rights were being spread around the world by the intellectuals of North America and backed up by the actions of Russia.
But Rizal knew that the Philippines definitely cannot hold itself as a country yet. He’s a smart guy and with that he probably looked up the history of war and what was needed to have strength as a country. If one were to look at the circumstances of the country with just the country in your sights, you would have taken the route of a Katipunero and decided to wage war against the oppressors. Rizal didn’t. Why?
This is because he had the circumstances of the whole world to back up his ideals. He was influenced by the events globally and not just locally. He was an intellectual who was influenced by the works during and before his time. He thought of the welfare of the country in the long run and not just the shortest way out. It’s too bad he had to die as he did. He definitely would have come up with a revolution that would have put the Philippines in a better state than it is now.
