Was Rizal wrong about the youth?

“Where are the youth who will enshrine their precious time, their illusions, and their enthusiasm to the welfare of their native land?” – by Jose Rizal, from El Filibusterismo

When Rizal asked “Where is the youth?” it seemed he was resigned that he could not rely on older folks – in general, that is, because from the ranks of the older folks also came our exceptional national and unheralded heroes. After all, Rizal did expect the youth to say, “Not all were asleep in the nighttime of our grandparents.”

Rizal was thinking about progress as a liberated nation. In today’s republic, where the challenge is to bring forth an inclusive quality of life, a sustainable planet, the right infrastructure, solution to territorial sequestration, and cure for the ills from a continuing corruption, it seems too much to put on the shoulders of the youth.

When we at Integrity Initiative Inc. conducted a survey and focus group discussion among selected student leaders, we learned something revealing. This group of Generation Z students feels that the value that they lack is “empathy”. Now this is a surprise for me as we’ve been educated by all these international surveys that the hope of the world is with Generation Z because this group is the not-feeling-entitled group. Because they were born into or exposed to the worst natural disasters, random terrorist attacks, extreme poverty, and human migrations, they are the most empathetic human beings.

The group of Gen Z student leaders we were with that afternoon was more accepting of their limitations. Feeling empathetic alone, they said, was without value. They do quickly react in social media and they express their opinion and feelings on important issues, but they feel they are powerless to do anything to bring about actual change. The demands of passing academically, the struggles of an early career, and limited resources, they explained, prevent them from making a difference in the world that they want to solve.

The fact is, the right feeling of empathy is a great start, and some create impact in society earlier than others, such as young social entrepreneurs who decide to empower themselves, their employees, and communities through business.

Let me briefly cite some of them. Dalareich Polot is now a multi-awarded young entrepreneur and founder of a chocolate manufacturing company that helps smallholder cacao farmers from different small towns in Bohol. Josh Mahinay, founder of BEAGIVER, gave up the young comfortable life he was making in the US to go back to his roots. His model of giving one bag to an impoverished student for every bag he sells is culled from his own impoverished ordeal as a child who carried his books and notebooks to school in a striped plastic bag as his family couldn’t afford a school bag.

The thing I want to emphasize about the two aforementioned social entrepreneurs and all similarly situated, including tycoons such as Tessie Sy-Coson or Robina Gokongwei-Pe, is that they were all reared by parents who started from humble beginnings, and who guided and fed them with the right work ethics by example and most importantly, with values.

Speaking of values in business and how transactions are conducted, allow me to pick up on an ethical dilemma related to corruption, which for me is the root of many evils. Now this is the uncomfortable part where I say that not all young entrepreneurs have been guided to adopt ethical practices. I’ve talked to a few young executives whom I find shrewd, comfortably underdeclaring their taxes by as much as 40 percent. They pick up from their parents’ business practices. Maybe it’s not entirely the young entrepreneurs’ fault, although independent mindedness can happen, and I have seen that happen, too. What this shows is that corruption is not a generational issue because if it is, no young politician or young government official will be corrupt after their older predecessors retired. But such is simply not the case.

Now this is where we should face up to certain realities that the parents’ guidance alone is not enough and that schools should do their part. That is why we believe that the right course on integrity – one that educates how corruption happens in different agencies, how to deal with this ethical dilemma, and how to get things done without giving in – is a training that each student deserves, whether he is poised to become a young entrepreneur, a private sector professional, or a government personnel.

In today’s world that’s troubled by issues on sustainability, it isn’t an issue of succession alone, but molding the right successors. If only to pressure ourselves, Rizal said: “No good water comes from a muddy spring.” I go for the positive version that if the spring is clear, the water it gives will most likely be clean.

For the Gen Z and the young of whatever appellation, we admit that being the hope of our future is nothing instantaneous. Guided in the wrong way, the youth can be destructive of that future. I must say though that the one thing the youth should do the least is to blame their parents.

As they bide their own time to make a difference, Rizal has a resounding message that should make all of us pensive: “I honor the father in his son, not the son in his father. Each one receives a reward or punishment for his deeds, but not for the acts of others.”

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Alexander B. Cabrera is the chairman of the Integrity Initiative Inc. a non-profit organization that promotes common ethical and acceptable integrity standards. He is also the chairman and senior partner of Isla Lipana & Co./PwC Philippines. Email your comments and questions to [email protected]. This content is for general information purposes only, and should not be used as a substitute for consultation with professional advisors.