The Path to Liberalism

(March 8 – 20, 2009)
by Cristina Gregorio

Cristina Gregorio

Having lived in Europe before, attending a seminar in Germany seemed normal to me – last time I was in Germany, I saw Chancellor Gerhard Schroder in Berlin during EU enlargement day. Yet, I was anxious about the seminar. Qualifying was unexpected and I was uncertain about how my governance work would relate to Liberalism. In, short, I left for Gummersbach, nervous.

It was raining when me, and another Filipino, Frank, arrived in Gummersbach yet there, also waiting for their transfers at the Cologne Airport, were two boys from Brazil-Cezar and Danilo. There it was: our introduction to a Spanish-English seminar full of interesting and amusing translations in Germany.

Despite my prior training in political economy, I haven’t been in the classroom for awhile so I found the provisional agenda quite intense. Yet, when we first started our plenary session, it dawned on me I was definitely going to learn a lot from this seminar, and enjoy it while it lasted. Activities included brief lectures, working groups, plenary sessions, memorial site visits and meeting various liberal politicians.

During the entire seminar, there were a lot of opportunities to gain and share, and these were made possible through mutual respect from all participants and the IAF team, and the skillful translators who made communication smooth and flowing. It was during the seminar that I realized that language no longer poses a barrier in a borderless world. For sure, there was a lack of ease in expressing one’s thoughts but we always got the message across. We all acknowledged the fact that we have the right to speak and be listened to.

We definitely did not get lost in translation because we were able to get the insights of the Latinos, who were predominantly politicians in various capacities. Compared to the Asians who were mostly from the academe or think-tanks, the rest of the participants were engaged in political and civic education.

What is citizenship all about? What is politics all about? What is liberalism all about? As a concept, theory, and an ideology, I was fully aware what these words meant. But as a Filipino, operationally, I could not quite make sense of it. Yes, the Philippines is a free and democratic country but our identity and sense of citizenship is vague. Our sense of rule of law is beyond rational and beyond liberal. Political turncoatism is normal in the Philippines. Political parties are not principle-driven but personality-based.

Through the seminar, I learned politics is not dirty and dominated by traditional corrupt politicians. Through the liberal politicians in Germany, and the participants engaged in liberal party activities, I learned, true politicians want what an average person wants: what’s best for himself. And liberals utilize the political machinery to advance these lofty goals taking in mind that actions must be responsible and justice abiding.

In many ways, liberalism is about having the freedom to choose. But liberalism is not absolute freedom. Tolerance ends when intolerance begins. Abiding by the rule of law, individuals have the right and fundamental freedom to determine their ends and maximize their potential. Certainly, the seminar struck a balance and catered to those who knew a lot about liberalism and those who did not. And this was achieved not through lengthy academic-style discourse but realistic and emotional exchange of views and site visits.

As the global turmoil of the financial crisis swept around the world, the liberal model, the free-market model has been attacked from all fronts. Through the balanced moderation of Wulf Pabst and Dr Stefan Melnik, I now have a clearer understanding of the dynamics between state and society in a liberal framework – governments set the rules, the market moves. And the failure is not simply because the market moved the wrong way – it was moving within the limits set by governments.

In a world where a new global order is underway, cooperation is key, and mutual interests based on a shared history are renewed. The seminar emphasized that education is beyond the classroom. It may begin in plenary sessions, but it is out there, in the streets, in the cities and towns, where relationships among individuals are fostered, rekindled and nurtured. Visiting sites like the Buchenwald Concentration Camp, Weimar, and the Wartburg Castle, are just a few testaments to the power of having physical manifestations of historical institutions that must be remembered as we trudge along this uncertain path.

It is also beyond the halls of the seminar room, during meals and bus trips, evening drinks at the bar and “babyfoot” at the gameroom, that new memories were made: friendships brought by the joy of freedom along the liberal path. Nothing beats the soft power of learning outside the box, and knowing the scale of individual action and how it can change the world. I arrived in Gummersbach, very apolitical but with a deep desire to do good for the community. I left Gummersbach, with the sun shining high and empowered by the lessons learned, memories experienced, and friendship gained that there are ways to fix the way the world works wearing a liberal hat.