An Anarchist response to “A Heritage of Smallness” by Nick Joaquin by Carolus Plebejus. You can read the original article here.
The Filipino identity has been discussed by one of its National Artists for Literature, Nick Joaquin through his essay; “A Heritage of Smallness”. He began his essay with this small paragraph: “Society for the Filipino is a small rowboat: the barangay. Geography for the Filipino is a small locality: the barrio. History for the Filipino is a small vague saying: matanda pa kay mahoma; noong peacetime. Enterprise for the Filipino is a small stall: the sari-sari. Industry and production for the Filipino are the small immediate searchings of each day: isang kahig, isang tuka. And commerce for the Filipino is the smallest degree of retail: the tingi.” The rest of the essay is a critique of everything small the Filipino has, saying that such smallness is what inhibits the Filipino from ever progressing over perceived aversion of scale. But is there anything wrong with such smallness?
