I don’t think I would enjoy, like or survive had I became alive at another, earlier time. I’ve been thinking about it this week, plus the bonus question about whether we today are luckier than previous generations.

Had we lived during the height of Spanish rule, would we have enjoyed being placed in “forced labor” conditions, working to build churches, roads, and other infrastructure without wage or payment?

How about during the Propaganda Movement and the 1896 Revolution? That’s tough era with choices that lead either to death by musketry or garrote for those caught, or to death in battlefield.

How would we have reacted if we were kids or teens during the Second World War? Would we have joined the guerilla movements to free the country from imperialists?

I could go on and on about other historical periods, trying to imagine what my friends and I would have fared, groups joined (if at all), or the choices available to us. But the reality is that we can only imagine, and the most we can gain is the insight that Filipinos before responded to their time. We cannot turn back time.

For many, it is far easier to imagine and to achieve uprooting oneself from the Philippines, starting a new life elsewhere, enduring the challenges of discrimination and racism in destination countries, and returning with hard-earned capital to build for family. A recent survey actually backs this up, with more than half of respondents believing working abroad is a lot better than staying in the country.

This week, the traditionalists and conservatives were shocked to find out that the fertility rates are down. Millennials and Gen Z’s were quick to say: serves this country and this system right. Who would dream of building a family in this kind of rotten system that denies the majority health care, mass transport, housing, a living wage, and a protected ecology?

But in the same way that we could imagine about living or trying to survive in the past, future generations will also look back to this generation and their responses to the challenges of this time.

Previous generations had their turn. They waged revolts, uprisings and revolution. They fought colonial and imperial powers. They resisted dictatorship. They migrated too, and tried to bury and forget their nationality.

Today’s generation survived a pandemic and a reign of “anti-drug” terror, witnessed never-before-seen scale of corruption, saw the return of the former strongman's family to power and the collapse of liberal hypocrisy, assailed the demonization of radical politics, and continue to be disappointed by the push-and-pull between China and the United States. The situation seems hopeless and impossible to solve. But is it?

The temptation is to rely mainly and solely on the promise of electoral change. Previous generations also fell for that, and we cannot begin to tell you about how self-deceptive that belief has been. Even the so-called united democratic opposition came out this week in much the same way as other traditional politicians and dynasties. They took a selfie to show they are friends, united by nothing and by nothing I mean the abject lack of political program that unites them. Indeed what are they fighting for? Their own turn at power? Is that the change we want or need?

The good news is that history has not ended. Going abroad has turned from option to protest. The sense of gloom and doom could be redirected to traditional politicians, dynasties and oligarchs, as well as their austerity-loving economists. The impeachment trial is set to formally start. More and more people are rediscovering the value of life, especially those of young people (as in the tragic case of Bobet and Divine). The times nowadays seem too tough, too intolerable, too much. Even the climate is changing from bad to worse.

I don’t have any predictions. I don’t want to preempt what today’s generation is prepared to do. But I believe they will step up and do what’s necessary to effect change that is needed. They can exceed the limits set by the system. Heck, they can smash the system and start anew, like doing a factory reset for the Philippines. That would be truly historic, and a game-changer for millions.

“Nothing is impossible” used to be a positive, inspirational slogan. In the recent past, the worst elements have made it into their motto. Perhaps it is time to reclaim and redefine it once more.