Persons not commodities

By Fr. ROY CIMAGALA, roycimagala@gmail.com
May 27, 2012

“…talents now appear to be considered more as a commodity than as a person.”

Together with the rest of the country and I suppose millions of others all over the world, I was disappointed when Jessica Sanchez did not win the American Idol title. What made it worse was the news item that Jessica would most likely get only a $30K contract, way below the usual $175K rate others of her ranking would take home.

The news said that the downgraded rate was due to the low ratings the American Idol finale got that evening. Somehow, that item left in me a bad taste in the mouth.

It’s actually not so much about her low-valued contract that bothered me. I understand that there is always a business side in contests like the American Idol, and that has to be respected. It’s more about reducing everything into money and profitability that would seem to turn talents into mere commodities.

I pray that I’m wrong in this observation, that perhaps I have been overly sensitive and have been exaggerating my reactions and generalizing my judgments. Still, I find many instances where this disturbing thought seems to be validated. And I feel we need to do something about this.

We have to be careful with this tendency that is actually proliferating to such an extent that it is now becoming the mainstream culture worldwide. The fine distinction and proper relation between talents as persons and as business products are getting confused, if not obliterated and reversed.

This is a dangerous situation, obviously because talents now appear to be considered more as a commodity than as a person. Talents are simply used when useful and profitable, and conveniently discarded when their popularity drops. That’s because they are treated more as commodities.

Young talents, not yet well educated, are very vulnerable to be used and in fact are willing to be used as mere commodities. And the people in general, the audience, do not know any better either. They go along with that kind of system.

This dangerous situation is especially endemic in showbiz, where the talents just come and go like soaps and shampoos in the commercials. But it actually also obtains in practically all fields of profession and business. Even in clerical circles, this anomalous phenomenon can also take place.

We tend to see others more for what they can do to us than what or who they really are. This seems to be the currency or the lingua franca nowadays in our dealings with others. And this is generating, albeit quietly and subtly, a polluting atmosphere around us. It perverts the world culture from the root of our relationships.

We often forget that talents, workers, artists, etc., are first of all persons with mind and heart, with a spiritual soul, who in the last analysis are the image and likeness of God, children of his and brothers and sisters of ours who deserve always to be loved regardless of our differences and other conditions in life.

As such there is a certain sacredness in all of us that should always be acknowledged and respected no matter what successes or failures, victories or defeats we may have. Whatever talent one may have, or the lack of it, should always be related to God, and not just something to be used purely for gain or other practical purposes.

As such, there is always a need to give preferential treatment to the inner aspects of man, and I refer not so much to a person’s feelings and emotions, though these too are important, as to a person’s conscious and willing conformity to right reason, and ultimately to truths of faith about us.

Obviously, cases are abundant where our feelings and emotions are actually at odds with the objective truth about us as presented to us by reason and faith. In these instances, we just have to find a way to reconcile these conflicting inner aspects, always giving priority to the demands of faith and reason over our feelings and emotions.

Our usual problem is that we often get contented with tackling just the external aspects – one’s performance, his efficiency, popularity, profitability, etc. Obviously, these have to be attended to, but if we give a lot of attention to them, much more so should we give to protecting and enhancing one’s dignity as person and child of God.