The skinny guy and his girl are walking on the beach
in their swimwear.
Bully: Hey Skinny! ‘Yer ribs are showing!
Girl: Don’t let him hit you, Joe!
Skinny Guy: Watch what you say, fella...
Bully: [He shoves Joe.] Shut up you bag of bones!
Afterward …
Skinny Guy: Darn it! I’m tired of being a skinny
scarecrow. Charles Atlas says he can make me a new man! I’ll gamble a stamp and
get his free book.
Later…
Skinny Guy: Boy! It didn’t take long. What a build.
Now I’ll take care of that bully.
Then …
Skinny Guy: Here’s a love tap [He punches the
bully] from that “bag of bones,” remember?
Girl: Oh, Joe! You are a real he-man, after all.
Girls: And he used to be so skinny!
Crowd: What a man!
Sparking off a landmark bodybuilding advertising campaign,
the above 1950s comic strip appeared with the then popular bodybuilder Charles
Atlas’ photo flexing his muscles alongside his personal story: “People used to
laugh at my skinny 97-pound body. I was ashamed to strip for sports or for a
swim. Girls made fun of me behind my back. THEN I discovered my body-building
system, “Dynamic Tension.” It made me such a complete specimen of manhood that
I hold the title, “The World’s Most Perfectly Developed Man.”
“The Insult That Made a Man out of Mac” is a version with a sand-kicking bully irking Mac while his date watches. Like Joe, humiliated, Mac goes home and, after kicking a chair and gambling a three-cent stamp, subscribes to the free Atlas book. Later, the now muscular Mac goes back and looks around for the bully, and to cut this story short, becoming afterward the “hero of the beach.”
Drawing an analogy, in particular, between the Philippine situation and the classic Charles Atlas ad, the skinny guy symbolizes the Philippines
while the US is personified as Charles Atlas. The insult embodies China’s rebuff
of the Philippine exclusive economic zone in the West Philippine Sea despite the international tribunal ruling in The Hague in favor of the Philippines' claim. What's more, while China’s
harassment of the Philippines represents the beach bully’s mocking act, the
Philippines’ restoration of its alliance with the US exemplifies the skinny guy’s
transformation into a muscularly developed man.
Beyond such a metaphor, let’s explore the lessons we
can learn from the high-stakes geopolitical game of power where nations seek to
assert their dominance and expand their sphere of influence.
Downside of Unintended and Far-reaching Consequences
In
the case of Ukraine, Putin’s invasion was an attempt to maintain Russia’s
sphere of influence in the region. As political scientist John Mearsheimer puts forward, “If Ukraine were to join NATO, it would be a geopolitical disaster for
Russia” (BBC News). To prevent this outcome which would have shifted the
balance of power in the region, Russia invaded Ukraine. To the contrary, Frida
Ghitis in a CNN article “Opinion: A Very Bad Day for Putin” wrote: “Putin
argued that his goal [in invading Ukraine] was to prevent NATO from expanding.
On that count, Putin not only failed but in fact, propelled the very
development he sought to prevent. [The invasion drove Finland to formally join
NATO.] Now Russia’s border with NATO countries has more than doubled in length,
adding an extra 830 miles of frontier with Finland.”
In parallel, China has been pursuing its territorial
claims, including building artificial islands and militarizing them. However, this
has heightened tensions with neighboring countries such as the Philippines,
which have turned to the US for support. Former US Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter got to the heart of the matter: “China’s actions in the South China Sea are pushing countries in
the region to come together, strengthening their security ties with the US and
making China’s neighbors more capable and resilient in the face of Chinese
coercion.” (Foreign Affairs) This has included the restoration of the US-Philippine
alliance and the US access to military bases in the Philippine territory.
Importance of Alliances and Strategic
Partnerships
The situation in Ukraine and the Philippines highlights
the importance of alliances and strategic partnerships in the modern geopolitical
landscape. No country can stand alone in today’s interconnected world.
Strategic alliances and partnerships with like-minded nations are crucial for
promoting peace, security, and stability.
Former US Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis gave fair warning: “Nations with allies thrive, and those without them wither.” Ukraine’s cooperation with NATO has enabled it to withstand Russia’s aggression and maintain its independence. The Philippines’ restoration of its alliance with the US has given it a significant advantage in dealing with China’s assertiveness in the South China Sea.
Significance of Understanding History
In the case of Ukraine, Russia has long viewed the
country as part of its sphere of influence, given its shared history and
culture. As Putin has asserted, “Ukraine is not just a neighboring state, Ukraine
is our closest neighbor and it is a brotherly republic” (Reuters). However,
this view is not shared by all Ukrainians, particularly those in the western
part of the country who have closer ties to Europe. This has led to deep
divisions within Ukraine and has made it a key battleground in the struggle for
influence between Russia and the West.
Similarly, in the South China Sea, China has been
pursuing its claims based on historical precedents, including the nine-dash
line that it uses to demarcate such territorial claims. Jacob Rutzick and
Jonathan Chen in their article “The Validity of the 9-Dash Line” posed China’s
argument: “The nine-dash line represents the maximum extent of Chinese
historical claims within the South China Sea. China’s claim is not that the
entire space within the nine-dash line is their territory to control, but that
the islands within it, the Paracel, Spratly, Zhongsha, and Pratas, all belong
to them.”
On the other hand, according to Article 56 of the
United Nations Conventions and Laws of the Sea (UNCLOS) of which China is a
signatory, states have the exclusive right to exploit the resources of and build
artificial islands within their exclusive economic zones (EEZ). Rutzick and
Chen rounded out: “Therefore, any portion of the 9-dash line that is within
another country’s EEZ is unlawful…”
In a nutshell, the situations in Ukraine and the
Philippines serve as a stark reminder of the high stakes involved in pursuing
geopolitical ambitions. Putin’s invasion of Ukraine and Xi’s harassment of the
Philippines may have initially seemed like strategic moves to assert their
respective countries’ influence. However, in the long run, both leaders have failed
to achieve their objectives and instead triggered inadvertent aftermaths that
worked against their interests.
The lessons are clear. First, might is not always
right. Second, the pursuit of a geopolitical sphere of influence can have
unintended and far-reaching consequences. Third, strategic alliances and
partnerships with like-minded nations are essential to promoting peace,
security, and stability.
Lastly, as Pinoys, haven’t you felt in your bones the righteous enough-is-enough indignation, elicited by the Chinese harassment of our fishermen, no different from a sort of enmity a Fernando Poe Jr.’s classic films trigger
off, like in “Kapag Puno Na Ang Salop,” firing up the following Poe’s
archetypal line?
“Pati batas binaboy mo. Pinuno mo na ang salop, Judge. Malapit na kitang kalusin.”
Content of this article put together in collaboration
with ChatGPT
Head collage photos courtesy of Bony to Beastly, ADL,
& Naval News
Video clips courtesy of YouTube
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