2013 Philippine Elections

Later today I will be going out to vote.  Frankly, I don't care much about voting and I have considered not going through it at all.

I don't know if I'm disheartened by the system, the politicians, or by society itself.

I know it sounds cynical, but I think of it this way: Why run for office?  Running for office requires a lot of money, connections, and it involves risking your safety and the safety of everyone around you.  In that case isn't it reasonable to assume that those who run for office are those whose possible gains greatly outweigh all the risks and losses?

Sure, I'd love to think that somebody out there thinks that a noble principle or cause outweighs the risks but I'm also realistic.  They're probably near extinct and not running for office.  If they are running for office they're unlikely to win.

I was just talking to a friend who was telling me about three politicians in her area.  Two of them are reportedly buying votes and there's even proof that one of them was actually doing so.  The problem here is that people were unlikely to vote for the third candidate because they think it's a waste to vote for someone who is going to lose.

My goodness, this is not a horse race, people!  You don't cast your vote for someone because you think he's going to win!

Now, I've seen people cast 'strategic' votes but this case isn't it.  And people taking the vote buyer's money because they were going to vote for him anyway are confusing the hell out of me.

In the past months  there were a lot of propaganda regarding doing the 'right' thing.  I think that's well and good, except that people have very different ideas of what exactly is 'good'.  Now is the time more than ever for people to feel incredibly omniscient.

I will say that I voted for Erap in the last election.  That's not a popular vote in the 'educated' crowd.  (Though if I could I would NOT vote for him this time. Wth, why can't you just retire and live in peace?) Seriously, in this country voting is like shopping for clothes.  The brand you choose to wear- and flaunt- is taken to be reflective of your status.  So, who you choose to vote for is taken as reflective of your status, if not your intellectual capacity.

I once had the displeasure of reading an article on a student paper where the writer criticized the smarts of the people who didn't vote for his candidate on a mock election/survey.  It's amusing to note that the people who voted were also students of the same school.

We don't know these politicians!  They smile at us, shake our hands, but that doesn't mean they're good people.  That doesn't mean they know what they're doing.  One decision they make that we agree on doesn't mean we'll agree with everything they do.  But that doesn't stop people from bashing other people's choices like they know better.  Our own friends do or say things that sometimes surprise us. Why is it that we tend to think we know these politicians better?  Who can say who are deserving to win?  How can you be so sure your chosen candidate is the right choice?  Close kayo?

It's nice to think that we are capable of discerning the best candidates but who are we kidding?  Politicians are products that are carefully branded and marketed.  They are glossy, palatable versions of their actual selves.

Voting is gamble.  You make your choice and cross your fingers that your Chosen One doesn't disappoint you too much.  If he does then you don't vote for him next time.  There is no foolproof way of doing this.

Nobody is completely good or completely evil.  We whine and rage against our politicians all the time.  It's easy to speak about them by their stereotypes.  Too often we speak of them like they're this distinct breed of people separate from us, but sometimes I wonder if people have forgotten that these politicians are like us, that they are part of us.  Consider them as grains of sand taken from a beach:  They have individual characteristics but they are also representative of the sands on the beach that they were taken from. Our politicians are samples taken from the whole.  They are representative of who we are. Their flaws and ills could very well be ours.

Language Classes: The 1st Week

Finally!  I've been looking into this opportunity to do something I've always wanted to do and for a long time I've been putting it off.  When I finally wanted to do it, other things got in the way.  This time it pulled through and I was able to pass all the requirements but I was still feeling a bit anxious that something else might come up and get in the way.  But now that I'm through with the first week I can say for sure that I am taking a language class.  

Celebratory cupcake looking a little worn out

It's a basic class, about 150 hours.  I applied for it late last year but I got so sick that I didn't read the text message in time notifying me that I had an interview to get in the class.  This time around I was determined to not botch this.

So, overall I felt like my interview was an oversell.  I didn't want to do it and I'm not comfortable doing it but people say that you should not say anything negative about yourself in an interview.  In my mind I was thinking, 'I'm so not going to give you any reason to turn me away.'

Most of the questions were pretty basic like what are my hobbies.  I said, "mag-Internet?"  How lame is that?!  I could not think of anything.  I should really get myself a hobby.

Then I was asked why I wanted to take this class and I said it was something I wanted to do since I was a kid.  I didn't mention anything about it being due to anime because I don't watch them as often now and I don't know if it might seem weird.

I was asked, "On a scale of one to ten, how much do you want this class?" Immediately I said, "Ten!" So I was asked, "Why ten?"  Crap!  So I said, "It's something that I wanted to do since I was a kid," which by now is sounding ridiculously repetitive so I hastily added, "It's just something I want to do before I die..."  And the teacher said, "Wag naman ganon..." Okay, not what I intended!  So I quickly said, "It's on my bucket list," which is what I had intended to say.

I was asked something about health problems.  I said, "None?"  None that's life threatening, I mean. Again, I just didn't want to give them any reason to say no to me.  Well, I don't have dire health problems, I think, so it's not like I'm going to collapse in the middle of class and disrupt the lesson.  At the very least I could excuse myself and collapse outside the door.

It's a week in and there's a lot of things to get adjusted to.  First is a steady schedule.  Second is the whole being in a class thing.  I was a little surprised that I needed a pencil.  I don't think I've ever used a number 2 Mongol pencil in years. 

It's a lot like being in grade school but I guess that's because it's a language class.  It's like learning to talk and write again for the first time.