Why WE should care

The usual TV battle is this: CNN/News programs and science channels vs Karl's cartoons and sometimes vs Mom's soap operas and showbiz talk shows. Although these battles are quite common in households with TV and cable, the channels that are fought for do not usually include my choices hehe. Ang nerd noh? But I don’t know. We don’t really have a newspaper subscription so I can only read it once a week (at my lola’s) so I’d have to settle with news programs on TV.

I am used to watching World News on CNN at least once a day (kapag may cable kami hehe), TV Patrol everyday, listening to DZMM on the car and staying tuned especially in special events like the televised impeachment trials, the canvassing of votes, the congressional hearings and debates etc. etc.

I guess this peculiarity can be explained by my “obsession” in following the real life soap operas of politics here in the Philippines and the world in general. I don’t know. As much as my mom always wants to catch how Jackie cries over Ellie or Celine argues with JB, I always want to be in-the-know with the latest here and around the world. Siguro more than my insatiable curiosity (I always want to be the first to know – kaya siguro nagengjourn), I feel I am part of history when I witness history made through the lens of the cameras, the microphones and the eyes of the reporters.

I used to tell my parents I was watching for bonus points in Social Science (para payagan during weekdays :P) and well it was true when I was in grade school. But when I entered a school run by the government, it was more of knowing the issues that could very well determine if I would keep my four-year scholarship in PSHS (imagine kung nagkacoup tapos ang unang nangyari pala pinatanggal nila ang Pisay – saying sa pera. Scary. Haha). But I read this article written by Randy David in the Inquirer: <http://opinion.inquirer.net/inquireropinion/columns/view_article.php?article_id=63092>
And it gave me a better reason to care.

And the part that struck me is this:

“A building or structure collapses when its pillars and trusses fold into one another, making them unable to perform their support function. Strong societies, like strong buildings, distribute their weight efficiently among a number of differentiated support systems. When one of these systems fails, the framework may be compromised, but chances are it will remain standing, allowing time to repair the broken part.

This is not what happens when a society’s stability is made to depend almost entirely on a single dominant system—such as the political system, in our case. The crisis of Philippine politics has spread across the whole social system, dangerously dragging down every institution in its path.”

Nakakalungkot, but it’s true. Politics is slowly spreading its roots on our entire way of life. Education, business, the legal system, religion and society in general is slowly being engulfed in the mire of politics. And with the road Philippine politics is treading – a road to perdition and collapse, it could very well be bringing all of us with it.

This is why we should care: because our way of life hangs in the balance.

Whenever we talk about politics in our family, it always ends with “wag na nga, nakakasawa na e”. The trend is because of the constant political bickering with little good results for the people, the citizenry is growing indifferent to politics. But, though this is true, we still give that occasional bribe to the mayor or congressman to expedite our business permits etc etc. This “I don’t care” attitude is almost equivalent to condoning the flaws of the system.
This is why we should care: because not caring means we are allowing the cancer of politics to grow and spread

Most people my age don’t even want to know anything about the elections simply because we still can’t vote. Sayang lang nga naman sa oras. It wouldn’t matter if we know about the candidates and decide who are the best for our country simply because in the end, it won’t matter, we can’t vote for them.

But actually it would matter. Political maturity does not happen overnight. Maturity comes with experience and what experience will we get from just watching Heroes or One Tree Hill and turning off the TV when we see the shows for voters’ education?

In the next elections come May 2010, we will be voting for the next president of the Philippines. And theoretically, our generation has the most power and a lot more at stake. I’m sure you remember that in the Philippines, the next generation is always larger than the previous one by an exponent. And if everyone in our generation and the youth would vote, we would by far have more power in number compared to the adults. Grabe, our generation could really change the nation if every single one of us votes.

Pero siyempre, the cliché statement “With great power comes great responsibility” still applies. And it is our responsibility to vote for the good of our nation. Political maturity is key in getting past the dirty tricks and deception that has characterized Philippine politics. It is exactly how we might hope to clean the system – by showing them guns, goons and gold don’t work with us. Therefore, it is our responsibility to make sure we are mature enough by 2010. It is not something we can cram like any other test. It requires us to take interest in what is happening in our country, knowing the issues, and the personalities involved in those issues.

So tomorrow, take part in guarding the votes. Watch the news, be involved, get interested, START CARING.

This is why WE the youth should start caring: because if we don’t, our future will be sucked into the black hole of dirty politics.