Bad officials are elected by good people who do not use their minds

How do most voters decide on whom to vote? Let me count the ways. Most voters choose the most popular, the most prominent, the ones with the most and the biggest billboards, the actors, the boxers, and the basketball players.

They choose senators, congressmen, governors, and mayors as if they are voting for the Big Four in the Bahay ni Kuya. They vote on the basis of looks, prestige, or number of following in Facebook and Twitter. I am sorry to say that most voters do not use their heads. They keep on electing incompetent, inept, deceitful, and thieving politicians. Then, they later complain of corruption, inefficiency, and lack of concern on the part of government. Stupid.

Most voters are swayed by the sweet nothings that TV and radio broadcasts air every so often. Campaign slogans like: “Gusto ko happy ka,” or “Itaga mo sa bato” or “Servicio and bisyo.”

These lines are created by advertising geniuses whose PR firms are being engaged by traditional politicians and paid hundreds of millions for a few seconds of TV or radio time.

The voters are easily hoodwinked, seduced, and misled by the promises and the mantras of tradpols who had been found incompetent, scheming, rascals, scoundrels, and scalawags, and accused of being plunderers, not to mention, inept, ignorant of their duties, and totally unfit. Most voters do not use their common sense. They have no criteria and no basis for decision-making, but are impulsive, reckless and unthinking.

Of course, these voters are mostly good people, decent, very law-abiding, honest, and serious. But when it comes to choosing public officials, they are totally hopeless. They choose their clothes, their shoes, and their undergarments well. But when they choose public officials, they lack discernment; they are often following the trend or are just going with the tide.

They are easily influenced by the bandwagon mentality. They vote for the leading candidates. Thus, they are largely influenced by SWS or Pulse Asia, whose surveys are sponsored by candidates, and whose survey results are obviously designed as mind-conditioning schemes. These polls survey outfits have relatives among the candidates. They are paid by many of the bets. These surveys are highly suspect.

Bad officials are elected by good people who do not use their common sense. They do not inquire into the qualifications and track records of aspirants. They do not care to know what are the duties and responsibilities of those who are going to hold each position.

They thus do not match the demand for knowledge, attitudes, skills and habits, with the competencies of the aspirants. The voters do not realize the grave importance of choosing leaders.

They do not really discern the full implications of the choices they make. The voters make choices in manners that are palpably superficial, peremptory, haphazard, and lacking in foresight, and in full understanding.

Therefore, voter education should be the foundation of better quality of government. If our voters are lacking in quality in their political judgments, then we shall continue to have officials that we do not and cannot respect.