I had a conversation with someone almost upset about the reactions he was getting to a video he shared. It was by some wannabe influencer rapping a sermon on TikTok, semi-chanting the notion that the upcoming elections is all about letting people choose their leaders, that there’s no perfect leader, and voters shouldn’t be judged as dumb for choosing who they choose.
Which is fine as a starting premise. We are a democracy, where informed voters make informed choices. I also suppose the video is attractive to the jillions of voters who need to justify their choices, who don’t want to feel bad about going with gut feel.
But the principle of respecting voter’s choices isn’t as cut-and-dried as it seems. There are many other principles at play. And it might be good to ponder on those a bit.
Sure, we should respect a voter’s choice. She is given that freedom and right by our Constitution. That respect means her vote will be counted towards the total. But that doesn’t mean we can’t judge the voter after casting that vote. We can and should!
In exams, we are graded based on our answers. If it’s multiple choice, we circle the right choice. If the exam is true-or-false, there’s a right choice and a wrong choice. I posit it’s the same with elections --it’s an exam that determines what kind of a person you are.
Perhaps, it has less to do with brains, than with inherent character. It’s not automatically a brainless choice. It might be a character flaw. Or a telling indicator of a voter’s moral fiber. But that moral flaw is so easily conflated with stupidity, especially if the exam question is easy.
In the current elections, it’s as easy as “who do you pick as your leader?” A lazy liar and thief with a track record for doing zilch? Or a hard-working, genuinely concerned candidate who has shown she isn’t twiddling her thumbs but is out there, crisis after crisis?
That choice isn’t hard at all. And if the voter still makes the wrong choice, then we collectively do facepalms. Unfortunately, life tells us that even the right and rational choice is hard to make. It’s like the time-old decision between good or evil. Between a devil or an angel. That choice is still being botched up to now.
We always know what the lead character in the movie should do. We groan when he goes and makes the mistake of taking the easy route, or falling by the wayside. We berate him for ganging up with the bad guys against the oppressed. We urge the hero to find redemption after wrestling with his demons. And if he doesn’t --well, that’s not a happy ending, is it?
Like with that PBB lead hostess. She was faced with a decision between respecting the television network that fed her over more than a decade, or endorse the political candidate that shuttered the network? Use her fame and popularity to boost a family synonymous to thievery and corruption, or shun the millions offered her way?
And after making the decision to take the moolah and run, of course she should be judged. As harshly as we can, as furiously as we should. It’s not cancel culture per se. It’s recognizing she didn’t pass the test.
It’s the same way we judge a celebrity for using that fame to bring attention to landmine victims (hello, Princess Di!) or to the oppression in Palestine (shoutout to Emma Watson). We can and should give them the due respect (or the opprobrium) that they deserve.
Dearest voters, this is the ultimate test. The exam to beat all other exams. This one decides the fate of our country. And to tell us we cannot judge those who choose personal interest over their mother nation is plain dumb.