May 2010 Elections Is All About Trust, Leap of Faith

One of the greatest gifts maybe of democracy to citizens aside from having the right burn down effigies, throw eggplants and clash with policemen on riotous rallies is the priceless right to vote.  Suffrage alone can tell of its long reflective history for struggle for recognition.  People can and have the “power” to choose their leaders that will reflect their needs, aspirations, hope and dreams and respond to these vigorously, justly, wisely and morally.

Unfortunately, this profound right of each and every citizen to choose their leaders through the power of the ballot is a double-edged sword.  Since democracy almost always works on the premise on the voice of the majority (also the very core of the dynamics of elections) voting for public officials to steer our nation to a path of progress is always a big gamble.  Voting for public officials does not always guarantee that we have chosen the right choice, more so our perceived individual right choices will turn out to be the winners of the polls.

Like the Lady Justice with eyes covered (except our Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez who scans first with eyes wide open who are the accused) to be always impartial, the effects of choosing a bad leader is also very impersonal.  When at the end of the counting, despite of all the efforts of educated people to guide voters to choose the right candidates for public offices, and the winners turned out to be the same old traditional politicians who makes a living fattening their bellies, betting on Vegas, dining on Le Cirque and abandoning their legislative duties; everyone ends up on that same boat without any life jackets, unsteadily rocking in the middle of a very troubled ocean.  When we gamble and end up unfortunately with gamblers, womanizers, corrupt and selfish public servants so full of their capriciousness because it is what the majority says, we all suffer the consequences:  woman, man, straight, homosexuals, old, children, registered voters and those who cannot yet vote, unemployed, laborers, everyone.  We all end up at the mercy of all these people.

I am not saying that we change the system nor it will always be the case, what I am trying to say is that it is always a gamble with no exact promise of deliverance from enslavement to live a good life to our collective Promise Land.

And so, election too is not only about a democratic process protected by the constitution, but more so is a personal struggle of voters to take a “leap of faith”.  As in choosing leaders for our government, at the end of it, it is not all about platform, accomplishments, capacity to govern, political will, competence, advertisement, celebrity endorsements and all political gimmicks.  It will be all about “trust”.  Who do we “trust” most among all these aspirants who can deliver the goods for us?

“Trust” is such a crazy complicated word, more so a very crazy complicated act to give to persons who haven’t even encountered or know personally, except maybe to some “emo” teens that gets romantically entangled just through texts messages.  But the May 2010 election will not only prove that democracy still lives in the heart of this nation through our ballots but more so will test if “most of us” have already risen to a higher consciousness of active participation of our public responsibility; and if our will to take a “leap of faith” this time around will not make us see ourselves falling on dirt…once more.

Any indications that a politician can be trusted?  To whom do you give your “trust” this May 2010 elections?

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