Saturday, October 18, 2008 Carvajal: Politics explains it all By Orlando P. Carvajal Break Point
WE seem to be forgetting one thing, that after our officials get elected they immediately start campaigning for re-election. And they really hit the ground running on this one. If we bear this in mind, we will understand many things.
For instance, investigations and probes are long on words and short on results because they are initiated by the opposition not to help the administration give better service but simply to put a political enemy in a bad light. No big shot’s head rolls after all these probes because these are part of a yearly ritual that the factions of the ruling elite observe in between elections. They are all part of a well laid out election campaign plan.
People are talking about the futility and the wrong timing of the latest impeachment case against President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. However, it is only futile and ill-timed if the intention is really to impeach. It is perfectly timed if the real intention is simply to discredit PGMA and campaign negatively this early against her and her dynasty.
In the US, John McCain is losing to Barack Obama for attacking the latter’s person and not addressing burning issues of the day. Still, one can clearly distinguish two different political philosophies and two distinct approaches to government. The Republicans are for minimum government involvement in people’s lives while the Democrats are for positive action in favor of the disadvantaged. In the US, Joe the Plumber can choose between alternative programs of government.
In the Philippines, Juan de la Cruz does not have a choice. The many parties we have are indistinguishable from each other in political and economic orientation and in morality. Coming from the same elitist orientation, they cannot be expected to outline distinct platforms of government. Hence, they can only campaign by competing in ways how to paint one blacker than the other as they fight for their turn at wielding power.
This is, therefore, the perfect time to shift grandstanding and negative campaigning to high gear. One senator recently came to Cebu to encourage the youth to dream big. But how can the youth dream big when the senator and his ilk are ruining this country with their big political dreams? My conclusion: he was simply grandstanding.
The sad thing is nothing is really happening by way of a shift to a new direction in this country. Nothing is really happening by way of an emergence of new leaders, with a different set of values from the tradpols. When will the new breed of leaders come who will rally us towards a new politics and a new economics that would respectively spread wealth and power around? How might we induce their emergence?
