We get it. The elections tore us apart, and we drew battle lines. We told ourselves we’re not going to lend money to the people who didn’t vote our way, and we’re going to let people sort things out for themselves because they should learn to deal with the consequences of their choices.

But is that really how we should be conducting ourselves after the initial emotional rush has finally died down? 

Here are 8 reasons why we don’t think picking and choosing who we help is a particularly good idea…

8. Because where we draw the line never works.

People vote for who they want to vote for a multitude of reasons. At the end, it’s their right, and we can only go so far to influence them one way or another.

Trying to say “I will only help people who voted X last May” is a terrible excuse, because pretty soon, you will see, you’d stop helping everyone, period. You’d end up being too lazy to religiously check who voted for whom, because you know how innately stupid a premise that is for helping someone – so you’d rather not help anyone than see through your ridiculous condition.

And that goes double for any other arbitrary line you might want to draw to “limit” the help you’re willing to give. Pretty soon, you won’t be giving any at all, because that’s the easy way out.

7. Because tragedies don’t pick and choose who they affect.

Did the recent typhoon check who people voted for before trying to drown them in ridiculous wind and rainfall? No? Then maybe we should stop trying to apply the same ridiculous standards to who we should be helping.

6. Because it defeats the purpose of helping.

Do we help because we want our candidates to win, or do we help because we know we can and it’s a good thing to do in and by itself?

Let other people be stuck, but we should move on past the elections by now. There’s still so much to do, regardless of where on the political spectrum you fall. Surely, nobody can disagree that things could be better than they are right now.

5. Because chances are, neither would they.

“Them” versus “us.” Is it really so? Or are these arbitrary lines only drawn temporarily?

Sure. You’ve ended friendships with each other. Sure. You don’t hold the same values. But when push comes to shove, are you guys seriously going to turn your backs on each other over your allegiances to politicians who don’t know you exist?

True story: the author of this 8List unfriended someone who was trolling him on Facebook over a bunch of political posts. Upon coming to his senses, said friend went out of his way to apologize to the author and made it a point to avoid discussing politics with him — without having to change his political alignment. It was a genuine apology coupled with a promise to just agree to disagree, because that’s what friends do.

Do you really think “they” would ask who you voted for if you needed their help today? You might be surprised to realize that “they” don’t. Just because people voted for someone whom we think is a monster does not make them monsters. Certainly not to the same degree.

4. Because that proves your point better than any argument can.

Helping without picking and choosing is you showing, not telling, that you live by the values you claim your candidate stood for. Conditional goodness as a show of force to be withheld if things don’t go our way is what every single politician pretty much does. We should be better than that.

3. Because it does so much to bridge the gap between “us” and “them.”

How do we heal a polarized country? By reaching across the aisle. It’s really that simple.

2. Because we don’t need that bad juju in our lives.

This is really simple, too. All that negativity we felt during the election needs to stay in May and not follow us here in the -Ber months. Let’s give it a rest, and just focus on making things better.

When we help someone, they remember our kindness – not who the president is. Our kindness matters more than who’s sitting in Malacanang.

1. Because we’re not as different from each other as we think we are.

We are still people, after everything has been said and done. We all make choices that may or may not be right, but if there is one choice that is always right, it’s choosing to help. And yes, we don’t limit this to just helping out Filipinos. We also include other people in other places we can help if the opportunity presents itself.

Not for our candidate, because the 2022 elections is loooooong past due date. Not for ourselves, because we’re not here to gratify ourselves in helping. But because we are people for others, and these “others” aren’t so different from us, when we really think about it.

Helping for the sake of helping – because it’s the right thing to do. It’s not a revolutionary concept, but it’s something this nation sorely needs right now – no matter who’s in charge.

What do you think of this issue?