8 Things We Should Have Learned from the 2016 Campaign Period
May 9, 2016 • Tim Henares
4. Until May 9, everything is politically motivated. Everything.
It feels stupid for us to have to keep on asking.
Via youtube.com
No. Don’t do it.
3. We can change our mind.
Hey, if Chito Miranda can change his mind, we all can!
"Change is coming"
Ang ibig sabihin ba nito ay kapag maging presidente si Du30, matututo kayo rumespeto ng kapwa?
Pero sa ngayon hindi pa?
— Alfonso Miranda Jr (@chitomirandajr) May 4, 2016
We just hope it comes with much less vitriol from everyone else.
You know why most people don’t want to talk about politics? Because they don’t want to have to engage in a debate with people who will refuse to take no for an answer. And as the campaign wears on, some of the things we believe might end up being untrue, and some of the things we didn’t believe might actually be truth.
There is nothing wrong with changing your mind. And this goes for everybody. You don’t change your mind because you lack conviction. You change your mind because your convictions cannot be sacrificed just to justify your initial choice.
2. Let us seek to inform, not to misinform.
Through every faked meme, every out-of-context quote, every magnified gaffe, we see baby steps of a slowly maturing populace, making the arduous and painful transition from personality to policy politics. In our hopes of making the right choice these elections, it is important for us, biases and all, to at least fact-check the things we share before we tout them to be true. Not only is it embarrassing for us to, say, share a satirical website as fact, but the misinformation going around only adds to the noise and confusion that we are expected to cut through in order to make the right choice.
Via flickr.com
Share only legit memes. Like this.
1. If we don’t change ourselves, it doesn’t matter who wins.
I will keep harping on this because it is true: we vote every day, not just in May. It is simply unconscionable that we pin all our hopes on our candidate to right every wrong when we ignore that sometimes, we are part of the problem, too.
The revolution doesn’t come from on high, but from within. If we truly want change, then we have to get it right, and realize that nobody we are electing has all the answers.
Change starts with the man in the mirror.
What have you learned from this intense campaign season? Sound off in the comments!
