With the elections looming in the horizon, it is always a good thing to be reminded of what democracy is really all about. It is more about accountability than it is about “freedom” which is just a privilege we should only be entitled to when we’ve sufficiently fulfilled our duty to be accountable.
Philippine Presidential Elections
Just like mass marketing, propaganda, and the ramblings of evangelists, campaigns are nothing more than quaint mind tricks. However, even Obi Wan Kenobi and Darth Vader themselves admit grudgingly that their Jedi mind tricks work only on weak-minded fools. Let us not be quick to delegate our thinking to the most popular belief systems and their slogans. Let us evaluate our candidates with a critical mind this coming elections.
Popularity: 1% [?]
The video is fantastic.
But I didn’t like the way it generalized that all actors/actresses are clueless in running the government.
Thanks J. I agree that there is a bit of over-generalisation about the incompetence of showbiz folk in the arena of politics.
Maybe some here could help enlighten me and enumerate some individuals who have proven to be exceptions to this generalisation.
I felt though that though this may be unfair to some ex-showbiz polticians, we might still be better off erring on the side of that generalisation.
It may unfairly force the exception cases to work a bit harder to overcome this generalisation (which I still plan to propagate), but then they need to recognise the reality that the industry that they came from hasn’t exactly been known to be a hotbed of cutting-edge thinking.
I’m not sure I can give you good examples, benign0, of ex-actors who are good politicians. Heck, I don’t even think I can give you a lot of examples of good politicians in the first place. But well, I’m not really sure about this, but I’ve never heard anything bad about Isko Moreno and Herbert Bautista. In fact, I’ve heard good feedbacks from people I know about their performance.
I’m not sure it’s good for you to still propagate this generalization. I think doing so is an insult to the intelligence of some people. And it’s just plain wrong, you know. And doing something wrong, however small it is, dilutes the good message you try to send.
Just a suggestion.
Fair enough J, maybe even coming up with examples of good politicians, much less politicians who are ex-showbiz, can be quite a headscratcher.
But in terms of insulting peoples’ intelligence, well let’s take FPJ (god rest his soul). Don’t you think there was a bit of intelligence-insulting on his part (and in those who encouraged him to run for President) when he actually made his bid for the Office and expect the electorate to actually overlook his obvious lack of ability to do the job well?
Take Erap as well. The fact that a character of his track record and CONVICTION record is still galivanting around making political and even moral/ethical pronouncements is an affront to the sensibilities and DIGNITY of EVERY Filipino.
Maybe propagating that generalisation of showbiz-people-as-morons can be considered irresponsible. But downright wrong? I don’t think so. Politics is a mean and dirty business. Part and parcel of the process is campaigning. And we all know how misleading many campaigns are. We label my generalisation as wrong, then we may as well label all campaigns as wrong.
It’s time we evened out the playing field a bit.
Showbiz people have an unfair advantage in that:
(1) They have a headstart that pre-dates their politics (their pre-political showbiz careers);
(2) They have emotional influence over people that all but SWAMPS (we could even say shortcircuits or even paralyses) the critical/intellectual evaluation faculties of the electorate; and,
(3) They work in a society where a pre-occupation with showbiz is just about the only AFFORDABLE indulgence of the masses.
When we were kids, a choice between a chocolate bar and a piece of brocolli would have been a no-brainer. Juxtapose that with the immense marketing, branding, and sales infrastructure that supports the effort to pitch sweets and junkfood at the hapless consumer.
Therefore it was imperative for our carers to paint a really bleak picture of sweets.
Similarly, showbiz personalities are eye and brain candy to an intellectually-challenged electorate. The same industry that contributed immensely to the intellectual degradation of Pinoy society now has the gall to produce its politicians and leaders. That’s a COLOSSAL DISASTER and a situation of profound shame for us if I ever saw one.
benigno, my main problem with show-biz politicians is that they can fake anything well, too well, including intelligence and sincerity, that they generally are able to ensnare the masa easily. oftentimes, they are able to attract audience at campaign rallies just by showing up and not saying anything worthwhile.
these kind of politicians in office reflects the kind of electorate that voted for them. nada por nada.
Exactly.
Whereas conventional politicians have only their platforms and ideas to build their careers upon, actor-turned-politicians already have their following served to them on a silver platter upon entry into politics.
The real evil here is the power of a mis-informed electorate that have been intellectually-stunted by DECADES of substandard education and low-substance entertainment to actually catapult morons to positions of power.