Hope?
So Joe Biden and Kamala Harris won the US Elections. I don’t think I’ve ever really followed any US election as closely as I did this one. For a while there, I was actually refreshing the news sites every hour in case another state turned blue. You’d think it were as easy as that… ha!
Let’s be real though. Even if we aren’t US citizens, the results of those elections impact us in more ways than we can imagine. I mean, it’s one of the most powerful countries in the world — and that’s not to mention all the history and connections the Philippines has made with them.
Though what I was thinking this whole time is just how much these elections serve as a bellwether to our own country’s fate. When the US map was overwhelmingly red, I couldn’t help but feel scared… Was the world really leaning towards fascist corruption? Were we in the Philippines doomed to the same fate in 2022? The thought was scary. And so I found myself somehow calculating the margins of the swing states and reassured myself chances were still good for Biden.
And they apparently went for the better. Thank God.
Though isn’t it frightening to think how most people would be so apathetic to the state of their nation, especially in a time of pandemic? While large states don’t necessarily equal a large number of votes, looking at the map and seeing huge swaths of red mean a majority still voted Trump — still voted against a good plan to stop the virus, still voted against leaderly conduct, still voted for the death of thousands of lives. You’d think it would have changed people’s minds.
That’s where the fear is, I guess. Have we as Filipinos changed our minds about the leaders of our country? I don’t need to name all the atrocities we’ve undergone — well actually, I can’t begin to name them. But even just off of the lack of a plan for this pandemic, the fact that we can’t live normally like other countries are, or the fact that our countrymen had to weather a super typhoon amid all this hardship… were these enough to change people’s minds?
I’m tired of hearing ourselves called strong in times of trial. We’ve made heroes out of people who shouldn’t be put in their situations to begin with. We need leaders who will fix what’s ailing in this country — and to get that, we need the citizenry to see through the ineffectiveness and deceit of our politicians. Damn trapos can’t even fix a damn light bulb, if you ask me.
So I guess I’m looking at this election with hope. Nagawa na nila. They were able to fight the ills of their leadership. I’m hoping we can too.
I’m lagging behind on my #WriterWednesday entries. I apologize… the last two Wednesdays were quite busy. Bawi ako. :)
