Our inconvenient duty

It started with the long wait under scorching heat for a taxi. Unable to get one, my daughter and I decided to take a jeepney instead and endured the hour-long traffic jam from our place in Consolacion to downtown Cebu. When the jeepney stopped at an intersection near a shopping mall, we quickly alighted and hopped into a cab and headed to the pier.
Caught in the long queue at the ferry terminal, we found no time to buy dinner at the food stalls there and so ended up having overpriced cup noodles at the boat’s cafeteria. Sailors wouldn’t advise travelling on an empty stomach as you would likely get seasick. That’s exactly what happened to us, sailing on the fringes of a typhoon that was still ravaging the Northern parts of Luzon.
We arrived in Surigao City still a bit dizzy. But after a hurried lunch, we immediately headed to the local office of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) in the outskirts of the city.
There was another queue and a flurry of papers to be filled up. I was lining up to have my biometrics taken while my 18-year-old daughter was registering to be able to vote for the first time. We were done just before the Comelec office closed. I felt relieved that we were able to accomplish our mission for the day, the very reason we had to take the long trip home.
Yet we were still halfway to our goal. We had to return here during election day in May next year. That means going through the same hassle all over again. I expect it to be even worse, having to deal with the usual mob at the precint. In fact, as local politics could become violent, going out to vote during election day could be dangerous.
I can understand why many of my friends, who I believe are some of the most educated people of my generation, have already professed not to vote. Most would say they have long been frustrated with the system. It’s only going to be a change of personalities, after all, they would say. Things would still be the same no matter who you put up there. There’s just no hope anymore for this country.
Others would say they are too busy or have no patience with the lack of efficiency in the government bureaucracy. It’s too much trouble and they have more urgent things to attend to.
“It’s hopeless,” one of my friends, a young graphic designer, said.
“It’s all about money, after all. The masses are so desperate that they are willing to sell their votes for it. It’s not for us in the middle class to decide.”
I told him that it’s also because many of those in the middle and upper classes have lost interest in voting. That’s the same problem even in the United States, where some of the brightest people in the middle and upper classes do not vote.
According to Plato, “the penalty for refusing to rule is to be ruled by someone inferior.” The brightest people have lost interest in politics. Those who are most qualified refuse to run and those who are more educated do not vote. So we leave it to the most corrupt politicians to rule us. We leave it to the masses to decide the fate of this country.
“Well, we are all in this food chain,” my friend said. “If you’re a small fish, everyone will eat you. So you have to work hard to become a big fish so they will be scared of you and you will have less trouble.”
“But it’s an illusion,” I said. “The food chain is actually an endless cycle. Even the biggest whale is killed by a smaller animal—the fisherman. You will have your own problems at the top. You can’t totally ignore government even if you become very rich. You will have to deal with the bureaucracy when you apply for business or pay your taxes. Being in an expensive car won’t insulate you from street crimes or being stuck for hours in a traffic jam.”
“There are two kinds of people,” he said. “The realists and the idealists. I’m a realist. I have more important things to attend to. I really don’t have time for it.”
“I have no such high hopes myself but I want to see things work,” I said. “The paradox of capitalism is that some people’s greed or self-interest is supposed to generate economic activity that benefits others and make things work. The problem in this country is that there’s only greed of a few and it’s robbing people of benefits. And worse, it’s not even making things work.”
I failed to convince my friend. But neither could he discourage me from taking that long trip home. It’s very inconvenient but it’s only a small sacrifice to make to help keep democracy alive in this country.