It has been said that among the insane, the sane would be insane. Among them, who is to say who is sane and who is insane?
This seems a question that resonates in partisan politics anywhere in the world. Partisanship turns to accusations of sanity and insanity among partisans who agree or disagree with each other.
Partisanship gets mixed with pride. When faced with others not sharing one’s partisan view and alliances, or when questioned of one’s partisan position, there’s the tendency to take things personally. Ego gets bruised. Emotions light up like bonfires. Sides are smelted into steelier stances. Goodwill goes up in smoke. The “me-them” becomes a branding game of who is right, and who is wrong. Often, it gets to become a finger-pointing game of who is sane and who is insane.
But who is really to say who is sane, and who is insane in the melee of partisan politics?
I don’t know. The answer could be partisan as well.
But this I know: In partisan politics, branding others for being sane or insane is itself insane. Futile. An irrational exercise. Nonsense.
What’s probably a saner and more sensible thing to do is to ask: Who’s me in all these? Who’s me when making a choice on who to support, and what political stand to take? Who’s me when choosing whether to vote as a good partisan or as a good Filipino? Would my vote be about me or about others? Would it show who I am, or who others are to me?
These questions relate to one’s responsibility as a voter. Not about partisanship. They’re questions about being accountable when casting a vote. Accountable to community and to country. They’re about being a voter who wants his or her vote to go beyond merely being counted as a number.
I saw a glimpse of responsible and accountable voters in two political rallies in Dumaguete last Wednesday, April 20. I saw voters who were ready to vote to reflect who they are and their self-images, not as an opposition to those making other choices. Voters who were ready to vote on account of their sense of obligation to the nation and to themselves. Voters who didn’t find any difficulty to sit and stand together with those who made other choices because others’ choices do not shape nor matter to their choices.
Sensible. Sane.
My hope is that the same sensibility and sanity would prevail against the intensifying crazy chaos of partisan politics, as we approach the last few days before elections.
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