I will borrow the term ‘parallel universe’ and use it loosely to satisfy my purpose in this article. We can also call it ‘alternate universe’ or ‘alternate reality’, or ‘parallel dimension’, whatever you prefer.
Supporters of the alternate universe theory even suggest there is more than one universe out there. An alternate universe is a hypothetical plane of existence that coexists with our own. The theory of an alternate universe or universes can be made to sound plausible with the use of scientific language.
However, there is absolutely no evidence that it exists, and as far as our science can tell us, there is only one universe, and that’s the one in which we exist now.
I am using the term (bent for my purposes) only because, admit it, if it did exist, and we could observe it, it would be possible to manipulate it so each of the Presidential candidates can actually be made to win and serve their own respective Philippines, but in different dimensions.
Could it be more equal than that?!
Now that we are a few days shy of the official start of the national campaign period, supporters of the different presidential candidates have pumped themselves up for the fight.
They have started to bash each other, in efforts to promote their aspirants. They have labored to know the flaws of opposing candidates, and when there aren’t any to be found, they’d manufacture lies to use to discredit them. They have become experts at dressing up their lies to make them palatable to the hapless.
And the hapless, well, they don’t want to disappoint their masters–they take hook, line, and sinker. And then they even ask for more!
The respective fans of the Presidentiables have all taken to social media to promote their opinions or lies. You will see them posting every day, results of surveys, with ridiculously differing numbers.
If truth be told, even you can do the same exact lie. You just make it on your computer, post it on Facebook, and no one’s the wiser!
Would people believe it? Well, the hapless will gobble it all up, that’s for sure! You can just pick any figure you want, and say it’s your candidate’s latest survey standing. No one is skeptical enough to check! If you don’t believe me, try it.
Most of the candidates want a shot at winning, their less than ample abilities notwithstanding.
But despite that, their followers keep embellishing their personal histories with great-sounding achievements, most of which could not be accurately verified.
The candidates would rather leave the people wondering, not knowing the truth, probably because the truth about them is not pretty.
I don’t believe a politician would actually tell all, no-holds-barred, and that’s understandable. No one wants to incriminate oneself.
What is despicable, though, is their holier-than-thou portrayal of themselves, without making the slightest reservation for their human follies.
And then, if history is a guide, they will get even worse when already in office, as the present crop of public servants are demonstrating. Well, not all of them, of course, but most.
I have not made any bones about letting others know which candidate I prefer. But I am also able to explain why. It would be dumb to like one candidate in order to spite another, and when asked why, the answer is, “Because!” That attitude only puts more firewood in the fire of ignorance.
Just as political strategists have, well, strategies, and are keen on analyzing the opponent, voters should also be able to analyze their candidates based on the ideals they believe would make for a good public servant and leader.
Voters must know that for each ideal quality, a candidate must have the closest trait to it, if not the quality itself.
Voters must also anticipate what the candidate will and will not do, based on their social situation, beliefs, and convictions. You simply imagine yourself in their shoes.
For example, a candidate who is already wealthy could be less of a thief than one who is not wealthy. I say less because some say they all steal. Let’s just say, between two evils, the lesser evil would be the wiser choice.
The problem is, how do you grade their evilness? There is probably no way.
The question I like asking people who actively support their candidates is, “What would you say if, after his term, he turned out to be no better than the previous one, and is a total failure?”This could a good question to ask, although the answer would be moot after the term ends.
If you’ve noticed, those who have supported unsuccessful public officials have nothing to say after their candidate’s term ends. It’s as if they’ve worked so hard to destroy our government, or at least stifle its progress.
There seems to be no way that we can make them speak, and apologize after the fact. And even if they wanted to, their pride would hold them back. So, what can be done?
For myself, I would simply remember these supporters, and how they lied to promote their candidates. I’d get back to them after the term ends, and rub it in their faces.
However, if they could explain their support now, maybe they should not be asked any questions then because, like the many others, they too, were fooled.
There would only be one way for all supporters to be more truthful and honest in campaigning for their respective candidates, and that’s if all candidates could be made to win and be presidents of the same exact country, under the same exact conditions, and at the same exact time.
Ah, but we could only dream about that because the only way to do that is for alternate dimensions to exist and we knew how to manipulate them. Sadly, we know they’re not bedded on reality.
With the way it is in our world, moments are one-off. We say a moment at a time because whatever it is, it only happens once, in one place, at one time.
No matter how similar a future action is to one now, the two could never be exactly the same. While we each would like to be correct about everything, there is no way we could be.
Two different candidates are simply that–different. Since we cannot afford to give them each a country to run, and observe how they perform, we better just pick one–the best one that we, as only humans, could determine with our limited knowledge.
Let’s all be quiet, to mind ourselves, and study the candidates we want to vote for, and leave others to do the same.
Forget spreading lies and half-truths because you don’t have first-hand knowledge yourself. Besides, you won’t want to say you were wrong anyway, in case you turned out to be.
Too bad, alternate dimensions are not real, or we could all watch our choice candidates run our country at the same time, each with pride, disappointment, dismay, anger, etc.
Maybe it’s just as well that alternate universes don’t exist.
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Author’s email: [email protected]
