Stumbled upon a long semi-rant I wrote in the wake of the last elections. The things you find in your computer when you're bored and organizing documents.

Excerpts:

"Why do our elections turn into variety shows? Why is it that a "solid" platform is made up not of key issues and arguments, but of movie stars and song-and-dance numbers?

It's hardly a new phenomenon- Ramon Magsaysay was best known for his jingle (anyone over 50 can sing the "mambo, mambo, Magsaysay" ditty) and his provincial campaign tours, where he made it a point to each and every time dance with the soon-to-be First Lady. Apo Marcos and Imelda sang each other kundiman– the Imeldific vibrato apparently won more than a few votes.

...it may be that the personality-centric voting behavior of the Filipino stems from never quite having outgrown the tribal mindset, where the strength of an absolute leader is measured by the force of his personality. It was the leader who arbitrated, led in battle, decreed. Governance was on a more personal level- no bureaus or ministries or red tape, just an audience with the datu, and swift judgement. Charisma was, and is, key.

...the "civilizing" influence of Western colonization did little to change things– the heirarchy remained essentially the same, merely with another layer, the colonists, on top. What we're left with, hundreds of years later, is a heterogenous mishmash of the descendants of old ruling families, colonists, landowners, businessmen, and often, people who were permutations of the four. And a voting population still swayed by charismatic, but not necessarily effective, leadership. It is, maybe, in our genes."

The only question I have is, how the hell did I find enough time to write this? It's probably a product of the pent-up frustrations from the long hours in the office during the election period. In any case, I should rewrite the thing. I probably will anyway, come 2010.