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It’s so meaningless…

Philippine Politics / by

Politics is the age old debate that mankind has been having for centuries.  In much of the world these days, no matter who is in power, half of us hate them (or more!).  If the party in power is liberal, we tend to be more conservative.  If the Conservatives are in power, our thoughts seem to swing to the liberal side.  It’s a never ending battle.

In the past two decades or so, at least in the USA where I am more familiar with, political hatred has seemed to have taken over.  As far as I can recall, it all seemed to start when President Clinton came to power in 1993.  Conservatives hated Clinton, and hated his policies.  Hold on, before you criticize me… I would call myself conservative, and I felt much of that “Clinton hatred” back in the 90’s myself.  Then in 2001, President Bush came into power, and many conservatives were elated.  But, at that time our more liberal friends figured that what was good for the goose was also good for the gander, so they went into anti-Bush mode, and attacks were rampant.  Now, last year Obama came into office, and it was time for a “change” and fresh breezes permeated our world.  Harmony, peace… ha ha… sorry… just more hatred!

Over the past couple of years, as any regular reader would notice, I have really soured on politics.  I just don’t care to even think about it anymore.  I used to be very active in Political Circles.  I worked on campaigns, went to the big speeches and such, it was my life.  But, living in the Philippines, a place very far away from all of that changed me.  I got to the point that I just didn’t care much.  I mean, all of the arguing, fighting, war of words and such, and how much did it affect me?  None.  Nada.  Wala.  Whatever happened in US Politics had very little affect on my life, so I just dropped it from my life.

Now, I see the same thing in the Philippines too, though.  One party is in power, and there are lots of other parties that are against everything that the party in power wants to do.  Yes, “lots of parties” because in the Philippines it is a multi-party system, not a two-party system like in the USA.  And, there is plenty of political wrangling and fighting here, believe me!  Some of it is downright childish, it seems.  But, it doesn’t really bother me when I see it here.  Hmm… why is that?  Well, it is because I don’t let it become part of my life.

I kind of figure that whatever policies come into play here, or whatever Political Party comes to power, for the most part it won’t affect my life here much.  I mean, there may be some laws that will affect me, but most will just pass me over.  Fact is, even if I was violently opposed to some policy that came into play, there really is nothing I can do about it here anyway, because I am not a citizen, can’t vote, and basically am voiceless.

There was a time when, if told that I had no voice in the way things were happening, I would have been very upset!  I wanted to be able to influence policy to benefit me!  But, now I am in a foreign country, and I just don’t let it bother me.  I can’t change it anyway, so why let it anger me?  Much better for me and for my health to just enjoy the nice life that I have here and not worry about things that I can’t change even if I want to.

Earlier in this article, I mentioned two words that have become the basis of life in US politics:  Conservative and Liberal.  The world revolves around these two words, or labels in the US, and in much of the world.  You know what, though?  I find that the words really don’t mean much at all here!  You see, Politicians here don’t tend to label themselves as Conservative or Liberal.  There is even a Conservative party, but it’s policies are not carved in stone.  There is a Liberal party too, but it’s policies are sometimes quite conservative!  What I see here is that the administration in power sets the tone politically with policies that they want to institute.  Everybody else is usually against it!  It’s not labeled as a conservative idea, or a liberal idea.  It’s just an idea.

So, I guess it comes down to this… if you move to a foreign country, best to just leave the politics behind and get on with simply enjoying life.  Leave the worrying to others.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  3. I’ve always said, “everyone has their soap operas”. I’d see the men watching wrestling on TV laugh at their wifes for watching soaps. The wrestling is just another form of soap opera. I’m not against it, but they should realize it’s the same.
    Many get involved in the politics, it becomes their soap opera.
    No one wants to admit what they are interested in is “their soap opera”. I guess we all need our own soap. With some it’s even their religion.
    I am hooked on the politics as my chosen soap opera. Don’t think I want to change, I’ll keep going to my political sites or chatting about it with my friends.
    I also choose where I want to talk to avoid people who have their soap operas in other places. I do mention it on FaceBook occasionally, usually with a little humor, but that’s not my political site.
    Notice I didn’t mention my politics or views on politics here? It’s not my political board. Good article Bob, Salamat Po.

    • I agree on that Kenneth. Everybody has to have something to keep them busy, and keep their mind working! For me, it used to be politics, but I have gotten bored of it, and actually it just bears down on me too much these days.

      • Bob, In the Philipines it is very common for small town government candidates to hand out rice and sardines to the poor just to get thier votes. Of course they go back to starving after the election.

        In the U.S. only the senate seats are for sale.hahaha.

        By the way, here is one of my own predictions for 2010.
        The automated election will fail.

        Matt

        • Hi Matt – I expect that there will be issues with the automated election process, but I don’t think it will fail. Yesterday there was testing done and they had only one problem – a SIM card failed. It was replaced with a new SIM and all worked fine. I hope it goes smoothly.

  5. Hi Bob – I’m with the group: want nothing to do with it.

    Made this decision about a year after I changed from a Tory to a Whig. Both parties left me, so I said, “If that’s the way it’s gonna be, . . . .” 😆

      • BTW Bob – Strange (funny-strange) coincidence today: You come out with your “meaningless” article, and now the “sound-powered jeepneys” have started playing tunes and slogans for the Nationalista Party! (Of course, who else would do that in Ilocandia? 😉 )

        • Hi Paul – Ha ha… didn’t you know that people look to LiP to find out when the trend is ready to start? Ha ha… they obviously read my column this morning! 😉

  6. I totally know what you mean. Back where I come from in SC, most leaned towards Conservative Republicans. Much of the youth, though, leaned towards Liberal Democrats (in rebellion and being fed up with some negative southern attitudes). It is always a clash too, like a political war. You get insults and junk. Many are blaming Christians for things (from what I seen) to generalize us with the Republican or Conservative party. Then many culturally conservative southerners and such, well, say things about liberals. I get sick of it. It is like both parties do not reconize WHY each other believes what it is, and it is all for pride.
    Then I see countries, such as me living here, and its all different. And thigns here that you think would wage a huge debate in USA don’t here. I feel like the parties in the USA are so trapped in a national debate, they fail to see how it is in other places. I makes them feel all or nothing. I remain conservative on social issues and moderate on how things are handled. LOL

  7. Bob: None of it matters… My boss is one of the “tea party” advocates in the States, and I listen to it regularly, like it or not. Bottom line is that I just don’t care any more.

  8. hi bob – i’d be lying if i say i don’t have strong feelings (and leanings) about the issues. you know that already. at this point in my life, it’s simply part of my nature.

    but i have to admit, having just lived through (and voted) a 2 year US presidential campaign then now moving to the philippines to experience ANOTHER presidential campaign, has caught me a bit winded now. i still will be voting in the 2010 elections, but i certainly hear what you’re saying.

    sometimes i envy those who don’t need the web for work. i would love to simply unplug from all the noise even for just a week.

    • Hi macky – You have a bit of a different situation than I do. Whether you are in the US or the Philippines, you are in your country of citizenship, and the people in power affect you more than they do me. I can certainly understand your feelings.

  9. With me, I let most of it go in one ear and out the other and keep my thoughts between my ears. I have seen so many people not involved in politics, let it take over their whole existance. It is like anything and everything gets related to politics.

  10. Bob,

    I do care since I am still here in the USA. I get these emails from a very conservative ex-pat. The are very hateful and full of lies about the US current president. I wish we could be patriotic and proud no matter what party is in power. We have lost our moral backbone here in the USA and it hurts. I might my lip alot and try to let it go in one ear and out the other but it doesn’t always work.

    • Hi Jack – It seems like the Internet has made it easy for hate mongers on both sides to spread their lies and propaganda. It’s one of the few things that I hate about the Internet.

      • Bob,

        I thought the only bad thing about the internet was spelling and grammar. I thought I wrote bite my lip. lol.

        PS … tell Paul he is thinking to small. Why congress and not 1600 Penn Ave? We could do alot of change over a couple of San Mig’s.

  11. hi bob; i have retired from my job on offshore oil rig ( of 34 years) and will be moving to molugan,(outside opol,CDO) with my beautiful wife ,ARMALYN. I refuse to talk or get involved in politics in ANY way. period.

  12. hi bob; i forgot to say why, because they are ALL liers and thieves. or else they would not be politictions!!

  13. Hi Bob,

    Here in Canada we have two main national parties ( plus a couple smaller parties). One is called the Conservatives and the other is called the Liberals. However both have no scruples about copying the others ideas or policies if it will win them more votes depending on the prevailing voter preferences.

    Presently we have a minority Conservative government supported by one of the smaller parties, the socialist New Democratic Party.

    The official colour for Conservatives is blue and the colour for the Liberals is red. I think it’s the opposite in the U.S. if I’m not mistaken. They probably do it to confuse Canadians.

    The only time I can remember a really different government was in 1995 when my province (state) of Ontario elected a new Conservative Premier ( Governor ). People thought it would be business as usual.

    However he had an extreme hardline right-wing agenda which he immediately enacted. This is what happened;

    1. Welfare payouts were cut by 23%.

    2. Welfare was renamed Workfare and if you were able-bodied you had to work to get the reduced payments. The number of people on welfare was almost cut in half as you could make more money working at McDonald’s instead of picking up trash in freezing weather.

    3. All welfare housing was given to the cities where they were located. Not his probem anymore!

    4. Tenants rights were squashed. Instead of 6 to 12 months it took to evict a tenant as it wound its way through the court system, it took 4 to 6 weeks at a special Housing Tribunal. The newly enacted law was ironically called ” The Tenant Protection Act “.

    5. Civil servant wages were frozen and strikers could be fired and replaced with ” people who want to work “. Unions were forced to pay huge fines to the government if essential workers walked off the job.

    6. Liberal newspaper editorial cartoonists often portrayed him and his Cabinet wearing Nazi-style uniforms.

    7. Debts were paid off by selling government-owned assets.

    8. No one will admit to voting for him now and his name ( Mike Harris ) is only spoken in hushed tones. Yet he won 2 back-to-back landslide majorities.

    9. He resigned at the conclusion of his second term and has since disappeared from public view!

    Of course he promised to do all of the above in his first election campaign BUT NO ONE BELIEVED HIM !!!

  14. Hi again Bob;
    I feel I wasted a big part of my life by not running for Congress when I was younger. I could have worked for only two years, feathered my nest and got rich by legal insider trading, retired at the end of one term and collected a grand retirement and free health care for the remainder of my life. Then get a high paying job as a lobbyist, work four more years and then head for the Islands and enjoy life. And then never think of politics again.

  15. Hey, I still live in the U.S and I don’t care. What good would it do me? It is all a huge machine and it does not take into account anything I think or desire. So-I don’t pay attention and yes Bob-it is liberating.

  16. Hi Bob,
    Ha Ha Politics.
    The older i get,the more cynical i get about politicians.
    My mentor the late Jim Rohn had a saying,”If you wait for the Gov’t to change your life,you will wait forever”.
    I will leave you with this quote:
    “My first rule:I don’t believe anything the Gov’t tells me,nothing,zero”:George Carlin.

    regards Chas.

  17. the way things are going in the usa politics. is one of the reasons I am eventually moving to P.I. for . america is very different then it was 25 years ago. the quality of life and the respect factor (lack of it )in our younger generation !