THE pitch may be ready and all of us are there, Team A against Team B. As expected, all throughout the match, there would be the usual round of cheers and jeers, amplified by the boisterous bouts of euphoria for the victors and then despair for the losing side.
When applied to games, such as football or tennis, we simply charge it as part of the game. However, once applied to OTHER than games, such as this phenomenon we call the elections, indications always reveal we tend to look at it as wrong and never with the right lenses.
For a lot of us emboldened by internet, that invisibility cloak that hides all insecurities, it’s always sick fun when poking at and ridiculing others, while broadcasting our particular choices and agenda. From the start, our mindset of having a winner and a loser is still glued to the thought that everything were a game.
Of course, as we think of it as such, one of our most handy implement is name-calling. Many have become so adept at it; we’ve camouflaged and successfully covered up our inadequacies at being able to handle even the most common arguments. As one writer puts it, it is so easy now to speak wisely when the boxing match is already over.
One must have heard it time and again, the reason we have dumb politicians is because dumb voters put them there. Sadly, many believe this and some even post that Mahatma Gandhi is the source of that quote (which I doubt), to give it as dash of credibility.
One other quote is “You are what you eat”, originally pertaining to dieting and actual food intake. Moreover, the idea of dumb electorate equals dumbo politicos has deeper roots, if one only digs hard enough. One is superiority over another, be it in wealth, intelligence or position. In this context, it is saying that my vote is more superior to your vote.
In the national scene roughly six years ago, social media streamed several controversial quips from commentators who stated that, the masses who voted for a particular politico were either uneducated, paid or dumb, bobo in the local speak.
This belief was even reached international waters, brought by several influencers (some of whom are now aspiring for office) when situations there merited a comparison parallel to our own, so they said.
Through it all, we have missed out on the real premise, that no matter what the outcome, the sanctity of each vote remains as the essence of each election. Since we just love to declare that we are a democracy, we should then respect that each voice lends credence to that which says we are “free”.
Any election outcome, being the result of all votes casted, represents the voices of the majority. While that conveys the success of a democratic exercise, in essence, it deeply says that the people have spoken. No more, no less, no person more intelligent than the other.
