What About Politics?

So what about politics? Well, I feel like most people probably see me as someone too naive to be involve in politics or even talk about it. I admit I used to be. I remember since I was 18 (the year I can finally use my right to vote) until I was 20, my parents used to be the ones who would give me a list of names on who to vote during the election. I didn't really cared much that time on who I'll be voting because I was just following the list they provided me. Not until recently, last year's latest election when I started to actually care about my vote being counted. 

I started educating myself about who the candidates are, what they've done, and how would their platform affect our town/country. I did this myself, I never asked for anyone to help me out on this because I didn't want to be brainwashed. And so, my parents still gave me a list, but I wasn't following the list anymore. I scratched out some names who I didn't want to cast my vote and replaced it with names who I feel like can do better for the society. 

I never told anyone about this, I never share my political views to other people. I wince everytime someone would bring up the subject of politics on me. Or ask me on who did I voted for because that's like the same as asking me if I'm still a virgin. I treat my political beliefs privately and I don't push my beliefs on other people. If you're a smart citizen, you would know who is the rightful person to vote, but I'll never tell you a name because it's your responsibility to know who deserves it.

The other day, me and Dar had a conversation about politics as he opened up to me his past attitude about it. He told me he used to be pretty aggressive about his stand, and I couldn't blame him since he's from a political family. His father was a politician, and as a son, I understand that his full support goes to his father. But ever since his father died, so does his aggressiveness - and I'm very relief about that. He told me a story about one time when he had a "public debate" with random people on Facebook. I was about to call it an "argument" since they were debating about who's the better party or who's the better candidate as both of them are on different stands. 

Hearing that, I told him he wasn't right, actually, none of them was right. It wasn't right because first, both parties were very informal as they were posting their different political views on Facebook, either in the comment section or a separate post itself. What's more, they were both posting about a lot of things that are AGAINST each party. Maybe they'd reason out that they were merely defending, but no. It wasn't "defending" for me, it was more on offending each other.  Second, I feel like it's wrong to push your beliefs on other people because that's like taking away their right to choose and their right to vote. Maybe, it's okay to tell people about your candidate, but to force them on it is wrong. You cannot control people on who to vote, even by money - unless they were totally blinded by that. Third, they were simply arguing, and arguing because of politics does not bring peace.

If I am asked on what I stand for when it comes to politics, I stand for peace. There's no way I would allow politics to be a hindrance to my relationship with other people. I find it very unreasonable for a person to really HATE another person just because they are voting for different candidates. Like really? That shallow? It's sad actually. This type of situation reminds me of people fighting over which is the best religion, or which religion is the closest to God. It's pointless arguing about it because it's not about which religion you belong to or which one is the best, but it's about your personal relationship with God. And I personally believe that God won't be happy seeing His people being hostile with one another just because of different religions. Same goes with politics.

If you really think about it, we, all voters, only want the same thing. We want what's best for our country, hence we were given a chance to vote. We all want to have a healthy government, to lift up poverty as much as possible, and to fix whatever our country needs. So as a citizen who loves my country, I would do my job. That job is to be a responsible voter. Don't vote a candidate base on the amount of money he gave you. Don't let your vote be bought. Instead, be a sharp observer, and an attentive listener. Observe what the candidates had really done, and listen to what they say, what they promise. It's sad how voters are more on the talking and less on the listening. You cannot understand each candidate if you don't listen and observe. Are they good talkers? Or are they good in action? Are they only good in the beginning? Or can they continue serving for as long as they live?

Again, I am not dropping any names because I am private with my beliefs. I might sound "play-safe" to you but I'm far from that. I'm promoting peace and not "debates" or "arguments". After all, when we die, our political beliefs won't matter because it's only earthly things, and it dies with us. And I firmly believe that the more we argue with other people, may it be about politics, religion, race, or money, the more we bring ourselves farther from God. So to sum everything up, privacy, respect, and peace are golden. Respect one another and peace will prevail. Ciao!