That shoutout I recently posted concerning the ramifications of voting for FPJ got me thinking about this whole fiasco-in-the-making. Not in a political sense, mind you, because I honestly believe that we will be no better or worse regardless of who the next president is. (*Dons trusty flame-retardant suit*)
Actually this post is about idiots. Not the idiots who will undoubtedly be voting for FPJ very soon, mind you. But the idiots who think they aren’t idiots simply because they’re voting for someone else. This whole situation seems to have devolved into a bright, shining opportunity for people (who aren’t geniuses by any unit of measurement) to brandish their smarter-than-thou paraphernalia in the face of everyone who disagrees with them on who the rightful president is. (Actually, that right there is a misnomer, because according to the constitution, the “rightful president” is the one who gets the most votes. Such are the pitfalls of living in a democracy I suppose.)
One of the comments over at the shoutbox reads: “If FPJ gets the presidency, that goes to show you that majority of Filipinos ARE STUPID!!!!”
Hello, we don’t need people to vote for FPJ to prove their stupidity. It’s an uncontested fact that a majority of humans in general are stupid to begin with (the average adult IQ is 90, for goodness sake), so IQ isn’t the deciding factor here at all. What are you, stupid or something?
I think the position of “president” is very similar to that of a teen pop diva. You have a gazillion people working under you, writing your songs, producing your videos, marketing your merchandise, managing your finances, and really, all you have to do is hold that smile for your fans. Certainly you have to have a modicum of talent (winning at “Star in a Million” sure helps), but after that, it becomes less about hard work and more about appearances.
The catch of course, is that when you say something stupid like “Pat Benatar” when you actually meant “Joan Jett” (as ol’ Britney did when asked about the original singer of “I Love Rock N’ Roll”), people fall all over themselves for a lynchin’.
And so it will go, when FPJ assumes the proverbial throne. Every couple of weeks, he’ll say something moronic like “JMA” when speaking of the former president, and it’ll be laughed at during talkshows, cartooned to death in the news, and be the subject of many a forum thread. Not that this actually has anything to do with running the country, but people can’t help picking at prominent figures. It’s in our silly, naive nature to expect well-known people to be perfect and whenever we see a small hint of a less-than-godlike persona, we riot.
The point here is that life sucks, and debating over who the next scapegoat will be for that inherent suckiness is a futile exercise. We’re all small, petty and tragically uninformed, and switching administrations won’t change that at all.