Better Voting in 7 days

"If there's a new way, I'll be the first in line; but it better work this time".

Dave Mustaine sums up what many Filipinos must be feeling. Elections are a way to allow us to push for change. Now that the election fever is dying down, let's think of more ways to improve how we select our future leaders.

Owing to the rather lopsided results, this page has deemed that photos and taglines are not conducive to lengthening the Filipino people's attention span. Thus all posts will be text-only from now on.

We talked about reading across the aisle, but there's more to it than that. We cannot simply consider all information as valid and correct. In a time where fake news is at every corner. We must learn how to FACT CHECK.

Fact checking involves ensuring that you have made the necessary steps into being able to confidently say that something isn't "Fake News" as Trump puts it. A good policy, especially with controversial topics, is the "fake news until proven not completely absurd" policy.

In other words, we must establish a very strong level of plausibility before we accept a certain chunk of info as factual. The hardest part of this, is keeping the "perceived level of absurdity" within the confines of objectivity, and not because our own bias tells us to reject it until the second coming of Christ.

The most crucial aspect is verifying sources. Is it coming from a Nobel Peace Prize awardee with a (possibly politically motivated) libel case, or is it coming from a station run by a wanted felon? Sort that out, and you're on your way to better decision making!

Friendly reminder to NOT LEAVE YOUR BALLOTS.

Besides following COMELEC health and safety regulations, please, under no circumstances accept a condition to leave your ballots sans a receipt.

Voting wisely isn't the only thing we have to do. We must make sure that those votes get received and counted.

"What's the ugliest part of your body?... I think it's your mind"

Frank Zappa attests that the most unattractive part of someone is their ignorant mind. But unlike everything else, we can fix that without a trip to the plastic surgeon. You just have to read... a lot.

But reading alone isn't sufficient, you need to be able to move outside your filter bubble and read across the political aisle. Reading is a case of garbage-in then garbage-out, so if you solely consume media and literature tailored to your viewpoint, you'll only see things from a singular perspective. So get off tiktok, and read an article from somewhere other than "totallylegitnewsph.bbm"

When we see a different perspective, sometimes we have to swallow our pride and consider the fact that our preconceptions aren't always right.

And that's voting tip number 1!

"I heard it was you
Talkin' 'bout a world
Where all is free
It just couldn't be
And only a fool would say that"

These were the cynical words of Donald Fagen of Steely Dan. While many Filipinos would say the same about political activism and elections, you may have a greater impact than you realize.

So why bother voting? Voting is your civic duty to exercise your judgment on who will lead us towards a better nation. As John Dewey puts it "The man who wears the shoe knows best that it pinches and where it pinches, even if the expert shoemaker is the best judge of how the trouble is to be remedied". The voice of the everyman deserves to be heard as it is the general public who is most in touch with the issues our society faces.

Furthermore, political engagement encourages the rest of the community to be involved. Politics may seem far-removed and depersonalized from the perspective of our day to day lives, but things like economic policies can strongly affect how much we spend on commodities. So for one, it's important that we scrutinize platforms, especially when they promise "insert commodity here" at "insert absurdly low price here" without a solid economic basis.

While one vote may not seem like much, there's a reason why movements like the Suffragettes happened in the past. Your singular vote is the mark of a voice that matters. Soon, we'll work on making that single vote count towards a move for a better Philippines.