The pain of elections

 Debbie Jacob -
Debbie Jacob -

I FEEL like my head is spinning. In a short space of time I’ve been through two national elections, one here in TT and the other in the US. Of course, I couldn’t vote here because immigration has never seen fit to grant me citizenship. They keep losing my file, but that’s another story.

Both elections worried and saddened me. As the head of an NGO, Wishing for Wings, I hold my head and bawl at how much good I could have done in prisons with all that wasted election money. I am particularly peeved at whatever money is spent on those cars that creep through neighbourhoods and blast messages begging people to vote for a candidate – especially when the area targeted is already in the bag for a certain party. Why not pump that money into community development instead?

You can’t compare the PNM and the UNC with Democrats and Republicans in the US, yet there are similarities that crop up during elections, namely the fact that all four parties rely mostly on supporters who have dug their heels in the ground so deep it would be easier to uproot a tree than a voter. Why do political parties choose to spend money targeting an entire population when it has been proven that most people aren’t going to budge in their decisions?

In his book The Political Brain: The Role of Emotion in Deciding the Fate of a Nation, Drew Westen says about 20 per cent of a population will be independent voters in an election. These are the people who weigh facts, study policies of both parties and do their fact-checking. They are turned off by candidates spewing hate and fear. They are not swayed by political platitudes, and they don’t need endless advertisements that are filled with the same lies.

We don’t need endless ads that engage in character assassination. Instead, we need to invest that election money in education so that students learn how to be independent thinkers who won’t buy the nonsense politicians sell – especially at election time.

Clearly, people don’t have to think to vote in elections any longer. Our schools don’t teach the analytical skills that students need to assess a candidate when they reach voting age. The same goes for the US. I am appalled at the level of discourse I see people engage in when it comes to discussing politics. It is baseless and emotion-driven. Objectivity is rare.

Apparently we don’t stress teaching values like honesty, respect and empathy any longer either in our children’s education or they would not put up with the behaviour of certain political candidates when they reach voting age. I wouldn’t allow my children to behave like most politicians, and yet we allow those people who should be serving as role models to display the most embarrassing and despicable behaviour imaginable.

In general, politicians treat voters like fools who can be easily manipulated. We are expected to believe and condone anything that comes out of a politician’s mouth and to a great extent many people do. That is why elections keep getting worse. Each election costs more money to win, and everybody turns a blind eye to that. Is this democracy? If winning an election depends on how much money you spend, isn’t that the equivalent of buying an election?

Why do we put up with such unconscionable behaviour? We, the people, allow politicians to waste money and increase taxes or add new taxes. We don’t hold politicians accountable for finding new and creative ways to earn revenue. In the end, we have to pay emotionally and economically for the mess politicians create, and when they do get into power, all they do is fight each other.

I would like to hear one politician say, “The other party can spend all the money they want on elections. Instead of buying endless ads, our party is going to donate money to build a community centre, support an NGO or provide skill-based programmes in poor areas.”

Every time politicians open their mouths – election time or otherwise – the media should provide a companion story with fact-checking. We need to teach voting populations to value facts over emotions. Most of all, people need to have more self-respect. We need to understand our power as voters, demand a limit to campaign spending and hold politicians to some semblance of standards. Only the people can safeguard the best qualities of a democracy.

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"The pain of elections"

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