THIS is the world that we live in.
A presidential candidate takes a ride on a Metro Rail Transit (MRT) train, and reports that he or she fully understands the commuter’s problems. A political leader sits in his office while reading the official statistics, and concludes that crime has been falling under the administration.
This is the reality of the world we live in.
Riding the MRT on one particular day does not give any understanding of the average commuter’s situation. It is not the long waiting lines, the unreliability, or even the uncomfortable train ride that creates the unbearable commuter condition. What the candidate can never understand is the reality of having to get up too early from a good sleep in order to get to work on time. The reality is the hundreds of hours a month of extra commuting time, instead of doing something productive or enjoyable.
The political leader never sits at a community meeting of homeowners’ associations and listens to the barangay captain talk about crime and drugs. The elected official never hears the local officials say, “Drugs are out of control. The tanods are helpless against snatchers, too. We need your help.”
Citizens in the United Kingdom and the United States are told by politicians and the politicized press that they are racist for wanting to limit immigration. The desire to maintain their centuries-old cultures from those who are unwilling to assimilate and who want to change those cultures is apparently wrong.
Ordinary working people around the world who question why so much of their income is taken in taxes are told they are being selfish. When those same people ask for more effective government spending and much better transparency, they are then told they are antipoor.
The gap between the reality of what government says and what it actually does is what is driving this global backlash against the political establishment. There is no better example than the recent British vote to leave the European Union (EU). The merit—or lack thereof—of that decision is not the issue. Voters make good decisions, and they make bad decisions.
However, as I have said, perhaps too often, this is not the political decision-making environment that we have been used to in the past decades. The EU by its own mandate (from its web site) is dedicated to “human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights: these are the core values of the EU.” Further, “In 2012 the EU was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for advancing the causes of peace, reconciliation, democracy and human rights in Europe.”
The voters in the UK just exercised their democratic rights and privileges. This is the response of the German politician Martin Schultz, who is the president of the European Union Parliament: “The British have violated the rules. It is not the EU philosophy that the crowd can decide its fate.”
People who agree with government are “responsible citizens” who follow the rule of law. People who disagree are “the crowd.” It is the people who have been out of touch with reality for decades. Now, it is the political leaders who are clueless about what is happening. That must change.
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