75. Black Propaganda

The Great Gatsby opens with the character Nick Carraway quoting his dad and saying, “Whenever you feel like criticizing any one, just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had." And I wish our politicians had Nick's dad for their dad's, or at least, had  read just even the first line from Fitzgerald's classic. Yet, instead we have black propagandists for politicians,  masquerading their pointless ambitions with benevolent righteousness. Beyond their circle, they have no manners; they brand their enemies, the sickly, the traitor, the corrupt, the villarrayos, even allies with potentials of being enemies, abnormal or psychiatrically challenged. These black propagandists with sick minds and sick ambitions have given aspiration to leadership a bad reputation.  In Plato's Republic, the leadership is given to he who doesn't want it. And our politicans penchant to use black propaganda underscores why Plato, writing thousands of years ago, is relevant in the Philippines and its elections on May 9, 2016. For those who lust for power for power's sake have been corrupted by their lust,  and they will not stop. They will use words, good and bad,  to entice voters or make voters detest others. And the elections, which could be an exercise for dialogue and education among the polity, is turned into a gossip game. If they get elected, they do nothing but run after their enemies, whom they will brand enemies of the state. They would be oblivious to the true situation of the state, because of their vanity. They would not distinguish truth from flattery or truth from criticism. They would claim credit for achieving what others achieved and blame others for their mistakes. Plato is correct. There is no way our democracy can succeed, unless we take the politics away from the politicians. Perhaps, we can start by not electing the black progandists and their masters.