1he Amerlcan LlecLoral rocess

lL amazes me how people can be so allke yeL so dlfferenL aL Lhe same Llme 1he Lalk we had
lasL 1hursday nlghL wlLh no doubL ln my mlnd opened my eyes as Lo Lhe capaclLy of people Lo work
LogeLher and be lnvenLlve aL Lhe same Llme ln order Lo achleve whaL Lhey wanL 8efore Lhe Lalk l
had already exposed myself Lo Lhe process of elecLlon ln Lhe unlLed SLaLes l followed Lhe 2008
elecLlon wlLh greaL lnLeresL and l had also learned of Lhelr process a long Llme ago 1he Lalk was
glven by Ms !ay Maxwell an Amerlcan LhaL came from a women's group lL was so refreshlng Lo
hear her words because as you were llsLenlng Lo her speaklng you could sense LhaL she wasn'L belng
fake or blased buL raLher [usL belng herself l Lhlnk lL's when people llke her speak LhaL l Lend Lo
llsLen She had her slde of Lhe Lalk and as she was speaklng you could also analyze your own l
myself flnd Lhe elecLoral process over Lhere very lnLeresLlng lndeed WlLh Lhe recenL wln of
presldenL Cbama lL fasclnaLed me how maLure Lhe Amerlcan people were l had a change of vlew
abouL Lhem and LhaL's when l reallzed how sad our slLuaLlon ls here ln Lhe hlllpplnes 1he semlnar
Lo me was a blg class lesson LhaL was speclallzed a blL buL Lhe baslc lnformaLlon handed ouL should
have already been known by Lhe aLLendees of Lhe evenL l would have llked lL lf Lhe Lalk was more ln
depLh and less classroom Lype llke l would have appreclaLed lf lL was llke seml lecLure form an
experL who had seen lL all durlng her llfeLlme lL would have been much beLLer lf you could ask
quesLlons ln Lhe mlddle of Lhe Lalk buL l also undersLand LhaL lL would Lake a cerLaln amounL of Llme
and efforL Lo do so Cverall l Lhlnk Lhe Lalk was good buL lL could have been much beLLer l Look Lo
hearL whaL she sald when l asked her Lhe quesLlon of whaL can Lhe llllplnos hope Lo learn or apply
from Lhelr fellow Amerlcan broLhers ln Lerms of elecLlon processes and culLure Per answer was
good ln saylng LhaL Lhe change cannoL be copled from oLhers buL musL sLarL wlLhln ourselves l don'L
know lf LhaL can be achleved ln Lhls llfeLlme buL l hope Lo see lL sLarL l would also llke Lo menLlon
LhaL when she sald LhaL Lhe LlecLoral College was ouLdaLed l dldn'L qulLe geL LhaL fully l would have
loved Lo ask her whaL would be a good replacemenL or someLhlng buL l dld noL have enough Llme
1he speaker was noL afrald Lo show whaL she LhoughL abouL Lhe shorLcomlngs of her own counLry's
elecLoral processes and l Lhlnk we should learn from LhaL Pavlng LhaL klnd of aLLlLude ls one of Lhe
keys Lo sLarL a characLer change wlLhln our own counLry CrlLlclzlng Lhe mlsLakes of our own
governmenL and processes ls someLhlng LhaL we should noL be afrald of 8uL lL also makes me angry
LhaL a loL of Lhe people here ln our counLry are so corrupL yeL so powerful lL ls one of Lhose
powerful shlelds LhaL we normal people are golng Lo have a dlfflculL Llme breaklng lnLo 1he lronlc
Lhlng ls LhaL we have forgoLLen LhaL Lhey are noL Lhe ones Lo be followed buL us Agaln lL ls sad Lo see
us llllplnos clalmlng Lo be smarL and wlse yeL we are fooled by our own breLhren Change LhaL we
need" was Lhe moLLo of 8arack Cbama durlng Lhe campalgn he had Pow l wlsh us llllplnos could
undersLand Lhls and noL [usL bllndly rally around Lhlngs LhaL are noL happenlng yeL l guess lL has a loL
Lo do wlLh human naLure and Lhe psychologlcal Lendencles we have l do hope LhaL one day we
would sLop belng so sLupld and [usL be cooperaLlve wlLh each oLher Some of us flghL for our
freedom buL mosL of Lhose who do flghL for selflsh reasons and once Lhey geL Lhelr freedom Lhey
do noL undersLand LhaL wlLh freedom comes responslblllLy 1hey Lhlnk LhaL Lhey can do whaLever
Lhey wanL when ln reallLy we can'L WlLh Lhe comlng elecLlons around Lhe corner l force myself Lo
waLch Lhe sLupld news abouL parLy confllcL and mllllon dollar dlnners where [usL 2 weeks ago l
waLched one of Lhe greaL presldenLs of our counLry pass away Pow ln 2 weeks Lhe mood of Lhe
hlllpplne paLrloLlc emoLlon wenL away boggles my mlnd
And l slL here Lhlnklng why am l Lrylng Lo wrlLe an arLlcle abouL Amerlcan elecLoral process
and saylng how rlghL lL ls when l should be Lhlnklng abouL Lhe llllplno elecLoral process and how
wrong lL has become