Politics of Revenge

Revenge in regards with politics? But before we proceed, let's talk about the political dynasty in our country. We all know that political clans has been walking all over the senate, congress and even local and national public offices. From grandparents, to father, mother, and siblings; they're all taking turn on different positions of power all over the archipelago.

Philippine politics is very dirty. There’s corruption, no transparency and most of the time, they use their power for themselves, for their families and not for the betterment of the country. We are all aware that political dynasties continue to reign in the Philippine political landscape. Philippine politics is more like a family affair. Also, many actors/actresses seem to find their way into politics and the fact that some of them do not belong or connected to families that are politically active; and some of them doesn’t have enough knowledge and experience to become a public servant. Money, power, fame and reputation.. yes, that’s all that matters to them.

I found this article entitled, "Politics of Democracy or Vengeance?" written by Nuray Mert in Hurriyet Daily News. This article talks about principles on how to avoid the idea of revenge influencing the social and political interactions in Turkey. But this can also be applied to our country.

"It is only the politics of democracy that can enforce these principles and manage to avoid the idea of revenge dominating social and political interactions. The politics of power and authority are not only the forms of expression of some sort of revenge, but also enforce the idea of counter-vengeance by promoting counter-injustice and humility."

Revenge is an awful retaliation against injustice and inhumanity. The best cure to tame down the terrible human response are the three principles; justice, equality and forgiveness. It is said that only the politics of democracy can implement the three principles mentioned to avoid this war-like vengeful mentality.

Politicians who lost are feeling vengeful after they saw the result in this past election. They feel like they were cheated and they usually jump to wanting revenge or justice to be served to the person. They want to get paid back for their losses and show the people that they’re still powerful. Politicians deal with this kind of situation through vengeance; it’s their way to take some power back for themselves. They think before taking some actions. Revenge is never worth it. But sometimes, it makes them feel a little bit better knowing at least that they were able to release the pain after losing. Their goal for seeking revenge is to erase shame, restore their dignity and increase their pride.  They want to punish people who cheat and break rules just to ensure they learn their lesson but it usually happens in a bad way like they wanna see the person/people suffer.

All of us suffered losses. Many of these losses were unfair and unjust.  We’ve been victims. We’ve been cheated, lied and unlucky and so, we believe that it is our right that things be set right. Taking vengeance is not at all the answer. Sometimes we win and sometimes we lose. Sometimes we're fortunate and sometimes not. Just like in politics, sometimes people are not just in favor of you but against you.