Politics for idiots...

Now I am starting to notice a lot of disturbance in the air surrounding political issues in Taiwan. Of course politics have always been a hot topic in Taiwan. It is also a taboo in the cultural as well. If you declare that you are supporting a certain political party in the public, you would have created a few friends and enemies at the same time.

I realized the seriousness of the subject a few years back, when I asked my dad who he was going to vote for in that year's presidential election. He said "it is a secret"... I was thinking, "What the heck! I am your son who is living thousands km away and cannot vote anyhow!” That is just to show how serious voting can be in Taiwan, and “thou shall not share the secret, even it is your eldest offspring…”

To make people remember a certain political party, a certain colour will be used, or even animals, the two big parties in US, democrats (blue and donkey), republicans (red and elephant), in Taiwan, there are blue, green, yellow, orange... Why? A simple association of colour is so easy to remember, you don't have to know what each party stands for in order to vote for them, just remember the colours...

In Taiwan, I think politics is still at its infancy stage, just look at the poll turnout for each election, you see high 80%, that is to show that people are passionate about politics, they still believe that politicians will do what they have promised to do, and voters themselves will feel good to be part of something.

To feel good to be part of something... That is very important in politics. That is why you see rallies, protests, and songs in election campaigns. The feeling of being part of something larger than life has the same effect as a rock concert, honestly, if you pick anyone in the crowd and ask him/her what he/she is fighting for, he/she will probably give you a commendatory piece from news outlet, but really, is that what people think?

Media has to take a lot of heat for stirring up things, of course, it is easy to say that people demands it, and people are not interested in boring news, thus some creativity should be added into the news. For example, when the conflict in middle east started recently, various news outlets will find experts to warn the public that World War 3 is coming, is that really necessary? Would that help the public to understand and be interested in the subject? I argue that Media has a lot to do with the uncomfortable atmosphere in Taiwan, but some will not agree, they will think they are smarter than the media, they can see thru the fabrication in the news, sadly, it is not as easy to see thru when politics are involved…