Ask This Taiwanese: Don’t Move On From Elections Yet

Ask “This” Taiwanese is an advice column dedicated to pesky and uncomfortable questions about Taiwan or about being Taiwanese.

Send us your questions in the form here: https://forms.gle/t4ddFbfqWKoRstn2A

***

Dear Ask This Taiwanese:

Dear ATT: The election in Taiwan just saw President Tsai’s DPP candidates losing to KMT candidates – I have friends from both sides of the political parties, do you have any suggestions on how to handle the emotions from both the winning and losing sides?

—Elections Are Scary

Dear Elections Are Scary,

Elections can often mean change, and change can be scary. Also, in elections, there are winners and losers—and no one likes to lose. Losing is scary.

But elections also determine our laws and policies. When the politicians who win are the ones we don’t support, it’s scary to ponder how they will run the government in ways we disagree with.

We fear those changes may even bring irreversible damage to our country. Having a future that we are not happy with is scary.

This is where perhaps a little Zen can help.  On a macro level, impermanence is actually quite normal, and on a micro level, we may need to be reminded that it is still our choice how much we let fear consume our present.

Nevertheless, it may be hard not to be overwhelmed by fear though because election campaigns often force us to focus and intensify our differences. Knowing that there are intense differences that divide a town, a state, or a country is scary. These are all the reasons why any normal election can potentially bring out some of the worst in people. On top of that, the stakes seem to increase with each election in recent years.

Authoritarian regimes love to characterize democracy as chaos but conveniently exploit the inclusivity and freedom of the democratic process to spread their agenda for absolute power for themselves. We see trends like populist autocrats grabbing power through elections (legitimate or otherwise), and once they have received power from the people, they never give it back by destroying the very institutions that gave them power in the first place.

The desire of authoritarian and autocrats for permanent power just really proves the fact that the continuation of free and fair elections and peaceful transfer of power, both in Taiwan and the US, are really hard-won and fragile rights that we must pay attention to preserve.

It is worth noting also that to vast portions of humankind, elections are a luxury or even a fantasy. A glimpse at the protests against the draconian police state China has erected in the name of COVID prevention will make clear how important elections are.

So, no matter which side you support, we think it’s important to remind each other that free and fair elections, along with the rule of law and respect for human rights, are the cornerstone of our democratic way of life.

Losing is scary. But it’s reassuring to know that any leader or party needs to continuously win over the hearts and minds of the people.

Having a future that we are not happy with is scary. But it’s reassuring to know that we still have a chance to keep correcting our course down the road and that the future is always rooted in the present.

Knowing that there are differences that divide us is scary. But it’s reassuring to know that it’s ok to have differences and that no one should be persecuted for having a different opinion.

Lastly, while elections focus on our differences, democratic governance requires us to focus on what we can agree on. In that way, each election can, and should, make us stronger as a nation.

Democracy is really the only methodology for progress!

Here is to focus on what can unite us!  Here is to democracy!  Here is to the season of giving thanks!  Happy holidays and Happy new year!

To Always Striving Fearlessly,

Ask This Taiwanese