Get the big picture stupid!

Bill Clinton beat me to "Its the economy stupid!". So I will just say "Get the big picture stupid!".

An expert is defined as a person who has a comprehensive and authoritative knowledge of or skill in a particular area. It is election time once again in the Philippines. This is the time when everyone suddenly becomes an expert in everything.

Supporters of one naughty, self-confessed murderer/philanderer candidate authoritatively concluded that one candidate's late husband was murdered because he has uncovered corruption in his office. His plane crash was not an accident, these experts say. These experts also authoritatively claim that the widow is not fit for the job she is running for.

Supporters of the same candidate are suddenly DNA and history experts,  too. They say another candidate is the daughter of a past president and that she is a sister of a vice presidential candidate. These supporters are now also experts in determining the sincerity and fitness for office of a candidate just by his clothing and appearance. All these despite his unpresidential demeanor.

I have to give it to them. These experts are really experts in fomenting hate towards a candidate whose biggest fault to them is his 'lack' of charisma, his marriage to a broadcaster, and his being left out in the planning/implementation of the country's biggest military/police debacle. He is not faulted for reneging his citizenship, his penchant for cursing, for his illness, nor for his plunder.

To these experts, there are no conspiracy theories anymore. They have all been proven true.

Why the rabid hate on anyone who supports other candidates. Are they that committed or are they that 'kumitid ang utak'?

These experts refuse to see the bigger picture by forming conclusions from a large array of seemingly unrelated sources.

But to them, borrowing from Bill Clinton, I say this. It's the bigger picture stupid!.

It's easy to be frustrated with an aspect or two of our everyday lives. Traffic, for instance. When we get stuck in traffic for 4-5 hours each day, we are naturally frustrated. This frustration, by transference, is redirected to the candidate of the present administration.

Why is there so much traffic? There are too many cars. 

Why? Many can afford a car now. Many can afford to ride Uber despite the surge pricing. 

Where do they go? They go to high-end malls, gorge up in buffets, splurge on sales. 

Why? Unemployement is low, disposable income is high, business is doing well.

Why? Investment confidence is high, plunderers are in jail.

When Yolanda struck in 2013, it was the strongest typhoon in the world then. It is easy to get frustrated with the recovery efforts, because you somehow believe more could be done. But even ADB believes that Yolanda recovery efforts are faster than the Aceh recovery from the 2004 tsunami which left over 120,000 dead.

It is easy to get frustrated when you know of drug problems within your neighborhood, when basic traffic discipline is but a dream. When you think of it, the things that the expert supporters want are characteristics of a good local government official. These are what their candidate has as evidenced in his audience with a large business club yesterday.

The bigger picture is that we're better off now than six years ago. We must continue and sustain that. Their candidate is good for the local government, but we must doubt his grasp of the bigger picture.