If the rest of the country doesnt join in, then you have a problem. Either the sense of higher law has eroded, or the rest of the country isnt convinced that the higher law has been violated. – Jeg

I agree with you on that. In addition, i think that another symptom of the higher law being violated is if the opposing forces decide to mount their own people power, which is exactly what happened when EDSA Dos was shortly followed by the even bigger EDSA Tres. Unfortunately, the EDSA Dos crowd took things the wrong way.

…only you put forth the premise of “..the vote of one class to serve as a proxy for the vote of the other”. – UPn Student

In that case, don’t mind me. I probably misunderstood what you’re driving at so it would appear that i’m only arguing with myself.

…And we’re back to why “many in the outside world” look unkindly at military-coups and people-power-driven changes in government leadership. Illustratively, the problem with people-power is that the interests of Boholanos (Zamboanguenos, Cebuanos, Ilocanos, others) are not counted at all… – UPn Student

When it comes to coups, we are in agreement. People power, however, is something else. Just like elections, people power is an exercise in democracy. What it may lack in franchise (i.e. equitable representation across all sectors), it makes up for in authenticity. When people power or any other type of mass action kicks in, there is always an element of you snooze, you lose.

It is not perfect, and as EDSA Dos has shown, it can be subverted, but it’s a necessary step along the way to genuine democracy, i.e. the rule of all by all.

The middle class can vote their interests — jobs, health-care, integrity of public officials, education — and the poor can benefit, likewise – UPn Student

Beyond the level of motherhoods, there are bound to be differences in judgement. Even you and me, who i suppose both belong to the middle class, will have our differences in judgement, both in terms of policy and personality. It is therefore unrealistic to expect the vote of one class to serve as a proxy for the vote of the other. (You know…”One man’s heaven is another person’s hell“, or something to that effect…)

This “respecting the vote of the poor” is not even on the ballot and has not appeared on any ballot.

Try looking harder. It’s the underlying subtext of these elections.

jm, although i disagree with you that EDSA Dos was an abuse of people power, i agree with your larger point. Nonetheless, I think mlq3’s advice was given taking into account the reality that the Center, in its current form, has proven itself unable to transcend its own interests, much less appreciate and empathize with the viewpoint of the masa. That’s a major reason why, as mlq3 pointed out above, moral ascendancy has once again shifted further to the Left.

we have to accept the reality that as a group, the Middle’s time horizon is severely constricted which, i think, accounts for its inward turn. In this context, the recommendation to start thinking about 2010 represents an improvement. Expecting more in the way of enlightenment is to set ourselves up for further disappointment.

cvj, ito lang ang masasabi ko sa mga pro arroyo na “edsa dos” participants, “civil society” and the so called “undecideds”.

will nobody from their side (especially the CBCP) take responsibility for the mistake that was Arroyo and clean the mess they’ve created? First four days pa lang after edsa dos, IMPSA na kaagad. jeez.

And removing arroyo doesn’t mean restoring ERap. It means being man enough to admit that arroyo was an even bigger disaster and being responsible enough to fix the problem instead of washing their hands.

i’ve suggested na magkaroon tayo ng special elections to find arroyo’s replacement after Gloriagate, pero hindi raw yan constitutional.

Yung edsa dos “constitutional,” pero yan hindi. go figure.