The earliest known origin of the sentiment “all is fair in love and war” is found in English writer John Lyly’s Euphues: The Anatomy of Wit, published in 1579. The novel recounts the romantic adventures of a wealthy and attractive man, and includes the quote: “The rules of fair play do not apply in love and war”.
On one hand, most of us would publicly say that this is a terrible outlook on life. On the other hand, all is fair when you are fighting for that last parking space close to the elevator at the local mall.
Many if not most of the laws and regulations that we lay down on society are attempts to “level the playing field” and not give one person an undue advantage. In theory, the person at the Land Transportation Office registering his brand new Mercedes has to wait in the same line as the one who owns a 1995 Nissan Vanette. It does not always work that way, but it is supposed to.
Those laws are also designed to help limit our human inclination to get ahead at all cost. Otherwise, “Winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing” would easily replace “do for others what you want them to do for you.”
We have heard the quote that “integrity is doing the right thing even when no one is watching,” a paraphrase of a line in Charles Marshall’s self-help book Shattering the Glass Slipper. There may have been a time in the past when many people followed that thought. Or maybe not. However, there is one part of a nation’s life in which winning is the only thing and that is politics, more specifically being elected to office.
If you notice, when politicians are elected to office they often begin their term talking about the honor of being voted by the people. They also often go on to say something about elected office being some sort of “sacred duty.” Nonetheless, many live by the thought that “integrity is doing the right thing when everyone is watching.” It is well to remember that all criminals have clean records until they get caught committing a crime.
The recent Commission on Elections Resolution 10488 promulgated on January 30 is an explicitly detailed set of rules for the campaign period. It said: “Each registered political party and candidate shall register with the agency’s Education and Information Division their Internet, mobile and social-media platforms.” Further, “Any other blog or social-media page which, when taken as a whole, has for its primary purpose the endorsement of a candidate, whether or not directly maintained or administered by the candidate or their official campaign representatives, shall be considered additional official blogs or social-media pages of the said candidate.”
Implementing this rule to further
regulate social media is going to be messy, but it is necessary. The public has
the right to know who may be behind the false superlative endorsements for a
candidate and equally false smear tactics against a
candidate’s opponent.