The Spirit of Democracy

Maybe you noticed the banners on the bridge in the previous post. They are election banners. Last year was, as you may have guessed, an election year, and candidates plaster the roadsides and bridges with those banners. The pre-election propaganda barrage is just as bad and annoying as in the U.S., especially little trucks hooked up with P.A. speakers driving around, blasting whatever at volume 11. Mailboxes are likewise crammed with election crap. I don't remember if TV commercials were as annoying as in the U.S.

There are two things that are better here. 1) Many candidates have little packets of tissue made with their logo and number on it, and they get passed out and stuffed in mailboxes ad nauseum, however, at least they are practical. And 2)

The banners have the candidates' pictures on them, so if the candidate is cute, sometimes it makes it easy to decide who to vote for. That's how I would do it. The numbers are supposed to make remembering candidates and voting for them easier. If I could vote here, it would be very easy for me to remember to vote for #10. December 1, 2006


December 2, 2006 - Pedestrian bridge over Heping East Road.