DO BETTER
Alas, too many are so intent on profitable in any respect prices, they lose sight of what it’s all about.
What’s required is a elementary change in how politics is outlined, beginning with three redefinitions.
First, it’s not a zero-sum competitors the place I win provided that you lose, and the more serious your loss, the higher my win.
When politics is considered as such a contest between opposing sides, it might probably solely result in larger division and disharmony, not simply between opponents however amongst their supporters.
If the final word goal is to enhance lives and promote concord, politics have to be seen as a collaborative effort involving as many individuals as attainable within the society working in the direction of a standard intention.
Viewing it as a contest between opposing sides is the worst attainable method to obtain the frequent good.
This might sound troublesome to do due to the character of the primary past-the-post, winner-takes-all function in most democracies however it’s exactly as a result of such a system promotes excessive behaviour by politicians that it must be moderated.
In any other case, there will probably be no restrict to what they may do for the reason that stakes are so excessive.
(Additionally it is why some nations undertake a proportional illustration system, however that’s one other story.)
Second, it ought to by no means be considered as a do-or-die mission the place the destiny of the nation hangs within the steadiness and the alternate options imply the tip of the world.
It’s virtually by no means such a dire alternative besides maybe in failed states combating for survival.
However political leaders all the time over dramatise their aspirations and their indispensability.
Even in a secure democracy comparable to France, when President Emmanuel Macron known as snap elections final 12 months, he argued that the nation confronted an existentialist disaster after his occasion misplaced badly to proper wing events within the European Union elections and that, if he didn’t act, it might descend into “chaos”.
Within the occasion, his gamble failed however I doubt if France is any worse or higher off than earlier than.
The presidential election within the US was additionally stuffed with such hyperbole, together with that it was about the way forward for democracy and the destiny of the world.
The difficulty with elevating the stakes to unrealistic heights is that it encourages an “something goes” method. If the way forward for mankind is at stake, how are you going to not go to the tip of the world to attain your goals, authorized or not, morally appropriate or in any other case?
It could possibly solely result in political corruption and excesses.
It additionally ignores all the opposite necessary gamers in society, together with the personal sector, non-government organisations and private and non-private establishments that contribute to the well-being of the nation.
This goes again to the primary level – when politics is considered as a collaborative effort and never a damaging competitors, there will probably be larger recognition of different actors and their roles in attaining the intention of enhancing lives.
Politics is necessary – and political leaders particularly – however you possibly can’t justify their significance by letting them outline all the pieces in their very own phrases. There are others who’re additionally vital and although they will not be overtly political, they assist fulfil politics’ final goal.
Third, the notion that politics is all about energy and what to do with it wants to alter.
Energy is, after all, an integral a part of politics and when used to learn society can do monumental good.
However how to make sure it does? There isn’t a manner of doing so and it’s usually the results of success (the correct chief on the proper time) than the rest.
When energy falls within the flawed palms, it results in catastrophic penalties, as has occurred too usually in human historical past, leading to wars and violent civil conflicts.
