Africa-Press – Eswatini. Many people, both young and old, have got this holier than thou and smart Aleck kind of disdainful attitude towards reading newspapers, watching or listen to news, and discussing or participating in politics.
They say that they do not have any time, zeal and energy for such kind of trash or dirty games. They say politics is a dirty game. They say that they only have time for fashionable, smart and more important things in life like surfing the internet and perpetually being on electronic social media rather than reading newspapers, watching or listen to news and discussing or participating in politics. How misguided, ill-advised or wrong are such people?
In this life and in this world, politics is everything and the mass media is the arena on which the game of politics is planned, designed, orchestrated and played out. To the non-discerning eye, it might not be apparent, but on a daily basis, politics determines whether one works or not, where one works, what kind of work one does and how much one earns from it. This is regardless of whether one is formerly or informally employed. Politics also determines what one eats and how much one pays for it. It also determines where one stays and how much in rates, rent, water and electricity bills one pays.
educational
Politics also determines one’s social class and economic standing, the type or kind of clothes which one wears, where one buys them from, and at what price. On the educational front, politics determines whether one goes to kindergarten, school or not, and also whether one becomes a school dropout or not. It also determines the kind of kindergarten, primary school, secondary school, high school, college or university one goes to, what course one pursues there, and what kind of profession one ends up in. As far as transport is concerned, politics determines the kind of public and private transport which one uses and how much one pays for that transport. It also determines the kind of cellphone one uses and how much one pays for that cellphone and for airtime. One’s personal and collective safety and security, whether at home, at work or on the streets, is also determined by politics. Politics also determines whether one stays in the country, immigrates or emigrates. In fact, one’s entire survival, health, wellbeing and happiness as a whole is determined by and dependent on politics right from the start and through and through.
Politics plays a very major role in our lives, whether we like it or not, and whether we believe it or not as well. Politics determines one’s physical, mental, psychological, family, social, economic, financial, monetary and environmental health and wellbeing. Politics practically determines all life outcomes. Hence the correctness and truthfulness of the assertion that politics is everything. This is the truth, the whole truth and nothing else but the truth. Anyone who tries to persuade one not to worry or care about politics and reading newspapers is greatly misleading someone. Politics is everything.
inferiors
Hence there are many famous quotes about the importance of politics. Plato, a Greek Philosopher who lived between 427 BC and 347 BC said “One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors.” Another famous quote about the importance of politics says that “Those who are smart enough not to get involved in politics are commonly ruled by idiots.” These are famous quotes which unfortunately many people just hilariously laugh at instead of taking them seriously and putting them into practice for their own benefit. While registering to vote and actually voting for politicians at local government or national level may appear not to carry any weight at all, the truth of the matter is that it has great impact and consequences on our daily lives.
When we elect politicians into policy decision making local authority or national governing bodies such as city councils and national governments, we the electorate would be agreeing to cede to them in a wholesale manner the power and responsibility to make important day to day life decisions for and on our behalf. This is the reason why elected politicians always claim that whatever they do is done for and on behalf of the people who elected them into office even though they usually do not consult those very same voters before making any such decisions for and on their behalf. To most politicians, being voted into power is a wholesale mandate to do as they please in the name of voters, and they actually do exactly just that.
eligible
This is the reason why it is very important for every eligible person to get involved in politics. Once elected into office, politicians have got the tendency of running away with the cake instead of sharing it with voters. Voters need to ensure that such does not happen by always being in the face of their elected politicians instead of leaving them alone to do as they wish or as they please with their voters given mandate to make policy decisions and to govern. What is interesting about politics is that it is the most discussed and talked about pastime social subject everywhere, but mostly at social gatherings, bus ranks, on social media and in public transport. During such pastime conversations, not many people have anything good at all to say about their national or local governments. Apparently, government bashing is a favourite pastime of many people. Rightly or wrongly, people are always full of complaints about their governments and how they are being wrongly governed.
However, most of those people who complain about government are the very same people who think that they are too smart to get involved in politics. They say that politics a dirty game.
These are the people who do not register to vote, do not vote at all, and also do not contest elections. They leave it to other people to do all these things for them while they just specialise in complaining about government. Just complaining about something will not solve anything. What solves challenges is actual participation in problem solving. Hence voters must participate in elections as electoral candidates or in electing the right and correct candidates whom they would subsequently hold to account throughout their tenure in office instead of just complaining. Also instead of just fruitlessly complaining to each other at work, social gatherings, bus ranks and in kombis, bars, restaurants and on social media, voters must actively ensure that politicians whom they elect into office actually deliver on what they elect them to deliver on.
wrong
One of the reasons why elected politicians do not always deliver on their promises or on what is expected of them is that voters have always left politicians to freely do what they want, or as they please with absolutely no prospects whatsoever of being punished for wrong doing or for not doing anything at all. There is no day on this planet that any elected politician anywhere in this world would voluntarily seek to pass legislation which would compel all prospective politicians or electoral candidates to publicly sign SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound) consequential pre-assumption of duty service delivery contracts notarised by justices of the courts. Yet this is exactly what voters need to ensure happens so that they can stop incessantly complaining about poor or lack of service deliver from elected politicians.
Expecting elected politicians to pass such laws is like expecting them to commit suicide en masse. It will not happen. Yet this is exactly what must happen in order to ensure that politics and politicians truly and correctly serve voters as they should or must. Being an elected politician is the only job in this world where the employee ends up as the boss, thanks to voter apathy. Being an elected politician is also the only job in the world where there is no signed or enforceable contract of employment. It is also the only job in the world where voluntarily made service delivery promises can be broken with absolutely no adverse consequences at all. All these things are the main reasons why voters are always short-changed by elected politicians. This dire and undesirable situation can only be changed for the better by voters themselves. As long as elected politicians continue to just take Oaths of Office, which they never live up to, or which they are never held accountable for instead of being compelled to publicly sign SMART, consequential and legally notarised pre-assumption of duty service delivery contracts to which they would be held accountable, politics shall always remain a dirty game. Yet politics is everything.
affordability
This is very sad because it is elected policy decision makers such as government politicians who determine the quality, quantity, availability, affordability and accessibility of all basic human needs from food, shelter, health, education, transport, communication, safety and security down to happiness. There is not a single thing or a single aspect of human life or existence which is not influenced or determined by politics in this world. University of Cambridge South Korean Economics Professor Ha-Joon Chang correctly pointed out in his bestseller book entitled ‘23 Things They Don’t Tell You About Capitalism’ that everything in this world is politically determined or determined by politics regardless of what is taught in economics, commercial and business studies schools, universities and colleges.
It is actually politicians and not voters, the general public, business people, artisans, technicians or professionals who make, manage and implement all the decisions that really matter in life. For example, it is politicians who decide how much free the so called free market is or can be, who is allowed to do what kind of business and under what circumstances, the level of interest rates, minimum wages, essential commodity prices, taxes, and generally the whole standard of living in each and every country in this world. Thus, politics is indeed everything!
Source: times
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