Spare a Thought for Politicians!

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Spare a thought for politicians. The group that conveniently shakes hands hugs babies and makes un-kept promises. Those arrogant, self centered, sometimes corrupt individuals - Spare a though for them. Amidst loving to hate politicians we frequently loose sight of their humanity, the psychological traps, and job related pressures that collude to produce the queer intelligence that often defines their behavior. So spare a thought for them.

Psychological Factors

In a very real sense politicians are creatures of their environment- reactioneers to our demands and conditions. Famed Caribbean scholar, the late Lloyd Best opines even if there was no God, humans would have invented one. I imagine if there was no body politic, the public would have invented politicians: these popular kinsfolk upon whom we’ve come to depend.  And haven’t we ably schooled/tooled them until there is now rightness of psychological fit between our felt needs and their fashioned/fabled offerings?
Collectively, humans cherish an all we like sheep syndrome that heralds a need for shepherds. The irony of this syndrome is its demand versus supply deficit. That is, we appear more badly in need of leadership, guardianship and guidance more so than politicians are good shepherds.  It’s not so much that they know our best interests as much as we appear hopelessly lost re where lies our promised land. Under such conditions only offered lies and accepted deceptions will emerge and can suffice.

Recently the prime minister of Poland, six months after inauguration offered his apologies to compatriots- confessing that in the lead up to elections “I lied to you morning, noon and night.” Pressed by journalists he offered “it’s what the people wanted… that’s how I got elected.”  Interestingly, most political analysts concurred his fault was not his lies but his confession.  We’ve asked of politicians what (both we/they know) they’re incapable of- and they’ve kindly obliged; albeit with prevarications.  It’s as if we need their deception as much as they need our mistrust. This is a decided dysfunction.

The bible alludes to locusts having no king yet going forth in bands- Insects far less intelligent, yet capable of self regulating their collective good.  Are we so accomplished in our psychological dependence that we must ordain a cherished few to rule over the many? It’s as if we conspire with ourselves against ourselves to anoint misleaders (pun intended).  In turn, they simply conspire to provide the goods our conspiracy of needs demand of them.  Seems the collective we have divined a need for a scapegoated them. And while it is true no one asks them to volunteer; truth is we would have it no other way.  So spare a thought for politicians- and their lies, half truths and innuendoes.

Job Related Pressures

Representative politics and high profile public office come laden with personal emotional risks and behavioral dilemmas. The nature of the competition and the stakes involved combine to create a win or survive at all cost disposition. Invariably, this evolves into by any means necessary rationalizing. I am not at all sure the public will ever grasp, let alone enter into the true feel of what it really means to suffer any of the following agonies: rejection at the polls, character assassination in high profile public office, derailment by equally ambitious competitors or a deliberate & deceptive take down by supposed allies. On top of all this is the constant pressure of maintaining standing and visibility in the eyes/minds of a public known for its short term memory and what have you done for me lately mentality. Despite claims and clichés suggesting otherwise, it is in fact impossible for politicians to separate the effects of public reaction from personal feelings. How do politicians react and survive amidst these exposures and dilemmas?

Even among deceptive, tricky or vicious politicians - who appear readily willing to betray their mothers or sleep with the devil - my sense is that most, if not all, seldom set out to be who they eventually become; nor do they organically embrace deception and viciousness as personal values or ethical constructs.  Instead, they incrementally develop or strategically deploy sinister practices for survival/protection and/or advancement purposes. Very few will ever learn the art of rising above the squalor and maintaining the dignity of bedrock principles in what is a dog eat dog world of fight or perish.

In thinking about it, I am not too sure this is a world politicians have solely created; or isn’t in fact a world the public has helped assemble by way of varied complicit and implicit, even explicit endorsement. The world of politics, sustained by politicians as practitioners and the public as participants, has long become a theatre of illusion and flair- a stage where quality of program and substance of character have long been replaced by image and positioning. So spare a thought for politicians, they may be equal victims as they appear villains- creatures torn at the core of their beings by the anguish of ethical dualism. Spare a thought for them.

Crosswind Interests

Severe airport crosswinds can present harrowing landing discomforts. While wind effects are unavoidable hazards of flying, it helps to realize pilot adroitness is key to minimized anxieties.  Similarly, some crosswinds in public thinking make the practice of politics particularly discomforting- and need to be more carefully balanced. Two of these stand out.

1. Clamor for Term Limits: Increasingly there is a groundswell for limiting tenures of political representatives. Not unlike other fads, politics in the Caribbean has not escaped this attraction. But spare a thought for politicians. Who among us likes and welcomes involuntary separation/termination and career derailment? The associated anxieties and fears are mind boggling- particularly if children and other family concerns are in the equation. Should politicians be mandatorily subjected to this discomfiture simply because they have chosen politics as a career? Understandably, politicians have not helped with legacies of arrogance, hubris, corruption and other forms of abuse- some quite egregious. Yet are term limits the answer and are they not in fact counter productive? Beyond human factor considerations hinted to earlier, term limits are likely to attract individuals with short term ulterior motives instead of those who otherwise are prepared to make a life time commitment of responsible representation and service. 
2. Employment of Immediate Relatives: As well intentioned as the conflict of interest argument is- spare a thought for politicians! Upon closer scrutiny it amounts to queer intelligence. One’s obligations and interest in family are inextricably tied into his/her own; and cannot be divided even when labeled as a conflict. The greatest conflict is trying to divide this legitimate and noble interest- the interest and concern one owes to his/her immediate family. To me it seems reasonable to give politicians some latitude to employ immediate family members within areas of purview in keeping with their qualifications, capacity and expertise (of course some other inherent issues will need tweaking). Denying this allowance renders politicians more dependent upon, and therefore more vulnerable to special interest than they may otherwise be. Forcibly dividing a politician’s interest through well intentioned but ill advised public policy only increases proclivity for granting special favors as indirect repayment (to special interest)  for satisfying politicians’ legitimate concerns/interests. 

In resolving these two concerns, it is important to spot their crosswind effects; and useful to realize that more adroit balancing (i.e. one which responsibly addresses the public’s concern without destroying the politician’s interest) is likely to provide the smoothest landing.

Summatively, it seems politics, its contradictions and condemnations, result more from shared dynamics between politicians and publics than we’re aware, or even care to acknowledge. My take is that both politicians and publics are at once equal victims and villains alike- peas in a pod if you will. Unfortunately, politicians often bear the brunt of resultant misgivings; and carry the cross for what is in fact a participative dysfunction – To the extent they now hold the image, suspicion and derision of used car salesmen. Well, at least, let’s own the (used car) lot has been collectively conjured. So spare a though for politicians!

Dr. Raymond S. Edwards
President/CEO, MOHDC
http://www.mohdc.com
Raymond Edwards, Ph.D. Organizational Psychologist & Minister of Religion: is an international development consultant and executive Leadership behavior specialist.