Posted on 16-7-2002
Political
Pressure
by Alan Marston
Politicians are rightly suspected of obfuscation, confusion,
mendacity,
contradiction, opportunism, suppression by word and violence,
divisiveness,
greed. That is the case now, it has been the case for thousands
of years
and almost certainly will be for quite a few more years to come,
because,
politics is the driving force behind the institutional machines
that run
human social systems, and keep them running according to an
age-old logos.
What politicians are like now is in no significant way different
to what
they were like in Dynastic Egypt or even the Cro-Magnon hunting
party. And
by the way, the litany of criticism of politicians by citizens
has also not
changed in many thousands of years.
Very little has changed in politics, nevertheless we must play
the game if
we want the institutions that underpin our society to work and
keep
working. The one siginificant change is the communication arena
in which
political battles are fought. For the Athenians of 2,500 years
ago - if
they could be warped into the 21st Century - what is going on
in the
political arena would be unsurprising, I suspect it would bore
them.
However a good crowd then would have been 6 thousand, whereas
today, via
electronic media it can be 6 billion. This has certain implications
which I
think are useful to reflect on if one is to play the political
game well,
and even win.
First, the ancients would have never placed money above drama,
for them,
nothing was more important than social interplay, the bringing
down of
those whose ego made them act as if they were part of the pantheon
of gods
- who were also not immune from destruction. Now money is first
and last.
Political debate is interrupted without hesitation or protest
by
advertising for tooth brushes et al. The future of the political
and social
life can wait when there is a buck to be made.
Second, the politicians of yore were given more than 10 seconds
to make
their point and it was not a decision of the local arena manager
who got on
stage and how long they stayed there. Today anyone placed in
position of
producer (and anyone who has the money to influence them) on
a media
channel wields absolute power over what is seen and heard by
`the masses'.
Third, Socrates jury was more than the mere 100 allowed to manipulate
the
`worm', he got over 250, and that was a small number compared
to many
trials of the day. But then, Socrates had principles and was
prepared to
die for them, quite unlike any politician of our era.
Fourth, it was recognised by the ancients and never forgotten
by people of
Asia that the main role of politicians is to maintain stable
institutions.
Unstable politics resulted in rapid and deadly retribution by
the populace,
who can and do rise up in armed revolt (viz 1997). With the
industrial
revolution in the West came the production of a middle-class,
a social
grouping which gazes up at wealth with desire and adoration
and down at the
worker and workless with fear and loathing. Entrepreneurs exploit
this fact
to the hilt and get away with disasterous economic and political
turmoil
that would in ancient times and in the East today have seen
their violent
overthrow. Politicians, as always, are beholden to the centres
of power,
which in the West is the vortexes of finance, whereas we are
expected to
believe it is still with us.
Fifth, less and less people in the West are buying the PR dominated
political package, its assumptions and promises and a head of
steam is
building up which if not vented in political change, will cause
a social
explosion fit for a Greek Tragedy.
Politics doesn't end in two ticks.
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