Scraping the bottom of the political barrel

Politics is crazy business.  i do not agree with those who say that it is a dirty business because it unfairly puts politics in a bad light when it is no dirtier nor any cleaner than other industries: yes, it is an industry.  observe the “thing” for what it really is:

1. It has income: the government (all of its branches) gets its revenues from taxes and from management of the country’s assets.
2. It has overheads: this is obvious;  the staff need to be paid, the assets need to be bought and maintained; the CEO (PM) and executive committee (the politicians) all need to be paid (presumably for managing the company/country for the people), the committee answers (technically) to a board of directors (the Council of Rulers), it has clients (Us) for whom the service is provided and it has profit and loss (deficit).
3. it provides a service for clients. some may not agree to this saying that they do not serve the people but only themselves but this is usually said by groups who want to take over the government so that they can serve themselves in the name of serving the people.

And, politics, as mentioned above, is no cleaner nor dirtier than any other industry.  in my years of being alive, i have seen instances of “dirty” practices that have convinced me is that politics is only seen as dirty because it performs its acts in public and much of its attempts to hid its darker side leaves a large black area in the imagination of the its observers.  As to dirtiness, i advice you to enter any industry anywhere (locally and overseas) and keep an open ear and a relatively skeptical mind.  you will then hear things that may even make your stomach crawl.  the industry needs not be a big enterprise even. Just consider this; how many times have you been lied to and, minorly, cheated by your “friendly” neighborhood traders and sales people?  at times, i wonder if the honest ones are in the minority although logic tells me that that cannot be the case.  I, for one, fervently hope that logic is right.

anyway, coming back to politics.  Yesterday, i read something in the papers that epitomizes a new level of hypocrisy in Malaysian politics: a person who does not vote and is not even a registered voter is running for office and wants people to vote for him.  it is bad enough we have people who have never spent even a day teaching a classroom telling teachers how to do their job, or people have no idea what a kitchen even looks like telling experienced chefs that they are doing it wrong, now we have a chap who tries to justify his non-voter status by saying he considered politics a dirty business now want to get elected.  its like a football spectator suddenly walking onto the field and telling the players and referees in the game to declare him the winner.  Outside the political industry such people will soon find themselves in a padded room and wearing one of those nice white jackets that forces you to hug yourself all day long.

i think this misguided individual’s actions are an insult to my fellow countryman's’ (and woman’s) intelligence and status as a registered and active participant in the democratic system.

It is true that the democratic system allows anyone who is a citizen of a place to run for office in the country to which he belongs including a citizen who is not registered to vote.  being a registered voter is not a prerequisite requirement for eligibility  to become a member of parliament but ethically, it is, in my humble opinion, hypocrisy in its truest form.

one cannot refuse to participate in the democratic process and then desire it to accept oneself as a participant, at a position of some power and influence even. Imagine, an total stranger coming into your family gathering and demanding that everyone admits that he is your third uncle when apart from being a member of the same ethnic group he has no relationship with the family neither by marriage nor by genetics.

the man made proposals for a new model of government which is fine and dandy with me, after all in the democratic system every member of the system, regardless of voter status, has a right to have and express his or her opinion unless, of course, if that opinion is proven to be detrimental to the well-being of the community: note I did not say ‘system’ ( i can almost hear my opposition friends’ brains grinding up a spirited response to that).  His ideas, his policies and his visions are however irrelevant to this issue – personally, as a registered voter who has done my job in the democratic process a number of times, I am not interested to hear his political views if it is told to me with the intent of persuading me to vote for him should he run for office in the area in which i am a voting.  It would, for example, be hypocritical for and of me to run for office if i am is not even registered to vote. it is as simple as this.

However, the fact that the chap is legitimately running for office is a huge credit to our electoral system in its constitutionalism and integrity as executors of the democratic process.  If he wins however would be an indicator of the lack of democratic ethics and plain gullibility among the voters.

Herein lies one final similarity between politics and industry: accepting such an individual into the board of directors of a company under similar ethical circumstances, I believe, would be tantamount to putting the future of the establishment under grave danger, economically, ethically and in terms of reputation.  

Upon reflection, i think it would be ethically wrong for me to vote for such a person should i be in the position to for for an election in which he stands for office.  consider this, he considers or considered politics a dirty thing and something that should be shunned, so if i were to vote for him, i am therefore consciously committing an act that may lead to his involvement in this “dirty” arena.  the consequence of my action, should he win, would be the same as if i were to purposefully lead him into vice and possibly even self-destructive behavior; i would not want that on my conscience therefore it would be my ethical and humane duty not to vote for such a person. 

As human beings, we are compelled to do the right thing.