Does being non-political mean being irrelevant?
Like iron filings to a magnet, vested interests attach themselves to the power center.
It seems that opinion that does not delve even occasionally into politics, and its daily dose of conflict and collaboration, is so easily shrugged off as irrelevant. Does delving too regularly on topics like eating habits, corporate intrigue, and economics on an individual level mean being out of touch? Yes, sometimes, it feels that way.
So, let’s take a break from frou-frou and dive into politics. Here are some thoughts on the political scene.
Ideologies, advocacies, or political platforms seldom drive political action. There are really no political agendas. Parties do not have conventions to choose the standard bearer who will best promote their programs and have the best chance of winning.
The preferred method of influencing change is not persuasion or appeal to a common cause. Often, change involves a simple approach using filled paper bags to gather signatures, silence erstwhile critics, or start a seemingly spontaneous groundswell for a particular position. This material approach has been complemented occasionally with pressure and attacking corporate vulnerabilities. When word that certain supporters of a motion, say an investigation of unexplained wealth or lifeless forms on the street have already “withdrawn,” the first question asked is — from which bank?
We do not have think tanks promoting a particular ideological view. There are no conservative or liberal agendas being fashioned on particular issues. What we have are economic forecasting groups, political analysts, and polling organizations. Of the three, the most influential is the last as they encompass all three functions and influence how leaders are perceived — can he still move the needle with the foot on the accelerator?
Appeals to the public good can coincide with selfinterest. Even selfish moves have to be cloaked with the rhetoric of democratic ideals, the public’s right to know, the relentless search for truth and an assortment of sanctimonious claims to virtues that put the politician in the company of national heroes.
There are just a few players in the political arena, and not all of them are necessarily politicians. Some are in big business or big media or both. Because political parties are notoriously porous, it follows that groupings are based on identification with particular political players. Still, even when the financial supporters previously backed the wrong horse, realignments soon follow.
Like iron filings to a magnet, vested interests attach themselves to the power center.
A change of administration introduces a new set of characters from the same province, law school, or friends of friends. Previously unheard-of names become the moguls whose business anniversaries are mobbed by bureaucrats. Since all political alliances are temporary and driven by mutual interests rather than common ideology, it is good to observe which players are moving together.
The principal movers number no more than a dozen. As political fortunes rise and fall, the list changes its composition. A setback by a group on certain issues, say non-payment of leases or fees due to government, and not necessarily just taxes, quickly drops the player concerned in the periphery (a word associated with the other group) of power.
The reason big media are obsessed with politics as news is that some of them may be identified with specific players. The independent media with no business ties can be dragged into the spin zone of politics due to the overpowering herd mentality. Bank accounts of politicians can be a political story. But bank frauds involving management and the tapping of unused credit lines are a business story, which quickly die from short (or shortened) attention spans.
The working press can seem to be anti-establishment. Thus, stories that jolt the status quo and make the suits nervous provide a natural attraction to this breed. The mostly anti-capitalist orientation of media’s foot soldiers makes this group sympathetic to the declarations of contractual labor, crusading legislators, spinners of conspiracy theories, street marchers usually referred to as “coalitions of the willing,” and anyone that can provide a sound bite that rattles the windows.
The option for businessmen lies in finding key political players whose interests coincide (or can be made to coincide) with theirs. This can sometimes persuade those who advocate private enterprise and the wisdom of markets, to plunge directly into politics. Unfortunately, corporate types, or even those who just look like tired businessmen, do not fare well in securing the mandate of the people — what’s he saying?
True, we have lived with personality politics for so long without the baggage of ideologies or platforms. Temperament and mood play a big role here. But, hey, sometimes it works… and sometimes it doesn’t.