JULY 29 — “We're screwed.” That seems to be the general consensus of my (mostly) progressive and centrist friends on social media about our current affairs.
I am just as tired as you are of the not-funny-anymore soap opera we call our political scene. But I think we have to take a few breaths, pop a Valium if we need to and step back.
The game of power, the political whirligig is not new and it's not just us flailing as idiot leaders make questionable decisions. Greece's current situation is partly due to incredibly irresponsible past governments and all over the world, we can find great examples of those who are unfit for office, yet somehow get elected anyway.
“What can we do?” I was asked and at first all I could say was, “Well, vote.”
Thinking on it, I think we can do a lot more. We have to be pragmatic and make the best of things. I am tired of hearing of your ambitious green card applications and would like you to consider, that maybe, just maybe you can try your hand at active citizenry.
Lest you accuse me of being partisan in any way, I'm staunchly non-partisan and have equal disdain for all our politicians. I just think we need to be reminded that being a citizen involves more than half-heartedly showing up to a voting booth, dumping your vote and leaving while muttering,”Nothing changes, anyway.”
1. Stop making politics a dirty word
To paraphrase a quote I overheard, you may not care about politics, but politics cares about you. The more you say you'll “stay out of politics” and complain things are “overpoliticised”, it's like saying there's too much oxygen in the air and that you're going to try and stop breathing it in.
What politics should be about is making sure the right people are in the right places so right now, find out who is making the decisions on your behalf and who is supposed to be your voice. Ask out loud (not necessarily to politicians' faces): “What have you done for me lately?” Janet Jackson-style dancing optional.
2. Now is not the time to shut up
Once upon a time, people wrote letters to their representatives. Well, now there's the Internet. You can spam the relevant people, put up a blogpost, share a Facebook note, start a Facebook group or imploringly Tweet whoever you can get to retweet you.
You can't get by being just a passive cog in the machine; your voice does matter and these days, it is no longer as much of a hassle to find similar voices to yours. As a people who are very creative about getting out of paying fines and avoiding roadblocks, why can't we be creative about organising ourselves for things you believe in? Like transparency, freedom of the press and the original Hot & Spicy KFC.
3. If you can't speak up, be a quiet force
Maybe you don't believe in demonstrations. You're not the social media type and activists make you break out in hives (I plead guilty to the latter). Then don't make it hard for the people who are willing to speak up for you. Maybe a donation. Maybe sharing statements online. Casually forwarding emails to acquaintances and of course, there's always WhatsApp.
4. Remember that we practise democracy, not feudalism
Enough with the bowing, the scraping, the false smiles and humbling yourself towards our leaders. I'm not advocating being rude or offensive (even if I am that in real-life), but the general subservience that we practise when dealing with politicians in power is ridiculous.
Remember this: when a politician insists you owe him, that he deserves your gratitude, that a good citizen is an obedient citizen, write down his name and remind yourself not to vote for him. Leaders are made by man, not God, and destiny is just a silly word to describe a lot of hard work and a little luck.
As citizens we are not powerless and rather than lament at the current state of affairs, we can and should perhaps consider playing a more active role. No, not everyone can or should be in politics. But I think we have to start looking at ourselves and wonder why we keep electing the same kind of people ― the entitled, the lovers of money, the sycophants, the liars and terrible fried rice chefs.
We get the leaders we deserve, the saying goes, so the very first thing we have to start figuring out is how to deserve better. Are we the citizens this country deserves?
*This is the personal opinion of the columnist.
