Our dilemma nowadays, to be or not to be involved.
Often when people think of politics, certain negative thoughts come to mind (corruption, lies, disappointment, misuse of public funds etc). Unfortunately, politics is everything. The quality of the air we breathe, infrastructure, public health, education, business, justice etc. It is all connected to politics and politics is in everything. I cannot emphasize this enough: the quality of people in politics determine the outcome of a country, its success or failure in the past, present and future.
Why does politics nowadays have such a bad reputation? Well, for instance, because it deals with our desire to rule, to dominate, to seize power and most will do anything required to obtain it.
The main purpose of any political party is to seize power and rule as they see fit. In every political party there is a tendency for absolute power, and absolute power corrupts absolutely, as Lord Acton very well said it in 1887.
Where does that leave us? How can we influence the government? How can we make our voice heard? Do we just stick our heads in the sand or do we stand for what we believe in?
Our attitude will determine the outcome of our collective present and future.
In the time of the ancient Greeks the word "idiotes" meant "a private person, individual, a private citizen". Then, a formidable thing happened: 2,500 years ago, the Greeks - more precisely the Athenians - invented democracy. And from that moment on, the meaning of our term has known a spectacular evolution: "idiotes" has become more and more the opposite of "polites" - the citizen, the one who gets involved in the affairs of the city. This is how the other meaning came about, the one that came down to us: you have to be an idiot (out of your mind, completely unintelligent, stupid, barren etc.) if, finally having the chance to participate in the common good - which is essentially your own good - you refuse it and you only take care of your private affairs. The message of the ancient Greeks is very clear: do not expect unless you get involved.
The Athenians rejected the pyramid system, in which the decision comes "from above" and implemented a circular political space, in which power was "deposited" at the center and the citizens were in the circumference of the circle, at equal distance from it. But equality in political rights comes with the duty to get involved.
We nowadays live in a time and age where it has become so easy to "appear" involved. Whether you support someone with a "click" or hit the "like" or "attend" button on Facebook for an event or a street protest, it gives you a sense of feeling good about yourself, thinking you actually care. And we all want to feel good about ourselves rather than feeling bad or experience feelings of guilt. Personalized algorithms used by social platforms are programmed to group people with the same perspective in bubbles, and thus losing contact with reality. People in a bubble think everyone embraces their values and beliefs and act accordingly. This is very dangerous for a society.
I've attended street protests where the "attending" were by the thousands. You look forward to the event, knowing a serious crowd has joined the new move. You imagine the power of such a crowd to influence the outcome.You are in a bubble. Hours later, reality hits you right in the face. It's -15 degrees C, it's dark, your toes and fingers are frozen and the army of thousands on Facebook has been decimated by sheer laziness. The 30 present are by no means one of the 300 spartans. Disappointment and doubt creep in and make you question whether it is worth it. You only have 2 choices: give in or press in. No movement has ever been successful by giving in.
Far from being an ideal political system, democracy gives us the tools to bring forth grassroot movements, where people with the same mindset and values get together, establish goals in order to influence Government decisions, for the common good, and alter the course of a nation. In order for this to happen, we must get involved. Freedom of speech, freedom of movement, freedom of choice also come with great responsibility. As mentioned by the ancient Greeks, "idiotes" (in the original sense) you are by nature, "polites" (citizen) you learn to become.
