Last week we voted in the 2016 municipal elections. I’ll bet that you, like me, woke up this morning feeling the same. No matter which politician wins what, there’ll be very little, if any change for 99% of the population. Or is that just me being a cynic again?
The empty promises that were made to garner votes are just that – empty, deceitful and disingenuous. You’re smart enough to know that politicians will say anything to get elected. And, when they can’t deliver, they’ll blame everyone and everything else for their shortcomings. Once they’re in, they know they’ll be in for five years or so unless they really do something scandalous.
And, we’ve already witnessed that no matter how scandalous, deceitful and dangerous some politicians are, there’s very little guarantee that they’ll be booted out. They put the ’T’ in teflon because nothing sticks to them.
So, why do our politicians get it so wrong? I’m not going to talk about the deficit of character that some have. That’s too easy. I’m not going to talk about the narcissist streak that some have thinking that they’re lord of the manor and we’re their playthings. That’s too easy. And, I’m definitely not going to talk about their moral compasses that are so far south that they are irredeemable. That’s like stealing candy from a baby.
What I want to tease out is the concept of rights vs duties (I’ve already spoken about this in previous articles). Of course, this concept doesn’t only apply to politicians. We all need to hold a mirror to ourselves. And that might not be pretty at all.
As voters and as citizens we are under the illusion that we have rights.
Our constitution even reinforces this notion. ‘Rights’ are mentioned 111 times in one form or another.
Our Constitution is a bit light on ‘duties’, however. They’re only mentioned 26 times. And, the majority of the times they are mentioned have to do with financial issues like “tariffs and duties”. In fact there’s zero mention of our duties to each other as citizens of this country – to help and protect each other (source: http://www.jacquesdevilliers.com/are-we- a-hand- out-nation/).
In my opinion, we should rather start waking up to the fact that we have duties, not rights. Think on it. We don’t even have a right to play on this planet. We’ve been graced and blessed to be allowed to be a conscious being in this universe. Just by getting an entry ticket into this game of life, we have more than is due to us. How awesome is it that we get to live, love, breathe and play for a brief slice of time? Pretty awesome methinks. But, perhaps the payment that we have to make is counted in our duty?
And, if we’re practical about rights, then we have to realise that it makes us powerless. When we think we’re owed a ‘right’, then those that dole out largess or lack thereof are powerful and we are weak. In this case, the politicians have all the power. There are still swathes of people that have been on their knees begging for houses, electricity, water, education and everything in-between since the birth of our democracy, circa. 1994. In 2016 they’re still on their knees … powerless.
They can’t eat rights. Rights won’t educate their children. Rights won’t house them or give them clean water and electricity. Too many people are in need of help and not enough people are helping. A rights mindset looks at what help it is getting, not what help it is giving. A duties mindset looks for what help can be given.
The trick in my book is to start focusing on duties. And the only way we can get that right is to start putting others first and our own needs and aspirations second. If our politicians really believed the bullshit they sprout and really believed that they are here to serve their constituents – the citizens of South Africa – then the landscape would be very different to what it is now.
There wouldn’t be starving child, a destitute mother, a disempowered father, a chucked away grand parent, a homeless brother or an uneducated sister. It’s time that our politicians got that they need to stop taking for themselves and actually start giving (unconditionally). They need to start realising that they too are on this planet by grace not because they have a right (or are entitled) to be here. They have a duty to those that voted them in.
Of course, I have more chance of dating Angelina Jolie than that happening. So what to do?
It’s then up to you and me to start putting each other first. We need to change our mindset from a powerless one (rights) to a powerful one (duties). The more we can serve others and set them up for success the more we all succeed.
And, whilst you do that, take note of the promises your politician made to you and hold him or her to account for every utterance. But don’t hold your breathe that it’ll make a difference to those politicians that are in it for themselves. Most of us will still be on our knees and feeding off the scraps from their overflowing tables.