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4. Politicians In ancient Athens citizens concerned with the Polis were known as ‘Polites’. The “Polites” proposed policies. Today ‘politicians’ decide policy on behalf of all citizens while very few ordinary citizens propose policies. To vote is to choose. To choose is to prefer. By voting for politicians we choose others to prefer for us what our society should do. We choose others to express our preference and expect them to prefer according to our priorities. They are supposed to serve as a mere extension of us. In reality they impose their own priorities on us. Why choose others to prefer on our behalf? Why can’t we choose ourselves what we prefer our society to do ? We elect representatives because to find out what millions of citizens prefer was very slow and difficult, while often policies must be decided quickly. The easiest way to decide policies for a whole society was to authorize one person to decide for all. Therefore for many years, in most societies, one person (Chieftain, King, Emperor) decided what an entire society should do. Actually, that person’s priority was to make authority to decide for all into property of his family. Eventually people rejected such authority and elected representatives to decide policies for them. If one politician represents 100,000 citizens, 500 politicians represent 50 million citizens. These 500 can sit in a medium-sized hall to debate (‘parle’ in Parliament or ‘congregate’ in Congress) and vote by raising hands. Representatives make many decisions daily for those who elected them. This system is still in use as finding out what millions of people prefer, explaining to them the options and their possible results, setting up voting facilities, counting millions of votes, was - until recently - a very long and complicated procedure. Nowadays all this can be done by TV, mobile phones, or magnetic cards. Many believe that politicians apply the preferences of those who elected them. Usually they don’t. Nor do they possess a special skill for deciding. Every decision is determined by a priority, not by a skill. Decision-making is a role, not a skill; everyone makes decisions daily. The Athenian philosopher Plato - who opposed Democracy - argued that decision-making is a skill like that of a ship’s captain who steers a ship in a particular direction by using knowledge of ships and navigation. But society is not a ship. All passengers on a ship want to reach the same destination, but not all citizens in society want the same policy since they have different priorities. Politicians need certain skills to get Power, like conspiring (to defeat rivals); flattery (to get the support of superiors); and hypocrisy (to win voters) but they need no special skill for deciding policy. Politicians decide policy according to their personal priority like everyone else. The citizens of ancient Athens, who invented Democracy, declared: “Every cook can govern.” We see this is so when Arnold Schwarzenegger, a muscle man who became an actor, serves as Governor of California. He can decide for all citizens without any special skill or training because all decisions are determined by priorities not by a special skill. Arnold has priorities just like anyone else. In 1980 Ronald Reagan, another Hollywood actor, became President of the United States. Did he possess a special skill required for being President? Not at all. No President has a special skill required for being President, Acting as President is a role, not a profession. It can never become a profession. Anyone can act as President. Whether he’ll be good (for whom?) or bad (for whom?) depends on the priorities of those who comment on his decisions. Forecasting the outcome of a policy does require knowledge and skill, which are provided by experts who study the various options and their possible outcomes. Such experts explain to the President the various options and their possible results, but they do not decide which option to choose. The President decides. Experts rarely decide policy, but when they do, it is their priorities, not their expertise, that determines their decision. A President acts like the jury in a court of law. Jury members are not legal experts. They listen to lawyers, to witnesses, and the judge, and then decide whether the defendant is guilty or not. When witnesses contradict each other, jurors must decide whom to believe. They do so according to their preferences, not according to their legal knowledge. Politicians decide what will be the preference of society. The State imposes their preference on Society. This raises two questions: 1.What is ‘Society’? and 2.What is ‘the State’? |
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