Purpose versus power

“If I get elected I will have the power to help people and get things done.”

That is usually the answer I get from people whenever I ask them why they want to get into politics. Even the sincere, well-meaning individuals have the notion that the only way to make a difference in their community or in the country is to run for public office.

Just this week, one of my friends asked me to talk some sense into her daughter who was seriously considering following in the footsteps of her father who was once a multi-term mayor but ultimately ended his political career in a series of losses and disappointing fashion.

I could relate to my friend’s distress knowing that in the world of politics, it is often the wife or the non-political spouse who has to make the greater sacrifice, and learns most of the lessons on why people should not enter politics. In general, they are the one who bear the brunt of a disturbed home life and financial burdens. Many become victims as the popular partner starts spending more time outside the home and away from the family and then end up in extra-marital affairs that eventually lead to “shame and scandal in the family.”

Because politics is like a drug, and is highly seductive it makes no gender differentiation. I can easily name three young women who entered politics as “nice, respectable ladies” but two out of three eventually left their husbands in exchange for an extra-marital partnership with “more powerful” and “more secure” politicians!

That of course is mild compared to the darker side of politics where feuds and corruption ultimately lead to violence and murder. If there are many winners in politics, there are just as many widows and orphans left behind by public servants. Unlike, “golf widows”, political widows never see the return of their partners.

The tragedy of politics is that media spends most of its time and space focusing on the activities, the opinion and public life of politicians but hardly their private lives. The only time media brings out the dirty laundry on politicians is when it involves scandals and broken vows of actor/actress-politicians. Very little is mentioned about how families are divided by politics or political loyalties where fathers turn against their sons, where brother fights against brother etc.

So before anybody seriously considers going into politics consider the realities:

Even before you get elected, IF, you get elected, you and your family will be giving up your privacy, you will spend ten to a hundred times what you honestly earn and this investment will never show a profit unless you own the whole town or district or you sell your soul to the god of politics.People will line-up at your front gate even before you get out of bed or have breakfast and there will still be solicitors when darkness comes. With this throng of overnight supporters and mendicants, you will have to hire a support and security team just to maintain some semblance of privacy and distance.

Eventually it will dawn upon you to put up an office because becoming a “public figure” is so disruptive with home life. Between dole outs, security details, and management staff you will then need a lot of money, which realistically can’t be met by your personal resources unless you are a millionaire a hundred times over. In many instances mere mortals will then open the doors to supporters or pass the begging basket around. Supporters will come in all shapes and sizes and each of them, even your own mother has a motive for giving you money or supporting your candidacy.

For their generous support you will essentially be indebted or IN DEBT culturally, morally or financially. Whether it’s a debt of gratitude or a political trade off, this is your first dive into the miry pits of corruption. The bad news is, corruption or political prostitution is no different from killing a person. After the first time, everything else that follows becomes easier with practice.

Going back to my friends’ daughter, I made a case for going into business instead. I know so many businessmen, big and small, who, by virtue of the service they provide, the contributions they make to their community and the positive relationships they nurture with political leaders are able to influence the affairs of their district or community.

Just as an example, I pointed out to the young lady that we in media do not any titles or public office. We do not have an army of cops or soldiers. We don not have hundreds of millions at our disposal. Yet the media is called the “Fourth Estate”, the unofficial watchdog over the three branches of government.

Politics is not the be all and end all of power or public service. It just seems that way.