Politics Needs a Reboot

It has been a long time since I have written something here.  I feel a need to get things off my chest so I decided to use this platform to get my thoughts out.

There are many reasons as to why I want to complain about the state of politics.  The reasons have all arisen over the last week of reading about various events happening around the world.  From wars to much less dreadful topics. Election results.  Decisions taken locally and others globally.  They have all reinforced a belief which I have and which I am frustrated to have.  I don't really know how to address the issue as I do not see a solution.

The issue at hands is politics.  More specifically the issue is politicians.  The issue is the kind of person that is attracted into serving their country and how they might change once elected.

Ever since I was a young boy I have always had a negative outlook on politics.  I grew up in the Province of Quebec in Canada.  When I was a child politicians used language to divide people and to gain easy votes.  There was, and continues to be unfortunately, no easier topic to get people excited in this area of the world than the topic of language.  It continues to this day.  What I saw was my family get split apart.  People who got along one day argued the next.  Some became separatists.  Others became federalist.  They took their positions, hardened them and argued about if for decades.  Only with age and seemingly a bit more wisdom did people slowly either decide to stop talking about it altogether or decide that getting along was a better outcome than shouting and throwing wine glasses at each other.   I am convinced that, had politicians not amplified the messages of separation and used language as a tool to divide, my family would have not missed out on a few decades of lingering anger and suspicion.  Politicians did this to them. 

You could argue that my family let itself be manipulated.  Yes.  It was manipulated.  They fell into a trap laid by the politicians of the 1970s in Quebec.  They fell into it.  The issue was that it was an easy trap to set.  People were ripe to be swayed into one of two camps.  

The laying of these traps continues today.  Politicians around the world are doing it on daily basis.  They do it at international, national, regional and municipal levels.  These traps are the easiest method through which politicians can achieve their goals....election.  Let's be clear, election is the goal. The goal is not to make the life of citizens better.  It is much easier to light up the tribal fuel we all have in our bodies than it is to appeal to sense of greater good and discussion.  The fuel in us only takes a spark such as a thirty second snippet on a social media platform to alight.  These traps prey on religion, race, economics, nation, history, and gender.  Appealing to greater good requires hours, days, weeks and many times months and years of discussion, listening, compromise and negotiation.  It requires diving into details.  How boring is that?

How do we change politics?  How can politics start attracting people who really want what is best for their citizens?  People who are willing to listen, work with those who have different opinions and move an issue forward via compromise.  People who will not exploit tribalism as a means for election.  How?  It seems to me that people who have those skills are avoiding a career in politics as they might avoid the plague.  Rather they choose to impact society through education, employment and volunteerism and they become disenfranchised with the whole system.  This is evident by their lack of participation in politics and even their decision to not vote at all in growing numbers.

How do we change the electorate's demand on politicians to include intelligence and desire for compromise?  Is this possible?  Am I naive?  Is politics doomed to always bring out and prey on the tribalism we all have within us?  

I am just so tired of all the bullshit.  I said in the opening that I do not know what to do.  I sincerely do not.  I look at who is running for office in my area and I am constantly disappointed.  Leaders and elected officials are bullying each other and calling each other names in person.  They do it in Parliament and various legislatures.  They do it on social media.  They are trying to convince me that their opponents are idiots.  They complain, bitch, yell and bully.  They never seem to work together, compromise and try to help each other out much less the citizens they are supposed to be working for.  They continue to use the simple traps to gain our votes.

Politicians are failing us.

Let me know what you think about what you have just read. Please and thanks!