Philosophy, Voters and the MT Reader
That we consider and empathise with the struggle of those voters who have difficulty putting food on the table for their families is a good thing. However to accept that there is nothing above and beyond this need is to surrender political leadership to these voters while asking them to accept their position as people who have been completely marginalized from the economic and social life of the country and that only once every 4 years come election time will they be given any goodies to sate their needs.
By batsman
Darwin may be beyond the average MT reader especially those who engage only in chauvinism, vulgarity and obscenities, not to mention questioning the validity of his ideas. Likewise philosophy may be beyond the average voter in Hulu Selangor, especially those who struggle to put food on the table, but read what Bertrand Russell has to say –
“… We see that men’s political dealings with one another are based on wholly wrong ideals, and can only be saved by quite different ideals from continuing to be a source of suffering, devastation and sin.
Political ideals must be based upon ideals for the individual life. The aim of politics should be to make the lives of individuals as good as possible. There is nothing for the politician to consider outside or above the various men, women, and children who compose the world. The problem of politics is to adjust the relations of human beings in such a way that each severally may have as much good in his existence as possible. And this problem requires that we should first consider what it is that we think good in the individual life.”
I have placed emphasis on the last part of the quote. Russell then goes on to say what it is he thinks is good in the individual life. You can read it for yourself, but I’d like to carry on my argument from where he left off above.
That we consider and empathise with the struggle of those voters who have difficulty putting food on the table for their families is a good thing. However to accept that there is nothing above and beyond this need is to surrender political leadership to these voters while asking them to accept their position as people who have been completely marginalized from the economic and social life of the country and that only once every 4 years come election time will they be given any goodies to sate their needs.
Surely, the fight against corruption can be translated into terms they can understand and having understood, become intimately connected with the fight against it. Surely they can understand that corruption is abusing power to gain unfair economic advantage. Surely they can understand this since unfair economic advantage is what these people suffer all their lives.
The arguments can go on, but is it the fault of the voters for failing to understand or the fault of the political party to drive across this message in a way they can understand or to assume they have understood when they are resentful and lagging behind? Is it the fault of marginalized people to accept whatever goodies come their way as a windfall or is it the fault of political parties which fail to organize them to destroy their marginalization?
Put it another way, it is the fault of the poor to accept goodies or the fault of leaders who fail to organize them to destroy their own marginalisation and slavery to a corrupt elitist system based on patronage and abuse of power?
The strength of PKR is different from the source of strength for PAS. While I am not suggesting that PKR abandon its source of strength, would it not be a good thing to learn from friends and strengthen the party at the member level and at the grassroots as well? After all even the children become resentful and rebellious if they are ignored and neglected for too long not to mention the good wife. heeheehee
