October 2009

Ihave often thought that I could never be a politician because success seems to come at some cost to one’s soul; today’s climate of downright disrespect and intolerance in the political arena has done nothing to dissuade me from this point of view. If the words of one politician are indeed accurate and “politics has a morality of its own,” where does that leave us with regard to our fundamental notions of what is right and wrong, of what is good and just, of human decency, of boundaries that should not be breached because if they are, we are in effect saying something about who we are and what we stand for as a people. My father, who is now in the evening of his life, was not a ‘political animal’ if you will, but he served his country in various capacities throughout his lifetime and even beyond his retirement, as a member of Trinidad and Tobago’s Integrity Committee. What mattered to my father was not which political party was in power or which political figure, but rather, the wellbeing of the people, of the nation - the common good.  

Call me naïve, but in my book,  a certain measure of naïveté opens up the possibility of creating a new vision, of fostering meaningful and lasting change, of delivering something other than ‘business as usual’ to the table.  It seems to me that in politics, as with most things in life, we have a choice: we can choose the road of self interest, of corruption, of special interest groups, of looking the other way, of caving in when the going gets tough or we can take the road less traveled and be willing when necessary, to stand firmly, even if it costs us in the opinion polls or in the voting booths. A recent novel captured my interest initially because of its title, “The Elegance of the Hedgehog.” I think that contained in those words lies a possible antidote to the lack of regard for one’s political opponent that is very much a part of our culture. On the surface, the hedgehog is not a particularly attractive creature, in fact it can appear quite threatening; but isn’t there more to him than just this daunting exterior? Perhaps the invitation to focus on the elegance as opposed to the less appealing and more obvious qualities can serve as a reminder of why we answered the call to political life in the first place, the underlying [and perhaps purer] motivation that stirred our passion and inspired us to want to make a difference in the world. By acknowledging that the elegance does indeed exist (despite evidence to the contrary), by choosing to lift out the elegance and not the tarnished, we are not adopting a Pollyanna attitude – rather we are making an informed and reasoned decision to promote an alternative option, but one that is every bit as real and as available to us as the path of disregard and disrespect. The choice is ours.