The Common Who?

This week I want to talk about perception. As anyone with even an iota of interest in the world should know, Europe and more specifically the nations of the Euro zone are currently gripped in an economic crisis. I won't bore you with the details as anyone who wishes to know more can easily find the information, but suffice to say as the crisis has gone on there has been a distinct lack of action from the leaders of the Euro zone nations. In the face of this I have to wonder; if the Euro zone was meant to encourage economic co-operation, why can't any of them agree on a course of action? The Euro zone was meant to be economic unity, and in the eyes of some, eventually lead to political unity. The very essence of unity is that the participants are able to look beyond their own needs and desires and think/act for the good of everyone. Yet what we're seeing in this crisis is that whilst economic unity might sound like a good idea, the member nations are unable to look beyond their own desires. The German chancellor does not want the European Central Bank to step in to help the countries in financial trouble as she believes it will encourage the belief that reckless spending is okay because the ECB will be there to save the day. The French President on the other hand is zealously protective of France's good credit rating, and will not consent on anything which could jeopardise it. Hardly thinking of the greater good are they? I imagine it must be very difficult for politicians after indulging in their three course meals, bickering amongst themselves and having just spent the night in a 5 star hotel, to empathise with a commoner who is about to lose their home. Until the leaders are able to end their bickering and truly look beyond their own interests and do what is needed, even if it means hurting themselves for the good of the Euro zone, I really cannot envisage an end to the crisis any time soon.

On a similar vein but much closer to home, I have to wonder how the UK government perceives the world. We are currently struggling desperately to recover from recession or worse yet, trying to prevent ourselves dipping back into recession. Unemployment rates have skyrocketed, economic growth is weak and we seem to constantly get involved in costly wars we really have no business in fighting. Families are losing their homes, thousands of teenagers and young-adults are out of work, hospitals are failing due to lack of funds and more recently it has emerged our border protection is about as useful as a condom in the Vatican. So what does the government decide to do in the midst of all this turmoil at home? That's right folks! They decide to increase foreign aid. Now this may make the government look good diplomatically and politically, but to the average UK citizen it seems like utter madness in the face of our own problems. When a family with young children loses their home and is forced to desperately try to find some way to survive, are they meant to be consoled by the fact our government gives away billions in foreign aid?

The problem in my opinion lies in the way politicians perceive the world. The vast majority of politicians today are "career" politicians. For many of them they are the children or grandchildren of politicians. They come from a privileged world of plenty. The expenses scandal showed just how lavish their lifestyles are, I bet not one of them had to worry about their next mortgage payment or putting food on the table in their entire lives. Yet we somehow believe that these individuals, who have never set foot in the real world, can be trusted to make decisions affecting the common man. When MP's debate an issue, all they can see is the figures involved. It is one thing to see a figure saying "5,000 people were laid off", it is quite another to be one of those 5,000 and wonder how you're going to provide for your family.

Politicians these days all seem to come from a world of plenty and comparative luxury next to the reality for the rest of us. Politician no longer seems to mean a servant of the people. It has become a career just like any other. The problem is this career has the capacity to affect the lives of billions of people around the world. Politicians simply perceive the world in a different way to the rest of us. Whilst they are concerned with the political and diplomatic effects of their actions, and doing their best to get re-elected, the rest of us have more fundamental worries. How many of the world's problems would be solved if before being allowed to run for office, politicians were required to meet a criteria of real world experience? That's real world experience, not an executive position at Daddy's corporation.