Arvind Mani is a regualr contributor to the Fiji Sun.
With the public already disdainful of politicians, how can so many continue with the tactics of public obfuscation and diversion?
Ask the public what they’d like to see politicians give up as a new year resolution, and I’m sure the answer at the top of the list would be “lying”.
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Is that fair? Well, frankly, it depends on what you mean by lying.
In the earliest recorded example, when the Lord said to Cain, “Where is Abel?”,
He received the answer: “I don’t know” – a blatant lie – followed by: “Am I my brother’s keeper?”, a skilled politician’s answer.
In my experience, even the least moralistic politicians (except for Trump) don’t usually tell blatant lies, because any benefit they might gain is outweighed by the danger of getting caught.
Only the willfully reckless ignore that rule.
The difficulty comes when a politician faces such damage if they tell the truth that the rewards for lying appear worth the risk.
Of course, there’s a time-honoured alternative for politicians who want to tell the truth but avoid the damage, namely blaming bad advice from colleagues.
But then we look at the second half of Cain’s response, and it’s here where some politicians undoubtedly do make their profession look dishonest.
In a bygone era when a broadcast interview was just an annoying ritual for a politician to endure, the refusal to give straight answers to straight questions was understandable.
Now that those interviews offer one of the few remaining opportunities to communicate directly to a mass audience, it is baffling that some politicians remain wedded to the tactics of diversion, obfuscation and half-truths
Old habits die hard, though, and the oldest for politicians is to say one thing in private and another in public.
A politician once waited until the tape recorder was off after a two-hour interview before saying with relish: “Right, now I can tell you what I really think.”
For me, that shameless doublespeak – and public awareness of it – is corrosive of trust in politics.
Why are so many of our politicians shameless? They can lie so easily with very straight faces. They can shamelessly lie, tell lies about others, malign others with so much ‘conviction’ in the tone of their voices and posture.
Anyway, for some, it goes back to how they were raised.
Their brain just can’t get there, they don’t see empathy.
Most have some level, but for some, they just don’t have enough or any at all. We have heard it can never change, they don’t see what they do as wrong.
Emotions such as shame and guilt are a direct function of recognising and taking responsibility for one’s actions, speech and behaviour. When you think about it, if nothing is ever one’s fault, if one blames others and is repeatedly demonstrating failure to assume responsibility, why would that person ever feel guilt, remorse or shame?
Shameless politicians seem to blame anyone and everyone else for everything. If they believe nothing is ever their fault, why would they ever feel ashamed about anything? If nothing is ever their fault, nothing will ever trigger remorse or guilt in them.
We are yet to see some of these very big-mouthed politicians of ours who are every day attacking others, criticising others, accusing others of all sorts of things take any responsibility for anything.
Nothing, in their minds, is their fault, therefore no reason to feel guilty, no reason to feel ashamed.
Edited by Ranoba Baoa
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