Of politics and politicians

Plato, the Greek sage, said:  Those who are too smart to engage in politics are punished by being governed by those who are dumber. 

The best and brightest among us stay away from the “dirty” world of politics because they don’t want to be tainted by the grime, they don’t want to be “eaten by the system”, they don’t want to “stoop to their level”. Thus, we get stuck with what are derisively called traditional politicians, trapo (rough translation: rag) in the colorful lingo, who get voted into office time and again for reasons that are far from noble.

However, we conveniently forget the fact that politics is not dirty, per se. It is the people in it who make it so. Politicians have distorted one of ancient civilization’s most important teachings, and we are definitely not the richer for it. Politics being dirty is like saying democracy sucks. Dirty politicians don’t make politics dirty, and democracy works for people who value freedom and equality.

The tragedy in the Philippine setting has always been that the most qualified candidates often lose because 1) they don’t have the wherewithal; 2) they don’t have the logistics and machinery; 3) they are not known to the masses; 4) they are perceived to be elitist; 5) they are political greenhorns; and 6) all of the above.

Thus, the smart ones don’t dare venture into politics anymore and we end up, deservedly or not, being governed till kingdom come by those who are dumber.