Leadership in politics

Contrary to popular belief, democracy is not about politicians doing what the people want.

In several places in the world are elections these days. When writing this, Brazilians recently have chosen their president, and inhabitants of the USA (those eligible to vote that is) can do their democratic duty soon. It is this time of year that the quote of Sir Winston Churchill comes to mind: “Democracy is the worst form of government except for all others that have been tried”. Another one of his statements: “The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter”.

Especially the last one appeals to me. Government elections tend to be a once in a four or five year event especially if the result lasts the full term. In other fields, opinion polls have a much higher frequency. In commercial television (or any marketing driven field), the preference of viewers is measured at a daily basis and see what that does to the quality of what is on the screen every night. If a parallel with politics could be drawn, we should have elections even more apart then we have now.

But the parallel is wrong: politics is not about what people want, not even in a democracy. That statement may need some explanation but in my mind it is very simple: democracy is about politicians who have a view on society, the economy and world order. Based on those views, they formulate a program and make plans to be achieved over the next election period and beyond. Voters should decide to vote for a politician based on two things:

• beforehand: does this politician have a view that is consistent with my own ideas;
• afterward: has this politician acted according to his ideas and was (s)he successful in realizing his/her vision?

Especially running closer to elections, a lot of discussion is going on about the gap between politicians and the electorate. Or better stated: that the existence of that gap poses a problem that can (and should!) be solved by talking more to ‘the ordinary guy in the street’. Direct elections for a lot of roles, referendums for a multitude of topics and endless discussion with citizens, listeners to radio stations and groups of people in TV studio’s are the result. And all in vain.
The more individuals can express their personal opinion and formulate their self interest to the ones close to (political) power, the more disappointed they will be when the government does not act on it immediately. Going in this direction has one certain result: the shift to the opposing parties will be even bigger next time.
Elections nowadays turn into a personality contest, which politician looks most like the understanding, listening, parent-like figure and will (s)he continuously make the effort to hear my individual opinion when decisions have to be made? It is this kind of thinking that is behind the daily opinion polls about what could have been if today were elections. But 999 out of a 1000 days there are no elections today and with a good reason: politics can be viewed on commercial television but is in itself something completely different and should therefore be evaluated on different time scales.

The same way a patient does not tell his doctor how to cure him or the plumber how to fix his sink, a voter should not tell a politician how to act or what to do. But the same way a patient wants his doctor to explain the surgery to him, a voter should demand from a politician to tell what his/her plans are and how (s)he is going to achieve the intended results. But after that it is a delegated authority with an ‘interval of trust’ of four or five years until the next elections. Communications in politics is (and therefore should be) mostly one way: politicians explaining their views, plans and actions. The answer from the electorate is very important and can only be effective when used with discretion: a once every view year well contemplated vote based on the above evaluation criteria.

Only with this common understanding about what politics is, do politicians have a chance to show the leadership that is required to solve the issues of our time.

ERegoS

Coffee machine

Standardisation as a concept is highly underestimated in day-to-day life.

Once upon a time, a ‘coffee machine’ was just that: a machine that produced coffee or at least a fluid with a vague similarity to coffee. The early machines I encountered in various office environments resembled closely the ones at home. The best one was in university: it consumed a full kilogram of coffee beans, needed some mechanical action to grind the beans and then consumed a flood of water. The end product came in quantities to support the entire community to drink something that made them think about coffee; at least they complained about coffee, which can be seen as a success in my book.

But life goes on and a lack of change is a lack of progress. The next generation of coffee machines falls in one of two distinct categories: it either has coffee cups inside or it doesn’t. The cups-included machine has the advantage that the Facilities Department (we are talking coffee machine in the corporation league here) can completely prepare the whole coffee experience. The number of cups is usually not the limiting factor so for all practical purposes these machines can be considered to have an endless cup supply.

The cups-excluded machine can be much smaller since an endless supply of cups is quite bulky. The plastic cups are now stacked around it, so this does not change the spatial impact of the whole thing, but it gives some more flexibility: you can now use your own mug. Apart from the lifestyle component, it is this kind of behaviour that eventually will save our planet.
The worst thing that can happen to you is changing jobs from a cups-included to a cups-excluded type of organisation. Not having to place a coffee cup after making your choice of coffee (cream or sugar or from a whole [XXXX]-load of specialty choices) is something that is handled on a very low conscious level in your limbic system and almost impossible to get right again in the new situation. I personally think it can be argued that learning to ride a bicycle with your arms crossed is easier than making this kind of shift. Having to actually think on a conscious level about cups when standing in front of a coffee machine is beyond me. Please confirm that I am not alone in this…

My point is that intelligent coffee machine designers from all over the world could (and should!) have foreseen this problem. And since in the end we will all evolve to be cupless-coffee-machine-users (due to lifestyle and planet) early standardisation would have been highly preferable. Wasting an entire generation, not to mention rivers of coffee running by when no cup is placed, seems to be close to criminal neglect. The fact that all civil servants in the European Union were not able to prevent this, poses serious questions on their competence in general and their ability to contribute to standardisation in particular.

ERegoS

Inspired by penguins

Back in my highschool days I responded to a simple questions in a way that would have a significant impact on the rest of my life. And I spend the decades since that moment trying to find out if there is some hidden meaning behind that. It's about penguins but before diving into the results, lets start with the question and subsequent answer.

At my 4th birthday (being from 29th of February, that's becoming 16 years old) I ended up in a situation where all my 30 classmates intended to visit my house for my birthday party. With all the stress incurred by that event, I never anticipated the easiest question of all: "What kind of present can we get for your birthday?". In a strike of panic the only thing I came up with: "Don't bother, any penguin is OK!".
As it turns out, there are penguin napkins, penguin towels, penguin mugs, wooden penguins, penguin puppets, penguin posters, penguin pictures and penguin postcards in abundance. And since then the penguin played a dominant role in my life especially around birthdays.

But why the penguin? Without any professional counseling, there is no final answer to be given. Obviously I like penguins a lot, especially the emperor penguin although not to the level of dedication of people like Bruno Zehnder and Luc Jacquet. To a certain extend I can even relate to penguins. When you see them walking they are (and I say this with the deepest appreciation) a bit clumsy as you would probably expect from a bird who lost the ability to fly. The moment they hit the water however you can really see what these creatures have spend their evolution on: in the water they become swift and graceful which clearly indicates the ocean is their preferred habitat. But when nature calls, the emperor penguins gather back on the hazardous land of the South Pole to lay their eggs and tend to their young. The level of cooperation between the sexes and the amount of team-work is an inspiring example for us all.

So whenever I feel uncomfortable, ill-adapted or socially challenged, I take comfort in the penguin. There may be an habitat out there where my habits, skills and preferences fit perfectly. And even if I haven't found my prime element yet, the penguin encourages me to keep looking.

ERegoS

It has been a year now

Exactly 365 days ago I went from being subconsciously interested in weblogs to having my own. I tried to capture this sense of belonging in my first entry. Being part of something far greater than any individual. It worked...

...for me that is. Apart from some generated comments (I learned spam is everywhere) I didn't get a single reaction. Some digital laughter would have been nice! But nothing. In a online world where more happens in 3 months than in a year in the physical world, change is key. Constantly adding new content, trying to appeal to a greater audience. Waiting a year for comments is probably not the way.

Maybe I should change the layout, the dark stuff is a bit dull. But making this second post within a year is a big step for me. Doubling content AND a different scenery may be too much for my 'regular visitors'. So one step at a time now, easy does it.

Once in a year posting makes it a habit and already I have my first entry for this year. So now I have to come up with a purpose for this blog, what is it I want to share with the world? Myself? Probably not. My views on humanity? Closer! This post is just to establish continuity. The next will be the first of a series. A series of what?

Be back!

ERegoS