Eeny meeny miney mo

We may be able to change things in our lifetime and lay the foundation to build a future on.

As the search continues, instead of allowing oneself to be disillusioned by the lack of clarity and vision, by hysterical ranting and sidetracking of issues, by an enhanced VIP culture, complete anarchy and more, I am even more convinced of the need to get into the political fray. It’s getting so bad that it’s actually ridiculous, so much so that people who never talked about involvement in the political process and whose answer to problems was to take care of them on a personal level, mainly by doling out largess, are now looking for solutions.

Sustainable solutions are only available where the process is institutionalised and where the institution works for all, without exception or favour. Well, we all know that’s how it should work and we all know that’s how it’s not working. So how do we pull ourselves out of the ad hoc, even anarchic world we have become so accustomed to and change the way things are done and the country is run?

To affect change, one has to get involved and actively work on making the change. This is a much discussed and beaten to death idea but really, it is the only way. At different levels, people who can bring about change merely through their participation, appear to be resigned to the fact, which I for one think is incorrect, that they cannot make a difference. They are in business so do not want to become the victims of vengeful political actions. They are hard-working professionals and focus on providing as good a life as they can to their families. They are middle class people struggling to keep their heads above water. They are poor, impoverished and malnourished people whose haemoglobin levels do not give them the luxury of energy.

Looks like there is absolutely no one left willing or able to pick up the baton for change. But there is no reason why that should be the case. All the arguments have been heard and, while we avow and continue to reaffirm our need for change, we still say if change comes it won’t be in our lifetime. Will it not come in our lifetimes because we don’t know how to bring about that change or because the thought of it is so daunting it defeats us or because it’s just easier to continuously let things slide? If we think about it carefully, change is all that does happen. Whether we like it or not, change is inevitable. It is up to us to decide what kind of change we want to bring about. What we need to understand is that our inaction prompts change just as action would. The difference is that by acting we may be able to bring about the sort of change required to change things in our lifetime and lay the foundation to build the future on.

Sounds simple enough until it comes to doing it. I am still figuring out how to work with the system as it exists today, warts and all. Will I have to compromise everything I believe in and hold true, or will I be able to hold on to them and be in politics at the same time. How do I get others to understand the issues and leave the path of resistance and embrace change? How do you get people to move beyond the script they have memorised and start writing a script that works for the country?

Rather than saying it can’t be done, we need to look at available resources and optimise their use. The first challenge is to get people involved in the political process. Not everyone entitled to vote is registered; of those registered the turnout is unbelievably low. Why so? Perhaps they see no change. There needs to be a two-pronged strategy here, political parties need to understand and value the voter if they want to reclaim the space occupied by the military. And the voter needs to understand that his demands will only be met when he has a say in the political process. Granted there are huge issues, like corruption, but to travel out of that corrupt state we need to start building the road.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 10^th, 2010.