A Love Letter to the Politically Motivated
How to treat a government who realises it made a mistake?
Just like a person.
Just like you would like to be treated.
A person who realised how wrong they are, exists in a state of descending down a steep hill of guilt and self-preservation.
They don’t need a strong push and a reminder they are wrong.
Telling them they are wrong and stupid will likely accelerate their descent and send them crushing into the tree of irresponsible decisions.
But a gentle steer and a kind word, may guide them into swerving motion (like ski), which will slow down the wild roll, avoid the trees and help them slide safety into the valley of compromise, joyful human cooperation and comfort.
A conservative capitalist government who realises it must embrace socialist models to survive, is now facing the predicament of going further down the conservative path, but with a socialist twist. Or, perhaps it would risk experimenting with new and modern liberal socialist ideas.
There are many voices in this advisory cacophony. Each declares they know the way.
The Government need to get the best possible advice and scrutiny, to avoid going down the path of authoritarian regimes, which is the easy path to take to guarantee short-term political survival.
If the government was Barry, the average coalition voter, the same logic can be applied:
Barry realises he made a mistake by thinking it’s ok to hoard his shed full of toilet paper when the crisis was declared. He tries to sell it and make money out of people’s desperation and the “free market” environment his government have been advocating for when he voted them in.
He manages to sell about half his stock at inflated prices before people calm down, and supermarkets restock. Meanwhile, suspicion grows around Barry’s neighbours and the word of his new side business start to spread.
Barry is now facing a predicament. His behaviour will be shaped partly by the way his neighbours respond to the news.
What is the best outcome for both Barry and his neighbours?
Barry confesses to the wrongdoing by placing the reminder of his shed full of toilet paper in his front garden for his neighbours to take as they need and plead the access proceeds from his dodgy sales to a jointly managed community fund. In return, the community organises for Barry with meal service to his elderly mother on the other side of town. This was, (according to Barry) the reason for him to get into the shady business anyway. He just wanted to protect his elderly mother by having extra cash on the side as the restaurant he worked in closed and the massage from the government was scary and not vey reassuring.
Barry is Scotty from Marketing. And Scotty is scared right now as he realises that having a surplus of toilet paper won’t save him from drowning in his self-created economic shitstorm.
He needs the community to act with heavenly grace and forgiveness and gently steer him to slow down and do the right thing.
