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Flinn

The Dude goes into politics! - The lessons I learnt

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Well well well.. it's been over a couple of years that I started this adventure (since the first time I spoke with the people I'm now together it was December 2018) and I've been trough many things already: the election campaign, the elections themselves, the first period of enthusiasm, the first and the second wave of covid and the misleading period of truce in between, and many other small facts or events of which, at the least in part, I already told about.

So how am I faring?

First, I repeat what I already told before. No matter what is my personal experience and my conclusions, in any case it was worth it. I mean, it's a great experience in any case, you'll learn a lot on a personal level and you can actually grow much as a person in general. Also, you'll have the opportunity to see how that all works by yourself: while of course one could have hints of what is going on from outside, the only way to get the full picture is from inside. I always hated to have people telling me "it's like this!", "no it's like that!" and so I always preferred to see and understand by myself... there's a whole lot to see and understand when you enter the words of politics, even as a relatively small level! (after all, it's the same at every level, it's just the figures that are changing).

Second, the impact of Covid is actually limited, at the least regarding the main lessons I learnt, or better to say for what concerns the conclusions I've come to. Sure, some aspects of it have been exaggerated by the effects of the pandemic, but in any case if there wasn't going to be it, that wouldn't change much, since it's just a matter of time IMO.

What did I learn, then?

Both a lot and a little. A little, because most of the things that have happened were expected.. and a lot, because as a matter of fact one thing is knowing what it's going to happen, another one is to deal with it and with its consequences, but even more with the lessons you learn in the meanwhile.
Few picked examples: people tend to forget that being a public administrator does not mean that you have become the King and that you can do whatever you want.. by giving you a vote they think they have bought themselves the right to ask for the impossible, just because so. The final outcome is that one will lose his temper sooner or later, and that becoming unresponsive to absurd requests is very much likely to happen.
Or, even funnier: those who know the drill well, such as former public administrators, tend to play it dirtier.. they actually pretend to not to know how all that works and they usually try to exploit you (either to get something for themselves or for their relatives, or to attack you and your "side"), by hitting on the soft spots.. once again, becoming unresponsive, or even better becoming over-responsive, is likely to happen (as the Roman said: Si vis pacem, para bellum). You can't imagine how many people asked me for work, heck I have a full family asking me for it: for the son, for the son's wife and for her brother
And of course people are bold-faced: I'm frankly speaking feeling offended by the lack of shame most of people are showing, and I'm referring specifically to economical matters.. I mean, we have people evading taxes, even local communal taxes, for thousands every year, that are now begging for Covid social subsides. The very ugly part here is that there are actually people who're at need and that are ashamed of asking or that cannot get the due subsides because the founds have been depleted by those who don't really need them. With this people I have nothing to spare with, once I identify them I simply cancel them from my reality, they don't deserve any kind of attention.
There would be more, but by now you actually got what I mean, I guess.

So what, what's the main lesson here?

Well, I need to tell you another thing before: I actually approached this adventure knowing that it was going to be hard, that it was going to cost me not only time but also money, that I was going to get little gratitude if any at all, that I was likely going to make myself some new enemies no matter how good I would be doing.. still I was convinced that it could be worth it for what regards the contributions I could give to my land, but it's not so, honestly. Everything has to subdue to the logic of the politics, in the long term at the least.

I was one of those who were fiercely criticizing those who gave up or who did not wanted to try, today I can tell you I understand them very well. Barring the personal experience, there's nothing who stimulate me to run again for another term, and frankly speaking, I know by now that everybody who stays in the politics for longer than one term only does that because they have some interests, even only the mere desire to be praised...

In simple words: there are no saints in politics, but only devils in disguise.

Updated January 19, 2021 at 03:55 AM by Flinn

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Comments

  1. King Athelstan's Avatar
    At times not even in disguise. And aye, any public postion is very taxic, whether it is in politics, groups or certain internet foras - people will always ask things of you, try to exploit you for their benefit and one cannot always deliver. Nor is it always deserved, as you say. It's a wolf's den, where those too timid perish and the aggressive flourish
  2. Flinn's Avatar
    As I like to say: it's not the government of the better ones, but of the wise guys..