Should You Hate Politics?

Is it all right to say that you hate politics? How about just being uninterested? The risk of standing aloof may be greater than you previously thought.

As long as you live, no matter where you live, you will always want something. It is a natural feature of human existence — to want something. It could be anything: a car, a house, school fees for your children, the chance to live a better life…

And crucially, only about the top 10% of perhaps every society are able to financially support themselves no matter the situation of the state. Unless you are part of this number — and perhaps even if you are — chances are that the quality of your life is, for the most part, always going to be dependent on the economic situation of where you live.

American political scientist Harold Lasswell described politics as ‘who gets what, when and how’. It’s a concise way of stating that at every level of society, whether state, community or family, there will always be those who make decisions as to what everybody else gets, when they get it, and how. In the state, that position falls to the Government. The decisions that a few people (relative to the entire population) make will directly influence the quality of life you live.

You could, like most people, work hard and be able to support yourself and your family — but it’s undeniable that the ease with which you are able to do this depends again on these few people who make decisions. The frustration of your business at every turn often comes as a result of negative government policies, or their inaction. The fact that, after all your toil, your productivity is considerably lower than the effort you put in; the fact that, with the resources you have and the effort you put in, you should live in far better conditions than you currently are — all of these stem majorly from the actions or inactions of a few who are in power.

And as for the rest of the population with fewer privileges than others (the lower half, so to speak), it is unfortunate that those in power will indirectly decide whether they are able to afford a house or not; they will decide whether they are able to send their children to good schools or not. Some are forced to remain miserable and unhappy.

Don’t judge. Regardless of what motivational speakers say, there is no doubt that, with dwindling resources and an ever-increasing population, many of those born with fewer privileges will be left deprived no matter their efforts to the contrary. And people are being born with fewer and fewer privileges. In Nigeria, the Baby Boomers had it easier: virtually free education, awaiting jobs, and a rich economy fed by abundant and in-demand oil. A good number of them were incorporated into the political system (where they remain to date), and those who weren’t were treated like the archetypal citizen of a republic — with upheld rights and privileges. Needless to say, this collapsed pretty quickly.

At the other end of the spectrum, the Millennials and Generation Z have drawn the shortest of straws: rising prices and a struggling economy, superlatively poor education, virtually nonexistent employment opportunities, and among all that — and far worse — a loss of hope in a nation and what it may offer.

In a land where whom you know, whose parents you are and where you were born become practically your only chance of survival, no wonder youths look longingly to foreign lands and their mouths water — a contemporary Canaan. If it’s that way now, what chance does Generation Alpha (the children of the Millennials) stand?

So, should you hate politics? If you are remaining in the country, then it’s an emphatic no. If politics, as Lasswell said, is all about who gets what, when and how, then you should embrace rather than despise it. Do you think it’s a dirty game? Embrace it. Do you think it’s dishonourable and filled with corrupt and dangerous men? Embrace it, and change it for the better. Do you think it’s impossible to do that? Still embrace it, because the alternative is much worse: standing idly by and watching other men destroy your happiness and your dreams on a whim.