Tim's blog

The modern (mostly western) world has the simple idea of democracy. The common people elect politicians. This may be done for the president or certain politicians but also for a political party which then chooses the figures who play the game.
The main factor of this system is the care of the politicians and political parties of being re-elected. That is in the spirit of the common people because if there are not served well, the elected will be not elected (or just less) at the next election. A common time of the next judgment day for the politicians is a cycle of 4 years. That period may be short for a different political election to do something really different as the previous elected but these 4 years are may be long for the citizen to take consequences for wrong doings.
After all, the people want to be served well. And this not only pleasant for the majority but also fair to minorities.
One factor is yet missing. People want to and need to be governed. That means the decisions from today are sustainable and the next generation or generations are not suffering from the unsustainable decisions of the past.
Classical examples are the use of resources and the environment. But also other areas can cause troubles in the future. In Germany there was for instance after WW2 a time of the lack of qualified workers or in general a workforce who is strong and able to power the fast growing economy. So workers from other countries were invited. Well, that was pleasing the economy and therefor the citizen at this time but was a ticking time bomb if not caring properly for the foreigners. What decades was later revealed was a growing parallel society in some parts of cities. Later, with expensive integration project this bomb was unarmed but if from the first time this was thought of and cared for, it would not had grown to bigger problems.
The point is, the nature of modern politics serves the electors of the time of the own period of power of the elected politicians. The whole system works like this. It will always happen that knowingly the treatment of potential problems or sustainable decisions are not done to just serve the current and actual electors and its time.
That is bad governance. That is was the citizen don’t want. That is was is not popular.
To be sustainable governed means to do unpopular decisions as well. But how can this system work if unpopular decisions are punished with the next election?
The system does not work properly as it is.
Another real life example: nuclear power plant waste. That unforgiving radioactive material which keeps being a problem for many generations. In fact, for so many that we can simplify it as FOREVER. So what is not good and sustainable governance? What happened in the seventieths in Germany? An unpopular decision was to be made. A so called “end storage“ was needed. The aspects to be considered clear: geology, local economy, agreement of the very local community and overall political. The first conclusions by experts: such a place does not exist in Germany. So the selection process was repeated and requirements changed. After a political odyssey, nobody wanted to work on that problem anymore and the public was better to be kept uninformed. A place in a weak economical area was selected with the for us now surprising fact: important geological aspects to be considered were ignored and a bad choice was made.
Well, the politicians served the people of its time. These politicians don’t have to now think of solving problems because there are retired or already dead.
Can they be blamed? Yes and now. Yes, because responsibility was not properly taken and this knowingly. But also No, because nobody really expects to others that cutting the own hand off shall be done.
Well, that is the real world we live in. The system in place focuses mainly on today and tomorrow but does not much care of the day after tomorrow. Shall we be forgiven of what we are doing? No. It can not be. We are doomed and to be damned. Taking responsibility? We all should but the systems we live in are designed for profit and growth. Growth can not happen forever. We have only 1 earth. I think of the Petri dish: when the point is reached that this environment is taken, big suffering will start.
… but what am I thinking about this? I, and several generations after me will be already gone. Who cares about the day after tomorrow? .. or may be there are some who do?