The Arrogance Of Politics

We have seen some astonishing displays of arrogance recently in politics. First we had the EU referendum in the UK, where almost no politician thought that the vote would be in favour of leaving and consequently failed to put a coherent argument for either remain or leave. This was quickly followed by the election of Donald Trump in the USA. Apart from Trump's own team, who were paid to state the positive to the media, nobody in the establishment thought he stood a hope.

Well both things happened due to the arrogance of the establishment refusing to believe that anyone would vote for Brexit or Trump because to do so was to vote against the Establishment itself. After years of having their ego stroked, politicians had mostly developed their egos to the size of the average skyscraper, which in turn had bred in them an arrogance of almost megalithic proportions. They are totally out of touch with the groundswell of opinion and were not prepared for what happens when ordinary men and women make their feelings known.

This arrogance is still on display again with those who seek to somehow stop the withdrawal of the UK from the EU because "the public made a mistake, they must realise we are better off in the EU". The same is true of the people marching against the election of Donald Trump in the vain hope that they can somehow swap him in the dead of night for a Hillary.

I am not saying that either winning vote was the right outcome for their respective countries, but I am staggered that politicians on both sides of the pond are still trying to overturn the results. I would have thought that elected representatives are charged with doing what is right for their country, not what fits best with their own ideology.

This self belief is so strong, they are even prepared to lie to the voting public to get their preferred result. The scare stories about what would happen to both economies is a prime example. Had we believed the harbingers of doom, the Uk's economy would have been on its knees by August 2016 and the USA would be entering a similar economic decline. The opposite has turned out to be true and, whilst there are no doubt some adjustments in terms of currency rates and share prices to be made, both nations are in a good position to prosper.

It is high time that politicians ceased their ego stroking and thought about the long term good of the country they represent, instead of short term goals followed by a program of after dinner speaking engagements when they leave office.

Note the term leave office. In any other sphere, leaving office after flying high would be failure. But with an ego the size of a skyscraper, the only admission of failure is seen as the failure of the people in not recognizing what was in their best interest.