(Note: This article is based on my experience in Malta, it may be different for other countries, so YMMV)
Elected Politicians have a tendency to be rich. There are many reasons for this, not-in-the-least the pay they get for doing their job (they got a nice pay rise a few months ago over here). One could argue that becoming an elected Politician requires money, which would imply already being rich. Bribery or 'lobbying' or 'donations' or whatever is the fancy word for it these days helps already. Either way, the end result is that Representatives (I will be using this term instead) are generally much richer than the people they're meant to represent.
Now this raises a question. In Representational Democracies, they are meant to represent the people. But the majority of people don't live in villas, don't have a private chauffeur, nor do they have large amount of shares or their own companies. So how is a Representative supposed to understand the plight of his people? If there is an increase in the price of a basic good, a rich person will not be effected, while the majority of the population will.
So in my opinion, if a person wants to Represent his people, he should live lie his people. He should suffer the problems that the people suffer, and he should work out what needs to be fixed. You don't understand your people from behind the tinted windows of a Limousine, you understand your people by spending 15 minutes waiting on the bus stop in the sun.
So in my opinion, elected officials should be forced to live like the lowest of low. Minimum wage, public transport, and a small house. This way I'm positive that many of the problems which plague us will disappear. In addition, this sort of sacrifice requires true dedication, and you can assume that this person will be enticed to help the country (by raising the bar) instead of helping himself.
Of course this has no chance of happening ever. If only citizens were allowed to pass legislature. I would be very content to see the prime minister waiting for the bus next to me.
Llama
What will happen is these people will take bribes and hide their money while pretending to understand the plight of the common man.
ReplyDeleteWhat Malta needs is better smarter people in government. Think about it, a smart person is not going to give up is 40K Euro a year job to go for a 15K Euro job which is more demanding and stressful.