Price of politics pales beside price of freedom

Ursula Feist

No part of the education of a politician is more indispensable than the fighting of elections.
– Winston Churchill

I have been glued to my TV set for weeks. First there were the Olympics, which I enjoyed except for that story of the little girl with the crooked teeth and the lovely voice who wasn’t allowed to sing because she wasn’t attractive enough! Then coverage turned mostly to the drawn-out and nasty US election campaign. Ours seemed almost benign in comparison, but certainly less time-consuming – each candidate promising a cleaner, safer and more peaceful world!

By now someone will have been elected to occupy that chair in the Oval Office – with his own dream realized, but the great American Dream put on the back burner. There is a mess to be cleaned up first. Those who have lost their jobs and savings and can’t afford to retire, or lost their houses, or lost members of their families to the killing fields, have had a shocking awakening.

I can’t imagine why anyone would want to go into politics these days. Who wants to be made mincemeat of in public, have skeletons dug out of the closet, be mindful of every word and move, and always worry about the next morning’s headlines? Politicians lose all privacy and they – and their families – need to develop the skin of a rhinoceros. Instant news didn’t exist years ago, and history was “cleaned up” by whoever authored it. Now, events captured by accidental onlookers with digital cameras blur the line between reporting and surveillance.

Anyone who has ever experienced a malignant dictatorship knows how politics can change one’s life and how vital it is to be informed and vote for the right individual. I lived in Berlin during the Hitler years and know what I am talking about. It has affected my entire life and that feeling of insecurity has not left me. It is incom­prehensible that such government sponsored crimes were at all possible, let alone watched and ignored. To be indifferent invites disaster. We are very fortunate to live in a democracy where governments can change without a drop of blood being spilled, and where freedom of speech and the obligation to count every vote are respected.

On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month this year, as candles are lit and bare-headed solemn-looking politicians lay wreaths at monuments, I’ll be reflecting on what we’ve made of the freedom for which our soldiers sacrificed everything.

Then I’ll shut off the TV, have a cup of tea and go for a walk – I’ll need some fresh air!