There may be an indisputable fact: Politics has finished quite a lot of hurt to humanity. Whichever method you debate this assertion, politics and its ramifications have proved to be a lethal enterprise.
In response to out there info, by the point World Warfare I used to be over, greater than 16 million troopers and civilians have been useless. And World Warfare II claimed 70 million lives.
Destruction
Along with the lack of human lives, the destruction of infrastructure ensuing from battle is immeasurable ― residential services, factories, roads, bridges, massive agricultural enclaves, heavy army and civilian gear, forests and even rivers.
All this within the title of politics ― which is outlined as “the actions related to the governance of a rustic or space, particularly the controversy (or battle) between events having (or searching for) energy.” That may be a simplified definition of a fairly advanced beast referred to as “politics”.
You’d assume that “actions related to the governance of a rustic or an space” ought to be a straight-forward and peaceable endeavor. However no, politics is an intricate, multifaceted, and knotty job with dire penalties when issues go mistaken.
Human complexity
The explanation politics typically goes mistaken is that it’s executed by human beings who’re as advanced as politics itself. As somebody has put it, “Give meals to the hungry and you’re a philanthropist that everyone praises. However ask why there is no such thing as a meals and also you’ve strayed right into a political enviornment the place you can be castigated as an opposition being.
Big sums of cash utilized in manufacturing fighter plane, submarines, missiles, tanks, refined machine weapons and land mines go down the drain as a result of battle. Examine the causes and evolution of all wars and you will see that them related to politics.
The day we drove previous harmful land mines in South Sudan and have been advised, “What you see over there are land mines,” I may odor the unhealthy odour of the political battle which that nation was engulfed in.
That very same unhealthy odour of politics reached my nostrils in Sierra Leone when my host advised me, “Let’s go to the amputees.” And after I noticed women and men and kids with their arms chopped off, I wept. The ravages of the civil battle in that nation, fought within the title of politics, are nonetheless seen to this present day.
Those that have been in Nigeria throughout the Biafra battle ought to inform us in the event that they didn’t odor the identical repulsive odour.
World Warfare III
If you happen to assume World Warfare III has not but occurred, revise your notes. World wars are being waged throughout the globe on all six continents. Watch out for politics, I say, for it’s the fires that stoke these wars.
In Africa, we’ve had our heavy share of politics-related warfare: civil wars, tribal conflicts, guerilla wars, electioneering violence, apartheid, coup d’états, genocides, ethnic cleansings, mau mau, and different politically motivated aggression.
At our personal backyards right here in Ghana, coups, chieftaincy, paramountcy and land disputes are sometimes steeped in native politics with distressing penalties. But the warlords and warmongers claimed they have been combating to liberate the individuals from tyranny.
Politics of wealth
Politics in Africa assumes one other dimension in its definition to incorporate wealth acquisition. Within the title of serving the individuals, many individuals enter politics to amass wealth and attain it large time.
Such individuals overlook Paul’s admonition that the insatiable quest for wealth has destroyed many consciences and shipwrecked the religion and lifetime of many (1 Timothy 1:19).
It’s wickedness, due to this fact, that politicians, within the warmth of their political campaigns, fail to grasp that politics is a time bomb whose set off they maintain of their shaky fingers.
However, can we get rid of politics from our life as humanity? Definitely not. In reality, politics, like human relationships, is virtually unavoidable. It’s because just about every little thing we do has political undercurrents.
However ― and that is the principle thrust of our discourse ― there’s the necessity to watch out for politics and remember that politicking is a time bomb in all jurisdictions and generations.
Tug-of-war
After I observe our present politics, I see a tug-of-war the place two opposing forces are pulling the citizens aside. Moreover the chaotic outpouring of marketing campaign guarantees that we hardly perceive and don’t imagine, there’s additionally the beating of battle drums and the wailing of battle cries. Scary, to say the least.
If politics have been merely a recreation of tug-of-war, the stronger group would pull down the weaker one and easily clap away their victory. However the politics we’re doing on this nation doesn’t resemble a recreation in any respect. Quite, it resembles a deadly tug-of-war the place the winner and the loser can plunge the nation into warfare.
We will stop any approaching violence if we do not forget that the life-and-death quest to realize political energy can turn into a time bomb ready to blow up.
A tug-of-peace, fairly than a tug-of-war, factors to a extra sustainable democracy that ensures nationwide growth, not mayhem that factors to nationwide destruction.