Most politicians will never admit this but deep down citizens know it, and it’s the truth and nothing but the truth - the personal IS political. 

I shall not go into the feminist history that originally coined the now infamous phrase, but in essence what it means is that most of us interpret political interaction personally and vice versa.

Whilst we like to believe that important political decisions are carefully studied and based on conscientious principles and policies; whilst we would like to believe that decision-makers are well-informed and qualified, in reality, just like the rest of us, they take a lot of decisions based on their gut. Like the rest of us they base a lot of what they do on who they like, who gives them a good feeling and whom they feel they can trust, ultimately making the personal very political.

The personal is precisely why we don’t hire people over email and why we call them in for an interview. Whilst we pretend to be interested in their skills, during a face to face meeting we can establish what they’re like and whether we want them around the office all day. In short, with all the qualifications and experience in the world, if you’ve slept with the interviewer’s girlfriend, chances are you are not going to get hired.

If you’ve been nodding at the above in agreement and you also believe that our politicians, judiciary, and all those who form part of the higher echelons of society are human, then it also stands to reason that a lot of the decisions they take are also based on ‘having a good or bad feeling about someone or something’ or about ‘having felt wronged by someone or not’.

This is why networking and ‘personal friends’ are so important, because the best offers and opportunities are usually divulged over drinks at the bar. In fact, if you knock on someone’s door with a cure for cancer, chances are that unless the person behind the door recognises you from another circle, you won’t be let in.

People in high places tend go back in years. They are most likely to have attended the same school and have carried their friendships or animosities around since then. This sums up the importance of playground alliances, social dinners, drinks, networking and diplomacy. And let’s face it? Whose likely to be more popular? The bright kid with the best grades, or the cool jock with the floppy hair?

And in a country as small as ours, the importance of the personal is even bigger because the effect of being liked or disliked by someone doesn’t stop with that someone, but is extended to their mothers who could be teaching your kids in school, their spouses who could be employing your siblings, and your husband who could be dealing with their firm.

In Malta the personal is SO political that it’s a never-ending web of whims and whines, likes and dislikes, which ultimately dilutes meritocracy to a weak cabbage soup of farts.

 

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