Sometimes people think of politics as a faraway thing, that it’s about elections, voting every five years and about self-interested politicians in Parliament. Some people imagine that if they just don’t talk about elections and political parties, then politics will not matter and they will not have to deal with it in their communities. This is not true.
Politics is not a faraway thing; it is a fundamental pillar of all social groups. Politics is social management, moral posturing, coalition building, striving for a better future, and even cooperative work in pursuit of social and economic goals. Politics is pervasive; this is unavoidable.
The important question for the health of our communities, is what particular kind of political dynamic we have; because this determines what kind of things we do to compete for social status and power and what the overall outcome of that competition is for the community.
If the game is to just to manoeuvre socially, intimidate, coerce and use violence, and be holier than the next guy and thus be entitled to his wealth and women, then people play that game, and we get a nasty outcome.
This is not always open bloody conflict; it can be quite subtle; optimal zero-sum social manoeuvring is often very discreet, low-key, plausibly deniable, patient, and usually appearing to be friendly so that others cannot notice and gang up in reaction.
So even when things look friendly, there may still be a stealthy competition that leads to an overall negative outcome. Does this sound familiar?
On the other hand, if the game is to compete, by providing the most useful service to the group, best value delivered to the customer, and most insightful research produced, then people play that game, and things get better. Science is an excellent example of this.
Modern entrepreneurial capitalism is another example; the rule of law, specific legal and accounting structures, and markets all became functional enough so that the self-interested and corrupt citizens find it easier to become highly productive and positive contributors to the industry.
At the election, every citizen has a choice between the current monkey politics, where the rule of the jungle rules, or political entrepreneurship
So getting politics right or wrong is a matter of vast differences in the outcome quality of our life. When we are stuck in a zero-sum game, status and other political values are exchanged, but nothing is gained over the long term, and we are little better than animals. However, the great thing about man is that sometimes we can get ourselves into these positive-sum games where there are still winners and losers, but the long-term trend is to build and build and accomplish great things for ourselves.
However, what can we do to get politics right in our communities? Sometimes you just can’t get to a good political dynamic no matter what anybody does, but often you can if someone talented puts in a lot of honest work.
That is where political entrepreneurship comes in, and that is what our country needs right now. A political entrepreneur that can lead our country from this zero-sum game that has escalated in the past three years to a decisive and visionary leadership. The political entrepreneur for Malta is Simon Busuttil.
The Nationalist Party, under his leadership, is creating ideas, thoughts, and coalitions, tools that sit outside the normal continuum of everyday politics. The momentum that Busuttil has created is moving faster than the election cycle.
His mission is not to just win an election but to lead and put into practice a vision into the making of a successful story called the Maltese people.
Political entrepreneurship is essential to find new ways of promoting growth, employment and welfare. A political entrepreneur has the potential to be innovative and encourage entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial diversity by essentially challenging the prevailing formal and informal institutions. This is reflected in proposals such as the 360 million guarantee for start-ups proposed in the speech on the budget by Busuttil.
Having a flourishing economy for the mere use of figures and speeches does not make you a political entrepreneur. When you have an economy for the people, where economic growth, means that everyone’s income is growing, sustained with a good quality of life makes you a political entrepreneur.
This is what Busuttil stands for, and this is the core difference between the two leaders of our main parties.
It has been clear for quite some time now that, for the next election, every citizen has a choice between the current monkey politics, where the rule of the jungle rules, or political entrepreneurship, where the rule of law, social justice and a vision for our country led by Busuttil will govern with dedication and transparency in all spheres especially meritocracy.
Ryan Mercieca is a Nationalist Party general election candidate.