Bill Anderson: Compliments to the chef!

We are, none of us, immune to a compliment, especially when it comes from the most unlikely of places. However much we would like to feel that our egos lie dormant and that we are not driven by them, there is a spark of ego or a feeling of justification which springs to life when a compliment is paid. The trick is not letting it take over or allowing it to turn into arrogance and self-importance.

I have been placed at Number 13 on the electoral list, a good bit lower than in 2019. I accept it as a done deal. What this means is that if we do not get an absolute majority, no small feat in today’s political ambience, I will be back teaching classes at the University. Having said this, there are worse things in life as I enjoy my work with students.

In several conversations with people who politically are not supposed to be supportive of the opposition, I was told that they have decided not to give me a hard time during the electoral campaign, and trust me, everyone is obliged to give everyone a hard time who is not on their list. The given reason was that they valued the work I have been doing over the last 4 years and recognised that it was more focused on supporting the International Community than it was about insulting and challenging the governing team. I take that as a compliment.

As I have written about many times, I have never liked the world of politics. It is fundamentally dishonest and driven by ego and the desire for power. The irony is that often when this desire becomes a reality, there are those who simply don’t know what to do with it, so they use it not for the benefit of others, but to feed the ego. Nothing wrong with having an ego, but to be driven by it never leads to a good place. In my ideal world, all politicians should be working for the same end: the benefit of the people who pay their salaries. There were times when I stopped myself from falling out with people because I knew that one day I might need their help to solve a problem.

In local politics, you don’t get to make a maiden speech. This is maybe a good thing because there are so many in the political world who think that more words mean more content and we could have been there all day and into the night listening to their content-free ramblings. But had it been the case that the maiden speech was a reality, I would have wanted to remind people that we were all there under the same conditions, by the will of the people, and that we had an obligation to work together for the benefit of the people, and not to feather our own nests.

I was also humbled by very kind words from local civil servants who in their work lives have to be apolitical, congratulating me on the way I have gone about my day-to-day work.  We need to make a change in the way local politics is done and whatever happens on May 28 will not change my mind on this. Thank you for the compliment.