Listen / Read
This is where I usually start swearing. So, in turn, this is where I try my best not to. Judge not lest ye be judged/let he who is without sin… blah blah blah.
People who fiddle their books or expenses have always pissed me off. Their careers vary from handyman to solicitor. They often have accountants who do it for them. They can often be heard bragging about their annual income, or flaunting possessions that do the bragging for them. The sums of money involved vary widely too. Sometimes it’s meagre amounts in the grand scheme of things, sometimes it’s quite substantial amounts. Some would argue that it’s all relative, and they’re usually the ones fiddling amounts that sustain struggling families for months.
But whatever the fiddling done by the rest of us, I still don’t think the principle is the same because they are our ELECTED REPRESENTATIVES, chosen by us to RUN THE FUCKING COUNTRY! So it’s a bit FUCKING different.
Judge not lest ye be judged? How about run for public office not lest ye not be in it for the perks? How about let he who is without sin stick to lawyering? How about let they who decide their own pay and expenses system stop whining about how it’s just a few bad apples and get an independent body to sort it out?
A response that keeps coming back from politicians over any ‘mistakes’ they make is: ‘we’re only human too, you know, we’re just like the rest of you’. Or something along those lines. And we know only too well that they’re only human, and just like the rest of us. And we don’t really expect them to be superhuman or anything. We just expect them to treat their election to public office as the privilege it is. We simply expect them to honour our votes with integrity. But if they can’t keep their hands off the sweeties then they shouldn’t be allowed in the sweet factory. Because the sweet factory is FUCKING PARLIAMENT and it’s not for making sweeties but for making the laws and policies by which we live our lives and if those making the laws and policies by which we live our lives have got STICKY FUCKING FINGERS then their what hope is there for the rest of us? If politicians can’t regulate themselves, how will they ever regulate the economy?
Indeed, the ironic timing of this all is that we’re currently experiencing what it’s like to be a nation fiddled from the top down. The underlying causes of the economic whateveryouwanttocallit is people fiddling financial systems to make themselves more money than they were reasonably entitled to. This was in no way prevented and in many ways supported by the policies of the lawmakers responsible for economic regulation. Stephen Fry is wrong when he says it’s not important. It’s hugely important because it shows an underlying attitude inherent across the various power holders in our society. All of them think they’re entitled to more than they already have when what they already have far exceeds that of the average citizen.