Her name was Maria. She didn't know she was predestined to be president one day. But at her young age, as a first step, all that mattered to her parents was winning the title of the Miss Nepotism beauty pageant. Why can't everyone see how beautiful and charming our daughter is? The encouraging parents said.
Parents knocked on every door in the neighborhood, called distant relatives—those email addresses included in Christmas cards, but names not included in Christmas dinner prayers—and remembered every favor done to their friends since school. primary. Everyone had to buy a ticket, and everyone did. Not because Mary was the most beautiful, but because those who hold power are feared, and even more importantly, they are admired.
And now it's election time. A season when you can't look at the TV, listen to the radio or drive in the city without being harassed by political ads from people you never met, who never cared about you but who suddenly become your new best friends and saviors. A situation that for some reason makes me remember the story of The ant and the grasshopper. Guess who the grasshopper is?
Politics is a necessary evil to operate our complex society. But I consider that there is a factor that corrupts it excessively, Nepotism, which the Oxford dictionary defines as “The practice among those with power or influence of favoring relatives or friends, especially by giving them jobs.” same that we can simplify with other words in: “Taking something you don't deserve,” Because? Because there is someone better prepared for that position.
That's the question I ask myself every time I see political advertising. Is he/she really the best prepared to be president? And to be completely honest most of the time the answer is no.
But nepotism is not exclusive to the political class, it is cultural, and beyond that it can be traced back to our tribal roots or even a matter of the human ego. For example, I frequently receive messages or tags from my contacts on social networks, inviting me, asking me or even ordering me to support their participation—or that of a relative or friend—in a certain contest to win a prize.
I have never received an invitation saying: “Hello, I am participating in the X contest, here is the link, vote or like for the best.” Is it so difficult to ask to “vote for the best” instead of for me? And in the event that you are the best, are you in a position to declare it? Or is it the audience (or voters) who have the right to say it? The same thing happens with politicians.
How can an egocentric politician who flatters himself in commercials act in a humble and selfless manner towards his people?
The policy must change. Politicians must change. But first society must change. Because we are the ones who encourage that behavior, because we admire them, we like people who have power. If we do the right thing, Maria, one day you could become a leader who comes from your people to your people.
It is we who choose between perpetuating the current system or promoting change in society. Nobody else.
M. Ch. Landa
