FOR SALE: Principles, Barely Used

Day 1,918, 05:40 • Published in United Kingdom United Kingdom • by Alexander Solari
In the eUK, we are fortunate to have a vibrant and dynamic political culture. The debate that such a culture can spawn is healthy. Desired, even. Arguments—informed by deeply held principle and delivered with a healthy dose of respect—have the power to shape the lives of every citizen, regardless of their creed, for the better. But what happens when principal has a price, and loyalty can be bought and sold?

When I earned the right to participate in our government, I was treated to an endless parade of sloganeering and enticements: job offers, handouts, and promises of patronage. Two parties—One Vision and New Era—were especially shameless in their pursuit. I can’t say that I fault them for adopting such a cynical strategy. After all, who doesn’t love free stuff? I do. You do.

But what does it have to do with principle? After all, parties are ways for citizens to identify with, and advance, shared principles. Bribery—because that's what this is—doesn’t contribute to the national dialogue in any meaningful way. Instead, it smothers any genuine attempt to craft solutions to the serious challenges we face as as a nation. It cheapens the value of new ideas by reinforcing the insidious notion that parties exist to be little more than kleptocratic organizations. It treats you—the voter—like a child, by offering you a pacifier when you are instead crying out for principled leadership.

Whatever your political persuasion, this is surely a point upon which we can all agree: when any one party engages in it, others are sure to follow, and our nation begins a collective race to the bottom. It’s a toxic practice that cries out for reform. I am new, but I am not naive. I know that spirited competition between political philosophies can only strengthen us collectively. And we will need that strength if we are not to be content with a long and inevitable slide into irrelevance on the world’s stage.

The institutions upon which we all rely—take for granted, even—exist only so long as they are strong enough to withstand any force, domestic or foreign. If we make the job easier for those who might stand to benefit from the failure of those institutions, we fail in our obligations to ourselves and each other. That is why I am a reformer.