Public opinion— the ghost in collective consciousness

One can hardly predict the zeitgeist from an event…

For example, even though Queen Marie Antoinette was innocent, public opinion still found her guilty of the diamond scandal, and the culprits innocent. Perhaps the reason why top PR firms are close to big corporations and politics.

They provide a very important service — gauging public opinion. When the feedback from the ghost in collective consciousness is not assessed elections are lost, companies go out of business, and revolutions happen.

When leaders fail to keep abreast with public opinion, they do so at their peril.

We can change politics

The saying, “Politics is a dirty game” is not an epicurean position. It is an admonition to well meaning people so they understand that they will encounter people whose values and ideas might not align with theirs. It does not mean that politics is for dirty people.

The same way ‘good people’ do not necessarily make good managers, politics requires a unique set of skills and attributes. We need a plethora of ideas— arguments and counter arguments. The more the amount of progressive ideas we have in the pool, the better it is for humanity.

Unnecessary Begging

I really hope that things can change through advocacy and education, but history keeps reminding me that it is impossible. The best you get is little reforms here and there with no lasting progress, hence the efforts for instance in the US to roll back the tides. By and large, whenever a group is oppressed, it is often down to that group to pull itself together against all odds and find relevance. No group has ever secured a place at the table by ‘begging’ to be accepted or considered. As difficult as it is we need to dig even deeper to find resolve to be self sufficient. Once that is achieved, then the power balance changes automatically. In the words of Fela, “unnecessary begging”. In the words of Fela, “unnecessary begging”.