The Politics of Desire and Self-Interest

Ancient Wisdom warns us: “A people are known by how they treat the weakest and poorest among them.”  And, “The strength of a people is not measured by their power and wealth but by the integrity of their spirit and the compassion of their hearts.”

This election year is quite revealing about who we are as a people.  We are angry.  That is a given.  We are fed-up with politics as usual.  That’s a no-brainer.  We also can’t stand “Professional Politicians.”  That’s obvious.  Indeed, we seem to be more politically driven by the things that we can’t stand rather than things we might stand for.  We are more impassioned by that which we hate and distrust and fear and dislike than anything else.

We like the so-called political “outsider,” the non-professional politician.  Why?  Apparently we like the politician that looks and talks and acts like us—one that reflects what we’re feeling, how we’re thinking, what we want.

And what exactly does that look like? 

Like this: rude and crude, fearful and defensive, distrustful and alienating, selfish and self-centered; also proud and arrogant, grasping and protective—looking out for one’s own rights and one’s own privileges, and to hell with everybody else.  Apparently that’s what such a politician looks like, when reflecting who we are as a people.

We want safety and security.  We want to prosper.  We want happiness.

Therefore, we will apparently elect anyone willing to do anything it takes, to give us what we want.  This is the politics of desire and self-interest and it is a recipe for disaster.

When we are more concerned about getting money than we are about how we are getting it; that is, when we are willing to prosper at the expense of others, we are heading for trouble.

When we are more concerned about our safety and security than we are about being compassionate, merciful and just, we are heading for danger.

When we are willing to oppress and dispose of the weak and needy among us, in order to ensure our own prosperity, we are surely heading down a self-destructive path.

And when we are quick to judge, condemn, reject, and cast out those who think, believe, and feel differently than we do, heaven help us.