Will politics be a vocation, profession or trade?
By: Luis Beltrán Guerra G. - 27/08/2023
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Politics is undoubtedly a complex activity. It is read that for Max Weber, "the material needs of the professional do not nullify the need and the charismatic desire, not only because they are expected to win votes and positions, but also, because of the pleasure and enjoyment that working for this type produces." of leader”. And he continues, “a strong boss is gladly obeyed, he also enjoys discipline and keeps even parliamentarians under rule. But there is undoubtedly a price, which is the "de-spiritualization" of the followers, blind obedience. And he warns, there is a leader who becomes "indubitable." Weber is described as a German sociologist, economist, jurist, historian and political scientist. And Anthony Giddens, considered "Britain's foremost contemporary social theorist," On whose considerations the German relies, he establishes that “A certain dose of “Caesarism” is inseparable from the modern State; a party leader must possess the charismatic qualities necessary to acquire and maintain the mass popularity that electoral success can bring. The “plebiscite” leader can use his charismatic appeal to initiate new political lines and move away from established bureaucratic procedures (María Verónica Piccone, Universidad Nacional de la Plata).
“El sage”, as Weber deserves to be called, also analyzes “politics as a profession”, in whose pages he points out “the conditions under which it develops as an activity, concluding with the necessary qualities for the contemporary politician. To do this, he takes as a guide what for him must be understood by "the modern state", a premise for his analysis, since in his opinion "politics and the State are mutually related to each other". In its determinant dimensions: 1. What politics can offer to those who dedicate themselves to it (the feeling of power), wondering how one can live up to that responsibility, 2. It raises three necessary qualities for the politician: a) passion, b) responsibility for the consequences of their actions and c) sense of distance with respect to themselves and things, which qualifies as "realism". Vanity, argues the academic, is the politician's worst vice. He also states that political action is characterized, as history reveals, by the lack of correspondence between the intention and the results. Weber's remarks are still difficult to understand, since they are based on the fact that "politics" is, that is, "the art and science of governing." Therefore, it is not wrong to assert that it causes running when we characterize "the politicians of today." Yes, to those whose vocal chords swell to shout nonsense, which unfortunately lead them to be their subjects. because there is no correspondence between the intention and the results. Weber's remarks are still difficult to understand, since they are based on the fact that "politics" is, that is, "the art and science of governing." Therefore, it is not wrong to assert that it causes running when we characterize "the politicians of today." Yes, to those whose vocal chords swell to shout nonsense, which unfortunately lead them to be their subjects. because there is no correspondence between the intention and the results. Weber's remarks are still difficult to understand, since they are based on the fact that "politics" is, that is, "the art and science of governing." Therefore, it is not wrong to assert that it causes running when we characterize "the politicians of today." Yes, to those whose vocal chords swell to shout nonsense, which unfortunately lead them to be their subjects.
In Venezuela, our country, since 2021 and certainly much earlier, it is written that "Once again, absorbed in our internal problems, in the small internal struggles of leadership, we run the risk of wasting an important situation, a relevant opportunity, on the long road of rebuilding our forces for the crucial moment when the real possibility of defeating the autocracy arises. Because the underlying issue, beyond the events of November, is the weakness of the opposition front after two decades of the Chavista regime. Weakness that is the result of multiple factors, the most important of which has undoubtedly been the anti-democratic and repressive action of the ruling clique, but which has also been influenced by the errors and omissions committed by us. Today we are divided like never before, some former leaders co-opted by the regime, the parties weakened, political action restricted to small ghettos in the national geography, without power or cohesion in the message and, most importantly, in a terrible strategic confusion, between lurches that range from peaceful and electoral struggle, abstention, popular insurrection, through putschism and delirious threats of invasion. All of this has led to a very dangerous despair, to a feeling of orphanhood that has been a breeding ground for increasing the diaspora of some and the anomie of the majority (Politika - UCAB, August 16, 2021). It should be noted that the situation is not exclusive to Caracas,
An abyss between those who exercise politics in Latin America and their categorization as "vocation, profession or trade", if we are honest, cannot be denied. Evidence, the government actions that are being carried out, the counterproductive links between the public powers, which have swallowed the principle of "separation and collaboration between them", since they are at the mercy of the so-called "necessary gendarme", in a perverse mix with mediocrity, in view of which it seems essential to re-read "The Mediocre Man" by Jose Ingenieros, or at least keep in mind the synopsis of the old book: "There are two types of social individuals. The superior and the other (the mediocre and the inferior). The superior man is the one who rises above the determinations of nature and society and erects his own destiny. The superior man clings to a force that he believes to be transcendent even though it is not: the Ideal. The counterpart of this social subject would be the mediocre man and the inferior man. They go so far as to disdain everything ideal and everything pleasant, in the name of what is immediately profitable. Their mental blindness prevents them from understanding the supreme balance between elegance and strength, beauty and wisdom."
The concern, unfortunately, is not exclusive to underdevelopment, since "the qualified countries of the first world" also dwell in "the trilogy" (vocation, profession or trade), including the United States, at the mercy of aggressive presidential campaigns, whose troubles involve the entire nation, worried about their fate. The guardian of the world, with his predicament. Not long ago, unlikely. And in the context of the other countries with definitive levels of development, the cries of concern are getting louder every day.
It is essential, in the humble opinion of this humble writer, that we ask ourselves how we can avoid the wrong path. And which is the one that does not suffer from that cancer.
Comments welcome.
«The opinions published herein are the sole responsibility of its author».