Lockington's Everyday Fiji ... Life Goes On

Allen Lockington is a self-employed customs agent and business consultant who has regular articles published in www.connectme.com.fj/news/opinion. I thank Allen and Connect for permission to reprint some of them in this political blog. They remind us that life goes on, whatever the political situation. And it's good to know that.

Politricks

 

I was watching a documentary about politics and was amused when it said that all societies are the same. From politics, to families, to communities, to education and even the church - money is the main driving force.

One example is tobacco. Smoking is bad for the health but we can’t shut the factory down because it generates a lot of excise tax for the government. We put aside health issues for the sake of money. Ironically we spend millions of dollars on people who have been affected by the ills of smoking.

I learnt that all societies are driven by powerful business people. They have the final say because they are the biggest contributors a government’s coffers.

And I also learnt that politicians do not do much when they are in power. It’s the tacticians and engineers who actually do the work, they have the ideas and the plans, and the politician just goes and discusses when the plans have to be implemented. Most of the elected politicians are not trained in technical work.

During elections one word that becomes prominent is ‘manifesto’. It sounds like ‘hey presto.’ Magicians use it when doing their tricks.

A word coined by Bob Marley comes to mind - politricks. It means what it sounds like.