Think for Yourself, Don’t be Sheep

Promises delivered by politicians are normally not very far-fetched. They are very achievable and yet we wonder why they still cannot keep their word. Is it because they just needed our votes to walk in high places, be regarded as someone important or to get that fat pay check? I think, all of the above. 
Politicians in the very sense of it can be called as many names as we deem necessary but we all agree that they attempt to lead people to think in a certain direction. This is power.

I call it power because people listen when they speak. People follow when they lead. People fight for them. People almost worship them. Is this not power? I believe in politicians being leaders who can influence people to think in a certain way, behave differently and change their opinions and believe something new. So what really makes the politicians amass followings of great masses and have die-hard fans eating and drinking their words? It is the way they talk.

Let’s start simple. Politicians are leaders, right? Well, who are leaders? Leaders are people who guide others, people who direct others or people who have a commanding authority and influence. But who gives them the commanding authority? Don’t be sheep, think for yourself. It is you and me! How, you say? Simple, through your vote. So we are the ones who give them the right to speak on our behalf and to air our views in the political arena.

Politicians influence people in the way they talk. Most politicians are very good narrators, spokesmen and have good oratory skills. Do pass by the internet sometime and look up qualities of a good leader. I bet you will find good communication skills and confidence as one of the qualities. By all means, I do not subscribe to the thought that politicians are good story tellers. Fact is, most of them are good story tellers while almost all of them are good communicators.

Their communication at all times is laden with promises and expectations. It is amazing how they talk up to a point where the masses are engulfed with the ideologies being spewed back and forth. I do not intend to criticize their messages, all am trying to do is make you understand that their talk is what is most powerful. Their actions nonetheless leaves us worried. For example, how many times have you heard politicians spewing venom on each other only to be seen laughing in parliament the next day over a cup of coffee yet when they talked, they seemed to be holding dearly different opinions?

The kind of communication they exhibit makes people want to follow what they are saying. They start out first with a good story, probably because most of them are good story tellers. If you look at these stories carefully, you will realize that they are filled with imagery that is they have some deeper meaning. Closer home, imagine that politician who always starts with a proverb (kitendawili). Does that mean that he is a wise man just because he always starts with a proverb? No, not at all. Then we should understand that these are skills that the leaders employ in order to get our attention and drive some thoughts into the back of our minds.

So through their communication, we have identified that they know what ticks in people and they make sure they talk about it. So at times we are amazed at how they get very large followings, but it’s just quite simple. They tell people what they want to hear. So in the very end regardless of promises sold, wishes wished, lies told and stories given, they ensure that they can get your attention by telling you what matters to you. Probability is that what matters to you matters to someone else and another person also, therefore, you form the crowd and you subscribe to what the politician says. It’s just very simple.

The only thing that is very worrying is that we at times do not think for ourselves and we let them do our thinking. When we go out on the streets to riot, who is going to cry and choke from the tear gas? When we demonstrate that we need peace, who is going to get a whopping by the police? When we fight amongst ourselves because we do not subscribe to another person’s ideology most likely gotten from a politician, who will bury the slain souls? Then we must think for ourselves and say enough is enough. Let them squabble about in the lawns of the parliament as they drive their fuel guzzlers and laugh with tooth picks in their mouths and we shall till the land and make food for our sons and daughters. We should ensure that we have our best interest at heart and if someone thinks they have our best interest in their hearts, then we should really be careful. Think for yourself.