By: Keith Miles
Over the centuries ordinary people have learned certain basic ideas that make good sense for the better functioning of society, the family, and the economy.
Some of these might be called folk wisdom and others the thoughts of wise men or religious instructions. Which ever way you look at them they have been proven and tested over time.
It does seem often that our democratic representatives seem to forget common sense and try through rhetoric to convince the voting public of a new or recycled idea that will suddenly make us all happy or rich.
The list is not exhaustive but it is a good test to judge our parliamentary representatives to see how many they score out of the twenty I have chosen. They are not in any particular order so no priorities but I do think the first is the most important
I also think any politician who is humble enough would read them every day.
THE TWENTY SAYINGS POLITICIANS SHOULD READ EVERY DAY
- HONESTY IS THE BEST POLICY
- POWER CORRUPTS AND ABSOLUTE POWER CORRUPTS ABSOLUTELY
- LOOK BEFORE YOU LEAP
- TIME IS MONEY
- A PENNY SAVED IS A PENNY EARNED
- THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A FREE LUNCH
- GOD HELPS THOSE WHO HELP THEMSELVES
- YOU CAN’T ALWAYS GET WHAT YOU WANT
- THE ROAD TO HELL IS PAVED WITH GOOD INTENTIONS
- BETTER LATE THAN NEVER
- ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS
- IF IT AIN’T BROKE DON’T FIX IT
- IF YOU DON’T HAVE ANYTHING NICE TO SAY, DON’T SAY ANYTHING AT ALL
- SLOW AND STEADY WINS THE RACE
- YOU CAN’T HAVE YOUR CAKE AND EAT IT TOO
- TWO WRONGS DO NOT MAKE A RIGHT
- FORTUNE FAVOURS THE BRAVE
- DON’T COUNT YOUR CHICKENS BEFORE THEY HATCH
- DO UNTO OTHERS AS YOU WOULD HAVE THEM DO TO YOU
- IF YOU ARE NOT PART OF THE SOLUTION YOU ARE PART OF THE PROBLEM
Most decent politicians do realise that the word ‘democracy’ come from the two Greek words – demos for people and kratos for rule. So ‘people rule’. Unfortunately the worst politicians get it the wrong way around and think of it as kratos demos, that is rule the people.
It is not only some bad politicians who get it the wrong way around but often the petty bureaucrats in government service or pubic and international institutions.
The success of democracy in improving the lives of all people together with the benefits of free markets and capitalism means that they should bear in mind that they are servants of the people.
As it was written in the gospel of Mark
‘ whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve,’
Even the autocratic Frederick the Great of Prussia thought of himself as ‘ the first servant of the state’.
The goal of the servant leader is to serve not just to lead.
Unfortunately there are always politicians who think they must tell us what to do, so that the world of more and more regulations erodes our freedom. These sort of politicians want more and more tax to carry out their plans and with regulation they are taking very often society down a path of new totalitarianism. The centralisation of power in international institutions often leads the participants from democratic countries to forget that they are only there by permission of the people. Perhaps because they are not directly elected and get their positions by courtesy of other politicians they forget that fact.
As for the list of sayings you will not find many political leaders who score highly.
But probably the most important are sayings number one, number five, number nine, and number twenty.
But most of all politicians and public servants should:
‘NEVER FORGET THAT IT IS OTHER PEOPLES MONEY THAT YOU ARE SPENDING’
