A Vocação do Poder

The term “politics” refers to the exercise of some kind of power and naturally, to the multiple consequences of this exercise. Defining politics just as being something related to power is not enough for us to understand what politics really is.

Politics has to do with who commands, why he commands and how he commands. In politics we always have that someone who commands another person. Normally the majority is being commanded by the minority. This fact is found in the center of politics. Even though there are many definitions for what politics are, the explanation people use and understand the most is that politics is the study and practice of the canalization of interests with the finality of making decisions.

Why do people become politicians? Normally it is in order to make a change in the world. If there is any kind of injustice for example, some politicians work to undo that injustice. Besides this, there are many other reasons why people become politicians. All over the world we have the good politicians and those who are considered to be bad. The bad politicians are considered to be those who don’t want to really do the work for the people. They do it for self-interest. A good politician would want to help the people because he or she does care about people.

Being a politician isn’t easy at all. There is a lot of work to be done in this area especially when it comes to voting. When there is voting, when this period arrives, there normally are many candidates, like for example governor, president, vice-president or city council. These people don’t have to be famous people. Anyone can volunteer to be voted for. There are cases in which people who have never been candidates before win the elections. The movie Lust for Power (Vocação do Poder) is a great example which clearly shows the above situation.

During election time, around the cities and streets we see a lot of posters with pictures, numbers and other information. This is how the candidates call for people’s attention. It is a way the candidates ask the people to vote for them. People normally prefer voting for someone they have known for long then for a first time candidate. There are others who vote for a first time candidate just for a change or because the candidate for whom they used to vote for deceived them.

Just because these men and women are candidates for some kind of post doesn’t mean that they don’t waste anything by making these posters and calling the media. There is a cost. They are the ones who pay for the material they are using and they need to ask for an authorization in order for them to hang on their posters. There are other candidates who don’t use any poster at all. They prefer to use their voice, which for me, is the most important “element” in politics. They prefer to go around and tell the people themselves that they are candidates and that they hope the people vote for them. This is another act that people admire in politicians and at times, this gesture leads to the voting of that candidate. To some citizens, posters don’t mean anything. Posters don’t say anything in contrast to the voice. Other candidates use the art of music in order to be heard by people. This is another great way of making people listen to you and it spreads not just in your own city, but in other cities as well through internet especially. The character MC Geléia from A vocação do poder (Lust for power) used his music to make the people listen to him. Another gesture that makes people vote for a candidate is if that candidate is worried about helping the poor side of the city. There are some people who make promises about helping the poor sides but they end up not doing anything. This is why at times, some citizens vote for those candidates who don’t make promises at all but are willing to help and do something for the needy.

There are many people who think that being a politician is a very simple thing to do. They think that all it takes to be a politician is have a lot of money. This is wrong. It takes more than money to be a politician. Having money is indeed an important “element”, but there are many more things that politicians need to have to make them good ones. Politicians need to have tranquility, determination, objectivity and charisma. All those characteristics make up a great politician. Besides the above, a politician needs to know how to talk to the people. He needs to know how to convince the people. And this is done by using the voice. If we don’t speak up, if we loose our voice, then it means that we have lost the most important thing that we have.

In politics, we citizens vote for those who will make our voice be heard. We vote for a representative who will gather all our ideas together and take it to the sovereign one. This doesn’t make it any easier to vote. Why is this? This is because there are always too many candidates and there is more than one who is good. This makes it hard for people to decide in whom to vote.

If we stand and think, we will see that politicians aren’t these bad people that many think they are. They are actually normal people like us who fight to make the world a better place. They fight to improve the country and people’s lives. If we didn’t have politicians in the world or candidates willing to improve things, then this world would be total chaos.

Autora: Francine M. Asobo - Relações Internacionais