How To Maintain Your Balance In A Politically Charged Atmosphere

There are times when love is in the air and everything seems perfect. But love is blind to faults and obvious biases — and any contrary views held by others can cause an end to long-held friendships in response — as a safety fuse to protect the blossoming love.

Politics plays out in much the same way as love does and so are other emotive subjects as gender and religion. We may be a lover, a brother, a boss, a parent, a member and many more roles all in one including a political supporter. There are times when our various roles conflict and tend to stick out more at the expense of the others.

A position taken may isolate your child in school for no fault of his or a job can be lost for a stand taken and all because of aligning to someone who you are not known to. But just like love is, all the other roles that we play including political leanings never leave us for interests must be affirmed or sought at all times. Yet we must maintain our balance to function well. So we must look at politics as a part of a whole and not as an independent whole. Let us use a car to illustrate the point.

And so that you don't catch feelings this early, please know that no part of the car is of more importance than the other. Size and functions differ, but it is incomplete without any single piece.

A traditional combustion engine fitted car has thousands of parts without which the automobile won't function well or even at all.

The engine needs all the natural elements to function. Air, fuel, water and heat. The heat, air and fuel must mix in the right proportions to produce the power needed to run the engine. If water enters this mix, the engine malfunctions as the water is needed in a separate chamber of the same engine to cool it just as the engine oil separately held also lubricates the moving parts to keep the engine efficiencies at optimal levels.

The steering system plays the parental role for behind it a stable person is needed to steer it to and from planned destinations. It is never the politicians behind the wheel but if they do, the car won't get back home.

The tyres are the friends. They are necessary all the time but as their importance wears out, they get replaced.

The engine represents the total population. One nation but with people and communities playing different roles in keeping the socio-economic systems running.

If you thought that politics was the engine or even the fuel, you are wrong. The fuel represents the relatives. They light up when we are all doing well and they show up at the least expected times like flooding the plugs and misfiring the system. They are family and a source of identity nonetheless.

The shock absorbers are the religious groups. They grieve with you and solve your hard problems without complaining. Bad shocks can cause an accident or aid in the sustained damage of several parts in the car. They must always work well. When well, they make your life journey smoother.

The sensors across the entire car are the law and order system. And only available in newer or more advanced civilizations. Sometimes they act as expected and at times, they are a nuisance and especially when they are helping the bad guys. When a temperature sensor fails, it gets the car to keep sending excessive amounts of fuel into the combustion chamber and causes havoc.

So who are the political class? They are the lighting system. The headlamps, foglights, cabin lights and blinkers.

The headlamps, just as politicians are work best at night and are not as useful during the day, they are off in the daylight for that is our time to see for ourselves. Some work best as indicators and other work best in cold weather as the foglights do. Some politicians are the brake lights, if they don't work, the tailing cars may knock us. They can never be the engine because they are there for a season and a reason as voted for by the engine, (the society). Politicians exist to shed light and not to shade it from us. Ladies, is it fair to liken politicians to anything in the salon? Not the blow drier, perhaps the pedicure tool for scraping off the cuticle.

So why spend more time politicking instead of checking and balancing all the other roles?

Today, as we speak, the people who demonstrate resilience in the face of harsh economic times, are those that keep politics at bay. They serve in their roles religiously and deliver their results as if nothing is the problem. The lights depend wholly on the battery which in turn relies on a properly functioning alternator.

The alternator depends on a running engine to symbiotically supply it with the electric power needed to fire the plugs. The engine and the lights source their power from the battery that represents a functioning energy reservoir. The car won't function without a battery but it will run without lights.

A good battery assures us of good policies and good sensors will tell you when to pay attention to it. We must ensure that we are focused on keeping the engine running smoothly before we think of the lights.

The battery is the civil service. It keeps the engine and sensors all working and has its usefulness felt everywhere. They are many times apolitically political but they must be fully charged to function well.

Do not allow the lights to get you thinking that they are a euphemism for a whole car. If you keep playing your part and encouraging others to do the same, everyone shall eventually play their part well.

The private sector is the alternator. It ensures that everything — the economy included, is well powered but it needs the engine to function for that is where the market is.

When everyone is allowed to be an unregulated salesman, we cultivate conmen. We cannot all be politicians for we make bad ones if our calling is elsewhere. We will know them by their fruits. If they are not shedding light, then they are something else other than politicians.

Play your role or the car burns down. By the way, lights comprise less than 10% of the car's surface area, why should they occupy 90% of your mind? There are many other things to do, and they must be done very well. As for the politicians, please stop overrating yourselves, your job is kumulika for your constituents and not kufunika. Mhh.