01/2021 Balance in Politics

The Game


Imagine a long wooden table with twelve men sitting on each side and a heavy iron ball lying on the top end of it.

Task for the 24 persons: toss the iron ball up and down the table. On its way everyone on each side has to touch it exactly one time in turns and give it a push so the ball rolls on a zig-zag path.

There are two specific informations for the players:

1. the ball must reach the bottom end of the table before it can be tossed back to the top.
2. the side which manages to push the ball over the opposite's edge of the table gets one point.

But: there is an additional contradictory but crucial information for the outcome of the game which is withheld from the players:

If the ball really falls off the table, serious problems will occur and all will lose.

The harder one player pushes the ball to one side, the more energy the next player will have to use in order to keep it on the table and push it back into the opposite direction. In the course of the game, on the basis of the two informations the 24 players have, everyone of them will do what he has to do and considers necessary to accomplish the task.

Game-opening scenario:

When the players are assembling in the game room, the usual rumble starts: saying hello and introducing each other, finding a place on a particular side and finally settling down at the table. During this the emcee announces the name of the game: "The Nation's Fate". But are they listening? Are they paying attention? And what will they make of it?

In the above example the 24 players represent politicians and other influential personalities. But I don't think the fate of a nation lies solely in the hands of such persons. Obviously politicians are elected by people and influential personalities get their influence for good reasons. But if we consequently follow this thread of thought, we will see that everyone of us and therefore "the people" always will have to do what we must do according to our position both, in private life and at work. In that sense we are all players who push the iron ball in favour of our own interests and personal goals and for the sake of what/whom we love and appreciate.

When people band together, form parties and elect their leaders they can control the ball a fair bit and steer it in their favoured direction. But if its course brings it too close to one edge of the table, those who are sitting there will become uncomfortable and try to push it back hard.

I think that's where the European nations are today. The iron ball of fate was driven in a particular direction for reasons which made sense back then and were necessary: the two world wars, the question of equality between men and women, social issues, worker's rights, etc. These things needed to get sorted and had to stay as top priorities on the agenda for as long as required in order to achieve a balance.

But as in the above example, there is this missing piece of information saying that the iron ball must not fall from the table and that this is far more tricky and important than scoring.

From what I sense for several years now the turning point has been reached and it needs to be pushed back hard to keep it on the table. The disequilibrium can be observed in all core European nations. After decades of rolling more or less unhampered in one direction it came dangerously close to the edge.

It looks like Great Britain was first to instinctively realise this and now had to start a tremendous effort in order to push a heavy-weight iron sphere back into balance...against its own airspeed and the strenous opposition of those who got used to steering it in the other direction. Therefore the spread of action that needs to be taken seems to be of unexpectedly broad range. It takes a lot of sensibility and prudence to steady the ball and push it back. Endurance as well, not only for politicians and influentials, also for us, - the people. Weights must be shifted carefully step by step, thoroughly rearranging things.

Does the current pandemic help this endeavour? Maybe it does in a way...at least it makes people stop and reconsider. After all everything is up to every single one of us, each in his/her own playing field.

 

 

BerylliumN