I HAD to email my local TV News today.
for the past few days it has been exposed that the leader of the opposition party here cheated on his wife (the wife whom he admittedly had an affair with before he left his former wife).
People interviewed on the street; people I've spoken to on local forums; interviewed political supporters of said leader - have all been trying to suggest "it's none of our business."
There was an equally important ethics-based issue in local politics in the past month. In summary it was saying that anything a politician does while seated (rather than standing addressing the house) should not be reported on by the media. TV3 News was banned from parliment for a day because they screened footage of a politician childishly flipping off (doing 'the finger') to another member... while seated. -- They're in essence saying 'politicians should be respected because we don't know how they really act rather than because they act respectably,' What an insane rule to have when politicians in a democracy are supposed to be public servants.
But anyway, on that first matter, it really made me think about ethics and apathy regarding politics, not to mention that which disgusts me the most---hypocrisy.
There was a great guest on the current affairs show right after the news the other night explaining one reason why it should be our business what he has done (because both this leader and the woman he's having an affair with are political figures) and yet today still the idiotic 'none of my business' remarks are the public opinions.
If ethics isn't about how things ought to be rather than how things are, why don't all the people who think it isn't our business or anything disconcerting that politicians are deceitful and untrustworthy as we've cynically come to expect of them go open the cell doors to let out all the pedophiles and murderers who're locked up so that I can respect of their ethics that they aren't ridiculously hypocritical -- I mean hey, what do you expect of a pedophile but child abuse, what do you expect of people with anger and poverty but murder, that's just how people are, it's none of our business, they should carry on doing as they wish with us thinking no less of them.
obviously more time needs to be devoted to the matter since it seems some people are really hard to get through to. Surely it's important that people at least come to see a distinction between our apathetic expectations of politicians and what should be expected of them.
This matter, to me is worse than the latter idea I mentioned because at least that is about our being ignorant to the facts, where as this is our knowing them and being utterly foolishly apathetic toward them.
anyways, I thought I'd post that, see what peoples take on it is, this being such an international forum. and maybe see if anything similar has happened where you are, or if it makes you think of anything to do with social apathy or hypocritical ethics or what should be expected in democracy.
for the past few days it has been exposed that the leader of the opposition party here cheated on his wife (the wife whom he admittedly had an affair with before he left his former wife).
People interviewed on the street; people I've spoken to on local forums; interviewed political supporters of said leader - have all been trying to suggest "it's none of our business."
There was an equally important ethics-based issue in local politics in the past month. In summary it was saying that anything a politician does while seated (rather than standing addressing the house) should not be reported on by the media. TV3 News was banned from parliment for a day because they screened footage of a politician childishly flipping off (doing 'the finger') to another member... while seated. -- They're in essence saying 'politicians should be respected because we don't know how they really act rather than because they act respectably,' What an insane rule to have when politicians in a democracy are supposed to be public servants.
But anyway, on that first matter, it really made me think about ethics and apathy regarding politics, not to mention that which disgusts me the most---hypocrisy.
There was a great guest on the current affairs show right after the news the other night explaining one reason why it should be our business what he has done (because both this leader and the woman he's having an affair with are political figures) and yet today still the idiotic 'none of my business' remarks are the public opinions.
If ethics isn't about how things ought to be rather than how things are, why don't all the people who think it isn't our business or anything disconcerting that politicians are deceitful and untrustworthy as we've cynically come to expect of them go open the cell doors to let out all the pedophiles and murderers who're locked up so that I can respect of their ethics that they aren't ridiculously hypocritical -- I mean hey, what do you expect of a pedophile but child abuse, what do you expect of people with anger and poverty but murder, that's just how people are, it's none of our business, they should carry on doing as they wish with us thinking no less of them.
obviously more time needs to be devoted to the matter since it seems some people are really hard to get through to. Surely it's important that people at least come to see a distinction between our apathetic expectations of politicians and what should be expected of them.
This matter, to me is worse than the latter idea I mentioned because at least that is about our being ignorant to the facts, where as this is our knowing them and being utterly foolishly apathetic toward them.
anyways, I thought I'd post that, see what peoples take on it is, this being such an international forum. and maybe see if anything similar has happened where you are, or if it makes you think of anything to do with social apathy or hypocritical ethics or what should be expected in democracy.
