Politics is the opiate of the people

In September 2018, while President Donald Trump was addressing a political rally in Montana, a young man, who was later known as the “plaid shirt guy”, stood behind the president smirking and making uncomplimentary gestures. He was soon spotted and removed by the president’s security detail as were two other young men beside him who were not showing enough enthusiasm to Trump’s speech. They were quickly replaced by two attractive and enthusiastic supporters.

Apparently the “plaid shirt guy” and the two others had been selected at random to stand behind the president and show enthusiasm.

In the world of politics, paying protesters, supporters and rabble rousers is nothing new.

The world of professional protesters and paid crowds is a murky one. The practice is known today as “astroturfing”, a term which suggests synthetic turf being laid at events that are seemingly organic, grassroots efforts. Greeks, Romans and even some 19th century Parisians knew a thing or two about this approach to securing the illusion of popular support, and applied it in games, theatre, courts, and even at funerals.

Verbal acclamation was important in the ancient world. Literacy levels were low, and soundscape of politics was such that verbal and visible support in certain venues could mold the perception of the public. In the 50s BCE, Cicero would note that the best places for people to express their views were at public speeches, polls, games, and gladiatorial shows. These were places where politicians mixed with the masses.

In the Kenyan context, funerals are popular spaces for expression, and we tend to perceive high or low attendance at death rituals as a commentary on the deceased and their kin. We have paid professional mourners in certain communities and politicians never miss an opportunity to attend and sway the crowds at “good” funerals.

Long before Shakespeare wrote the play As You Like It, the Greek philosopher Democritus is said to have commented that, “The world is a stage; life is a performance; you come, see, you go away.”

One of the most frequently quoted statements of Karl Marx is: “Religion is the opiate of the people.” In his 2008 article in the Daily Toreador, Shane Nassiri tells us, in context, Marx was speaking of religion as a condition that arose to help humanity cope with its struggles. He believed that calling on mankind to give up religion would be tantamount to asking them to give up on the conditions of life that require what he saw as a coping mechanism.

The metaphor of opium can be seen as Marx’s view of religion being a painkiller and something that dulls the mind.

When Marx made this statement, opium was legally available and widely prescribed. Perhaps in today’s context when opium is viewed rather differently, that statement should read “Politics is the opiate of the people.”

There is this false optimism that somehow our political process will offer the cure for all that ails our society. If we only elect the “right” candidate, we can solve the problems that we face. Riding on this false optimism of the voters, what ensues is a concerted effort by either candidate to cast the other as a wrong choice that will bring certain gloom.

This is where the paid ranks of hecklers, goons and clappers come in handy to show that their side has more support than the opposing side. Much like mourners or sports fans we like to believe that these protesters and supporters are motivated by emotion and conviction and are not tainted by the exchange of money. A nice ideal, but we know that this has never been a political reality. There is always a market for a well-timed “boo” or applause, for good or for ill. Social media has expanded this space considerably in recent times, but its reach is limited to social elites in Kenya.

Unfortunately, as in times gone by, the proletariat who are in the most dire need for positive change of their social and economic circumstances, are the most gullible and easily fall for these political sideshows. They also happen to be the most reliable of voters to turn up at the polling booth religiously placing all their hopes on that one candidate. Corralled into voting booths to support the candidate they perceive to support their issues, or vote against the candidate that opposes their issue, they are drugged into believing that these are the issues that will guarantee the vitality of the nation.

The reality is that most people become not supporters of a candidate but opposers of other candidates and they vote accordingly. They are convinced by the campaigns not to vote for what they believe in but to vote against what they do not. The people are distracted by the false feud that seems to exist between the parties.

Until we can break the stranglehold of “them against us”, we are unlikely to see true change in our country. As our forefathers fore saw we need to “Let all with one accord, build this our nation together.”

Notwithstanding, we find ourselves taking the opium every election cycle, hoping that this dose will be enough to do what the last one failed to do.

Can we leave the opium bottle on the shelf this time around and address the real issues or is it too late already?