A commonly held view amongst many opposition activists is that the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) enjoys unparalleled monopoly of enlisting idiots and sociopaths in its register while the opposition parties on the other hand boast of brainpower. This view is held on account of BDP’s long standing failure to appeal to and draw a large number of degree holders and intellectuals and into its ranks. For many years, the BDP was thought to be the political sanctuary of the unschooled villagers and lice-infested snobs who pride themselves in their low class status and their willingness to be screwed left, right and centre. In effect, many people with a decent education vowed never to associate with the party and a few who did so were categorized as sell outs and shameless opportunists.
Whereas this narrative is not entirely accurate, it nevertheless points to a paradox wherein many of those who offer wholesale support to the BDP are mainly people who have been marginalized and impoverished by the BDP policies. It is unimaginable that victims of abuse could be the very same people who cheer on and actively aid their tormentors unless the victims are a special breed with unusual low intelligence. Since the attainment of political independence in 1966, the BDP has enjoyed overwhelming support from villagers. Up to this day, these visibly underdeveloped rural villages remain BDP’s strongholds. Good grief!!
This perspective does not in any way seek to ridicule those who, for one reason or the other, missed out on educational opportunities and have coincidentally prostituted with the BDP. The conjecture rather seeks to unravel these voters’ loyalty to the BDP and its implication for the opposition parties’ electoral fortunes. It is opined that the opposition’s share of idiot-bashing or the marginalization of the dirty masses from the party and/or the opposition’s obsession with brainpower has played a significant contribution in their continued failure to wrestle power from the BDP in spite of their thoughtful and convincing alternative policy pronouncements. This probable scenario brings us to the core of my thesis which is that Botswana’s opposition parties must have their own ‘useful idiots’. If we be honest enough; if we do not allow emotions to take the better of us, there is certainly some benefits to be derived from idiots and low life peers.
In political discourse, they have what is called useful idiots. This phrase was supposedly coined by Lenin to refer to Westerners duped into saying things about bad regimes. It is generally a term for people who are actively involved in a political chess game that they are not fully aware of. Such people are by all intent and purposes, used by their masters even though they (idiots) are often given prominent roles to fool them into thinking that they are indeed important and appreciated. At times such people are also called ‘useful fools’ which literally implies that they are used to the benefit of others and are actually held in contempt.
On this note, one can safely argue that the BDP has been smart and has outfoxed the opposition by consciously accommodating idiots of all make and shape, useful and useless and giving them corresponding responsibilities in the party to nurture a sense of belonging and make them feel at home and indeed a central part of the BDP’s life system. Significantly, a few have been allowed or helped to progress and become MPs ostensibly to brand the BDP as a party that values the contribution of all members of society irrespective of their educational achievement or social class. The strategy has been to propel a few hopeless citizens who would be used as reference point in branding the BDP as a party that prides itself in developing the political talent of seemingly hopeless people who would not have the slimmest chance elsewhere. This has tended to assure citizens across the intellectual spectrum that the BDP is where they can kick-start their journeys to political stardom.
Essentially, idiots have a variety of uses in party politics. Parties do use them to galvanize their equals in the recruitment processes and during campaigns. It is often pretty difficult for the learned chaps to speak the language of the ordinary folks. Thus, political parties that use the low lives to get their party message across are guaranteed a large. (idiots attract idiots). In any case, it is emotionally exhausting to reason with someone who hardly shares your perspective.
The reason the BDP has been able to endlessly screw voters who nevertheless see the party as their only hope is because it is often much easier to make fools blame it on pre-determinism so that they come to accept that their poverty has been divinely determined in advance and cannot be changed by mere mortals. This explains why attempts by the opposition to use class warfare as a political weapon have failed dismally. Consequently, the only logical way out of this predicament is for the opposition to grow its on swath of idiots whose swagger is clearly a necessity in Third World politics.
Poet Alexander Pope remarks that fools rush in where angels fear to tread. Thus, established political parties often use idiots to do their dirty job; to do what sane people would be ashamed to do even for a handsome reward. For instance, British politics once were rocked by a scandal that came to known as Cash for Questions in which some members of parliament were paid to ask very simple and sycophantic questions with readily available answers with a view to portray the Executive arm of government as effective, knowledgeable and on top of their game.
In effect, this practice has since spread across the globe. However, identifying MPs who are cut for this silly role by virtue of their being at the lowest point of the IQ scale has often proved a challenge especially when the majority of legislators are people with intelligent levels above the confines of mediocrity. This situation points to the need to have readily available lowlife activists who naturally are always willing to take on whatever low task is available for them especially pet-type party chores.
It mustn’t therefore come as a surprise that in Botswana we have had occasions where some ruling party MPs had asked effortless, insignificant and meaningless questions that could be confidently answered by a pre-school loafer. Such stupid questions with obvious answers are nevertheless intended to fool voters into believing that Cabinet Ministers are knowledgeable about the daily operations in their ministries and overall that, everything is rolling out accordingly. This tends to raise public confidence in the ruling party especially given the ordinariness of party members a majority of the citizens. Thus, it is suicidal to underestimate the value of idiots and their contribution to party politics.
Bearing in mind that freedom square politicking is a competitive and action-oriented activity, the need to have people with a combative, carefree and uncivil personality to pull the strings in an unfamiliar territory cannot be overemphasized. Cultured and well-mannered politicians often struggle to cope with the rudeness of combative competitors hence they surely need low value persons to take care of their equals. Such people are literally used as human shield by taking the flak of behalf of their masters (there are probably many of them that you know).
This explains why respectable and learned politicians always have an army of idiots at their disposal. Giving certified idiots the limelight gives them a sense of sophistication and make them feel like they have come out tops. In short, idiots ÔÇôboth useful and useless- enjoy being good losers for they have a poor sense of life. Most importantly, unlike the schooled fellows who are hardly satisfied with power and their possessions, idiots are easy to placate and by extension easy to manage owing to their lack of ambition. From here on learned idiots ought to introspect and repent to rediscover their worth n local politics.
