We don't need name calling, we need issues

Editorial Cartoon

Anna Eleanor Roosevelt, the longest -serving First Lady of the United

States, who held the rank from March 1933 to April 1945 during her

husband President Franklin Roosevelt's four terms in office, is

remembered for a lot of constructive issues and ideas.

During her lifetime the former US First Lady, who worked as a

politician, diplomat, and activist, once produced what could be

described as a brainy quote that remains famous till today.  The quote

says: “Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small

minds discuss people”.

A blogger, author and a freelancer by the name of Ravi Teja Tadimalla,

when asked to give a simple interpretation of this quote, simply

wrote: “Great minds discuss ideas. For example, there is a problem.

Great minds tend to look for the solution. They tend to search for

ideas to avoid future problems of the same kind.

“Average minds discuss events. The people in this category might be

more forward in discussing similar instances when the problem had

occurred before. They neither tried to find a solution for the problem

back then, nor are they trying to do the same now. They are just

talking about the problems, but ideas to eradicate the problem? They

don't seem to think of that.

“Small minds discuss people. Well, these people are just

fit-for-nothings. They merely talk about the people who had caused the

problem, and keep lamenting. All they do is blame the people who were

a reason for the problem. Only their mouths open, and not their

minds”.

Ms Roosevelt’s brainy quote, to some extent, carries the same meaning

as ‘name calling’ whereby politicians often resort to that technique

during election campaigns or public events with the intention of

gaining advantage over, or defending themselves from, an opponent or

critic.

As election campaigns continue, the majority of politicians have lost

focus simply because the politics of personalities are now overriding

issues.  Candidates have deviated from addressing issues to launching

scathing attacks against one another.

Candidates of one camp are indulging in discrediting and disqualifying

candidates of another camp, completely denying the electorates an

opportunity to listen to what each political camp plans to do in case

it is elected on October 25.

Borrowing from Tadimalla’s interpretation of Ms Roosevelt’s brainy

quote, one is likely to conclude that our candidates have turned out

to be people with ‘small minds’ and this is going to have  negative

consequences on the nation because the same people who indulge in

these acts are the ones who are going to be our leaders after the

election.

This nation faces a number of problems ranging from poor education

offered to our children, which is mainly caused by ill trained

teachers, poor remuneration, unconducive learning and teaching

environment, poor health services, shortage of power, unreliable clear

water supply, lack of reliable market for agricultural produce, to

poor infrastructure.

With only 42 days remaining before polling day, Tanzanians are eager

to hear what the candidates will do for them if elected.  Each

candidate would be evaluated by how they plan to take this poor

country to the next level.

Useless propaganda will not help this nation. We need politics of

issues, not politics of personalities, period!

SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN