President-elect Donald Trump’s nomination of former Goldman Sachs banker Steven Mnuchin as his Treasury secretary is the latest (but certainly not the last) example of politicians saying one thing and doing quite another.
The only way someone who once ran a campaign ad portraying the CEO of Goldman Sachs as “the personification of a global elite” that “robbed our working class”, and then turn around and hire someone from within its ranks to head the most important arm of his administration, would be if he had a personality capable of extreme and opposing actions.
Mnuchin will be, by some distance, the most important American person apart from Trump for the rest of the world, since the former Goldman banker, hedge fund co-founder and ex-employee of George Soros will be responsible for formulating Trump’s economic policies, like his promised tax cuts, fiscal policy and foreign trade terms.
Which then raises the age-old question: why do politicians lie? Why do they say things to ingratiate themselves with broad swathes of the population, then go right ahead and contradict themselves the next day (for example, after they are elected)?
It is said that in order to obtain or remain in power, politicians need to be dishonest about their intentions to keep their enemies on the back foot, whether it is from the opposition or even within their own political party.
Hence, it is an occupational necessity to have a personality that allows them to be evasive, live a life of lies and do so with a completely straight face.
Clearly though, not everyone can do that.
Which, I guess, kind of explains the preponderance of charlatans, snake oil salesmen and crooks in public office.
Honest, capable folks simply cannot or will not lie on a daily basis as part of a professional and necessary charade, which I guess also explains why most countries do not have politicians capable of doing the best they can for their countries.
If this, therefore, is the best that democracy can do, well then maybe the modern world really needs serious self-examination, given the dozens of cases worldwide of politicians being investigated, charged, and in some cases, jailed for fraud and corruption.
Having a system that necessitates the existence — nay, proliferation — of cheats, liars and thieves on a regular basis is hardly optimal. Right?
Speaking of which, following Trump’s success and the stunning Brexit outcome earlier this year in terms of the Ninety Nine-Percenters standing up to be counted in their opposition to globalisation, key European nations like Holland, Italy, Germany and France go to the polls next year and in 2018. That is likely to be be a major test of their people’s contentment (or not) with their lot.
If the current trend continues and right-wing politicians continue to make ground in Europe, then we’re really in for it. Just imagine a world where people like Marine Le Pen, Geert Wilders and Beppe Grillo enter public office.
Even if they only implement a fraction of the policies they are promising, there will be considerable turmoil and uncertainty ahead, and the damage to financial markets will just be the start of it.
How will people react if the very leaders they voted in on the basis of their promises to right the wrongs of the elites turn around and renege on their promises? The resultant social upheaval and chaos will make the Arab Spring seem like an Easter weekend.
In the current flirtation with populism and populist leaders in Asia, Europe and the US, we could learn from what’s been happening in Latin America in the past decade.
There, the early promise of a populist and leftist hybrid formula for expanding economies and erasing poverty, powered by the free market and steered by activist governments, has failed miserably.
According to World Politics Review columnist Frida Ghitis, Brazil’s milder form of redistributive leftism capitalism has descended into corruption-fuelled chaos, while socialist Venezuela (which has the world’s largest proven reserves of oil) has crumbled, scuppered by the slump in energy markets and a series of policy missteps that has seen hyperinflation seep through its entire economy.
If two of Latin America’s most promising and resource-rich countries have tripped so badly following their brief sojourn with socialism and leftist policies, then there is some cause for concern if the rest of the world is embarking on a similar journey.
Especially when they are led by a category of people who have made lying and connivance their unique selling proposition.
Khoo Hsu Chuang is contributing editor at The Edge Malaysia
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