THE WAY THINGS ARE

Absolute power, especially held over long periods, can corrupt absolutely. Not always in evil ways, but in how the powerful can feel no compunction, once in office, to serve as promised, the tax payer providing their large salaries. As though convinced of their own infallibility and untouchability, they exclude any inconvenient acknowledgement of what their people actually ask for.

It isn’t always the fault of the person with a title, there’s opposition interference, rising costs when plans go over budget, hit obstacles, get shelved or are deliberately drawn out to suck more cash from a deal. Lack of accountability when someone ought to be held accountable in countries that boast independent judiciaries and access to freedom of information seems to be settling in as the norm, as just compensation is delayed till victim death saves governments from cash handouts.

Institutions conveniently cover singular accountability, with the occasional scapegoat thrown to the wolves of public outcry, as with the military, usually a low-ranking individual, not the order giver. Take the UK’s contaminated blood, post office, water scandals. Who was held responsible and served time for the deaths and destroyed lives of innocent victims? Who gave back gross shares or salaries?

People resigning or taking responsibility in Cyprus for obvious mishandling or wrongdoing is a rarity. However, when authority consistently fails to listen to the voices of a people, change occurs. Revolutions of old against unempathetic elites caused bloodshed, social media technology is now a weapon every common person can use.

Winston Churchill, a giant figure in British history powered the British spirit of resistance against the Nazis. Through those dreadful years, he staunchly led to victory. Brought up in a certain class, he had a mentality geared to that field of politics. When peace returned, times and people changed.

The experience women gained both as enlisted personnel and as factory workers, had given them a life outside the home earning their own money. The Labour Party of the time was more tuned to the new needs of the ordinary people and willing to supply them. Churchill, for all his esteem, lost the election because the finger he had on the pulse of the past had failed to feel the pulse of the present that wanted a different future.

The world has always been a hard place for the powerless and the poor, money being a game changer to both mental and physical wellbeing and standards of living. Lack of it brings despair and bitter anger often aimed at figures in government departments who, to all appearances, have lost compassion and conscience towards the people they are supposed to serve.

In Cyprus, it’s blatantly obvious to those who dole out allowances that the amount of money given in welfare benefit or small pensions can in no way help a vulnerable person make ends meet. In wartime, death makes no distinction between classes, everyone is mere flesh and blood. Why not in times of battling rising costs? Doesn’t charity begin at home? It shamelessly does not, beyond the needs of the exclusive, unabashed elites.

Today, many well-off leaders in the free world need to think very carefully about their lack of compassion. Because with the technological advances we enjoy, little is hidden, past words or actions come back to bite hypocrisy and avarice. People see their needs and protests ignored or stifled as insignificant in a bigger, geopolitical picture in which the public’s opinion is ignored by the governing few.

The dystopian life, long depicted by sci-fi writers, is upon us. It’s easy to pollute, difficult to correct lack of timely action. Pleas by Irish, UK, Cypriot environmentalists to protect water purity, cut wastage, and leave eco-listed wildlife areas as nature intended, find their legitimate pleas often fall on deaf ears. Ears seemingly unperturbed by the eco-debt faced by tomorrow’s children. If a department wishes to greenlight a project, it will get permission despite those concerned knowing the damage it will cause; interests overrule logic. As the planet faces slow, hot decline, we will all be in it together rich and poor, death making no distinction.