Anyone can become famous these days, but the devastating part is that you don’t necessarily get to choose the reason why it happens. Cameras are everywhere and can be wielded by literally anyone. The internet and social media can amplify and spread stories like wildfire. These days, AI can even be used to create very convincing audio and video clips if someone’s motivated enough. It almost seems as if it doesn’t even matter if something really happened. It only matters if people believe it happened.
We humans are great at accusing and exposing each other, and really terrible at nuance and context. This is how we’ve always been, I’m pretty sure. But the tools we have available now ensure that we’re able to inflict maximum public humiliation. Which means everyone can have an opinion about your questionable behavior. This, I believe, is most people’s greatest fear. Not only being exposed, but also not being believed and misunderstood.
A look at some recent scandals
My only comfort personally is that there are always more scandals on the horizon. Eventually (one hopes) our own sins will be forgotten.
Consider this context for the “scandal” around former President López Obrador’s sons. There’s the most recent case of Andrés Jr., of course, and a recent expensive trip to Japan. You might also remember a story a few years ago about another son, José Ramón, living in a million dollar house in Houston.
Well. I’ll admit, it’s not fantastic optics for a former president who prided himself on practicing austerity and obliging the rest of the government to do the same. I can only imagine his embarrassment at his sons being perceived as the “fifís” he so often jabbed at.
Perhaps it would have landed better if it hadn’t been Ricardo Anaya doing the accusing. I mean, shouldn’t the PAN be excited about people succeeding in business and earning money? Isn’t “fifí life” what they love? (Okay, I jest … sort of).
At least find something that’s illegal to accuse him of, and provide real evidence. Having money apart from your monthly salary is not illegal, nor is vacationing abroad. From what I could tell from a very basic search, this guy started a business before he was in politics, and is a partner in another. All in all, the accusation just seemed kind of pathetic, an attempt to win points that can’t otherwise be scored.
Now, I’m not saying that Morena is completely innocent. While many of its ideologies do indeed align with my own ethical views, I have few illusions about the institution of politics in Mexico. As well-intentioned as many people might be, “unpoisoning the water” is no overnight task. While I believe (and hope) that corruption and graft have been reduced, I’m not so naïve as to think it’s vanished just because a different party’s in charge.
For example, many of the career PRI politicians simply switched parties when they saw which way the wind was blowing. Do I think they had a “come to Jesus” moment, immediately abandoning their former corrupt ways? I do not.
Do I think there’s been an improvement with the new “true believers” of the cause? I do. Letting perfect be the enemy of good is a waste of time.
A few suggestions for the way politics ought to be
All this said, I do have what I believe are some excellent ideas for governments both here and around to world to both prove their lack of corruption and improve services for their country.
First, let’s institute the following norm for all government officials: “What’s good enough for the country is good enough for me and my family.” This might keep folks like Anaya, for example, from having their own families live in the U.S.
What does this look like? It means using public services available to the average citizen instead of private ones, even if the latter are better. Got kids? Great! Show your faith in the public education system by sending them to public schools.
Need your appendix taken out? Head on over to your local public hospital. Need to get somewhere? Hop on a bus or the metro, my friend.
If nothing else, just imagine how dramatically and quickly these services would improve if politicians themselves had no choice but to utilize them. I mean, there really is no better way to show one’s integrity than by setting an example.
A call for transparency
Second, show your tax returns. This sort of transparency used to be popular in the U.S. But let’s take things a step further and make bank accounts public, too! Transparency is what builds trust, after all.
I mean, it’s nothing I would want to do. But I’m not trying to be in charge of a country.
Back to the issue at hand. We all behave badly sometimes. We are all hypocrites sometimes. There’s not a one of us who could have a video camera on us at all times and be viewed by the public as a good person all the time. That’s just human nature.
Who will cast the first stone?
Politicians are a different case, I know. It’s their job to be our public servants, and we don’t like to suspect them of making off with the metaphorical “good china.” But my goodness, I’d be happy if, instead of dismantling the institution of journalism on both sides of the border, we dedicated ourselves to supporting it in a way that meant the professionals could keep an eye out for these things. You know, so we don’t have to.
Besides, if we’re busy spying on Andy having breakfast at a fancy Tokyo hotel, when will we have time to gawk at Brittney’s Instagram account?
More importantly, how will we defend ourselves when the camera is inevitably turned on us?
Sarah DeVries is a writer and translator based in Xalapa, Veracruz. She can be reached through her website, sarahedevries.substack.com.
