let us be fair

I don't like politicians. I agree with Plato that "our guardians are not to have houses or lands or any other property; their pay is to be their food, which they are to receive from other citizens, and they are to have no private expenses; for we intend them to preserve their true character of guardians". For then there would be - for the first time in history - a useful priesthood. One that could truly save us.

The situation today is different. Politicians have to be popular. There's so many elections and election-campaigns that there's hardly any time for serious work. On top of that they have a private life and when you control your own salary, you're not going to make it "just enough for buying your food".

Having said all that, my personal opinion is that our politicians are not all that bad. Most are not mafia-controlled (as they were/are in Italy). Most don't steal too much and most genuinely have good intentions.

Throughout the years I've really liked what our foreign ministers do. Louis Michel was not afraid to tell Israel to back off from the Palestinians and he got his share of comments about that, but he was right (without denying that the Jews had a troubled past, but a troubled past does not give you "rights" over others today). Karel De Gucht is not afraid to tell the government of Congo (or whatever they call it today) that they are corrupt and basically just filling their own pockets. For they probably are. And yes, Belgium did a lousy job during the colonial days and yes, that is part of what is wrong in the region today, but emotional blackmail based on past mistakes is just not the way ...

So, what happened this week ? Well, one of our more radical politicians sicked a private detective on Karel De Gucht. He was to prove that said minister was corrupt. The detective found nothing. In a poll following these events a big majority of the respondees said they thought that Karel De Gucht is corrupt. And - more worrying - the majority agreed with the technique of sicking a private detective on another person.

I don't care whether or not our foreign minister is corrupt. Probably no more or less than your average politician. What I care about is that this country was build on the balance of three powers (executive, legislative, judicial). If a person has a problem with another person, you use the law. And the law will decide what to do (or not to do). This counts for our politicians as well. You don't take matters into your own hands, for that is not democracy, that is anarchy !