Hello,

This blog post will be unusual. I will not analyze or reflect my experience in startups. Today I am writing more about my view as an active citizen and as a person who votes. Votes with a belief for the progress. Votes with a hope that things will change for the good. And who gives his trust to some party/political figures.

I will try to polish during the days this manifesto. How ever please understand that this is important for all businesses. Fair and strong politics are key figures for the economical growth of a country. Also they (politics) set the rules for our playground in startups by pushing/changing different laws. And at the end we have either positive or negative impact to our (I mean small businesses/entrepreneurship/educational) growth.Some notes:

• I am not connected with any political party;
• I am not planning to become a political figure.
• My personal political views could be named as a Socialist (how ever I believe in Lithuania Socialists are our right wing or Conservators. It is quite messed up here..).
• Nobody payed for this work, therefor I am errors/mistakes free.
• If you are somebody who wants to cite my article – add credit and don`t take words/phrases out of the context. The information is free but it shouldn`t be used for propaganda.

An idea to write this came after debates with my good friend where the conclusion was “The change is needed if we want to live better in our 40ies. And if it is not our generation – the change will not come” (Andzelika`s thoughts, my rephrasing). And I am adding – if we see the shit close to us (among the people we elect), we ain`t doing a thing, then we will be covered in the same shit. And I don`t want to live in shit. Do you?

Electors manifesto

Last update: 2013-10-03

Dear politics and people, seeing yourself in this field after some years, the first thing I am expecting from you is honesty. I want to hear from you the honest answers:

• Why you are going to politics,
• What beliefs and values you have,
• Which group of people you will be representing if/when you get elected,
• When you will be speaking with people who voted for you,
• Who are the people you plan to work with.

Name the reasons you are going to politics. Let us know what you want to change, what forced you to step up, what things motivates you. And be honest about that.

Let us know your values and beliefs. We will check if those are close to ours. Then we will divide among our selves. We (electors) will pick you or somebody else. You will get your group of supporters who share the same beliefs and values as you do. They will be close to you. How ever accept that you most probably will not be liked by majority. Because there is no such thing as majority or a common need (except the Maslow`s pyramid). Don`t polish, adopt, change your values. We want to hear YOUR values, not values FOR US.

When you have people backed you up, your values are expressed, now you have a group you are representing. Work for them and be crystal clear on your communication about the side you are standing for. I care about the entrepreneurship, somebody else cares about the banking goods, about the animal rights, etc. It`s totally ok with me to hear that you are representing all janitors. How ever if I am not sure for whom you are speaking I can not be sure that you will speak and fight for the needs of my group. Represent your group, identify it.

Identify before elections your communication plan with the people. Be open – if you know that you will be dedicating 99% of your time for the nuclear issues – let us know too. And let us know that you will be speaking with us not so often. How ever if you make promise to hear the local community each month. And you visit us once per two years.. Well screw you. Before the next elections you can start looking for a new job.

Share your coalition plans. Not in details, but share. Inform your possible coalitions. You can not win everything without a support and partners. And we understand this. How ever we can`t understand (and confirm) coalitions when you are cooperating with somebody whos values are opposite to ones we have.  You might not be ruling in the short term, how ever your party and your beliefs (what is the most important) will stay strong. And stronger the party gets, the closer it gets to the majority. Because at the end you are spokesperson of us.

After I heard the answers I am free to chose for whom I vote. I do not vote for the friends or people I like because of their personalities. I vote for the people/parties who share the same (close to be more precise) vision and values. And I check how close the candidate(-s) is(are) to the ideal “person of a word”. Therefor I have expectations for you:

The second thing I am expecting from you is a constant communication. By this I mean the constant communication with electors. Part of us want to hear what you are doing currently. If you communicate only on your mystical community gatherings – forget all the working people. We have no time to accept your timetable. Accept ours, be close to us, use the communication channels you are able to reach us. If you communicate with us only each 4 years before elections – don`t expect that we will support you each 4 years. We have no idea if you did good or bad. And we will assume that somebody else (your opponent/colleague/newcommer) is able to do better. (note: first thing is your answers^^)

The third thing that is important for me – populist messages. The less you make – the happier I am. How ever I do understand that many of electors are not educated. And that you need to reach them to grow your ratings. So I am asking from you to transform your messages from populist to optimistic. This means that communicate what you want and can change by you and your colleagues. If you know that some things will not happen or the chance is less then 10% – don`t name it as a promise. You can and must have long term vision. You can`t lie that one thing or another will happen during the next 5 years. Yes, if you know that this will not happen and you promise – you are a lier.

The forth thing I am asking from you and which helps to identify the reasoning why you are here – don`t come into politics to increase your wealth. As in the ancient Greece – you must be sustainable. And even more – you must be happy with your current financial status. If your and your family belongings are growing really fast without any reasonable explanation it is clear to us that you care most about yourself. And I`ll be glad if afterwards you will burn. Or at least your money. The sooner is better. Because you betrayed the trust of your electors for your own wealth.

The fifth request – choose your colleagues wisely. Go with people who have same political views and with whom you share close interests. If you represent some pirates party – don`t accept people from LATGAA (some organization defending the intellectual proprety). It is not common that people change their values. If they didn`t change their values and are joining you they might have some plans which are not so good for you. And we, the electors, will notice this. I am not starting about the political prostitutes who are changing their parties as socks. They should disappear from the political world, they shouldn`t be trusted, they smell like shit. You don`t want your party to smell like shit, trust me.

As for the six – admit your mistakes. We all do this. How ever if you tell us first – we will accept it and know. If the media tells us – the idea that you are messing with us will raise. If it will happen for a few times – you will loose my trust.

The seventh thing – be consistent. It will be easy if you are coming after your values. Don`t change each day your opinion. Don`t go for easy voters by populist messages. Instead educate us (because you are more informed) why some decision was made. Before making one or another sit and remember the vision you had. Remember the long term plans. Check if the decision you are making is committing to the vision.

Finally I would like to ask to use the credible resources when you are backing up your statements. It is so annoying to hear that you were “misinformed”. If some guy from your team is not good enough for his job – change him. You own more to us – your electors – then to some guy who is doing work for you. Or if you own him (his father/etc) more – well leave the politics. I don`t want to vote for you.

If you follow this manifesto, if you use it as a part of your personal ethics codex you believe in, at least one person will be:

• Loyal to you and your party,
• Supportive on the actions you make (even if it frightens at the start),
• New wave of young politics who are working for the country, not for their own good,
• Growth of interest in politics among the people who currently think “politics are the bunch of idiots and douchbags “
• Growth of political culture. We will have people with brightest minds instead of the circus clowns.
• Growth of your own party in numbers of members and followers.

According to the comments, future experiences, private chats I will update this manifesto. As I am a growing person so is this manifesto. I set high standards for you, but I also give you the great power in exchange. Use it wisely and our country will grow!

 

P.S. I am writing this in English because:

• I don`t want to attract many negative comments from people I will need to ban afterwards (I see the informational war campaign from some not so friendly countries. And I am not paranoid.),
• I believe not only Lithuania is facing the same issues,
• Those issues that come from politics are directly affecting the entrepreneurship.
• This is my blog and I have chosen the english language as the main one. Because other posts are not about the politics.

P.P.S. I have received some comments, that there is a show off and that nobody who are in politics will read this. I am targeting to the younger generation of politics and the new wave. If some old wolves will read that – I`ll be happy. But nothing more. The small seed of doubt planted in some people brains can do magical things!