The False Luxury of Procedural Virtue
Power wielded hesitantly is power surrendered. When one side adheres religiously to process while their opposition ruthlessly pursues outcomes, we witness not nobility but negligence. Those struggling simply to survive cannot eat procedural integrity nor shelter beneath institutional norms.
The most profound political failure lies not in defeat but in refusing to recognise the nature of the contest. While scholars debate the virtues of deliberative governance, families calculate which necessities they can sacrifice this month. The arcane rules of parliamentary procedure mean nothing to those whose lives hang in precarious balance.
True governance requires not just possessing power but wielding it decisively in service of tangible human needs. A system that prizes bipartisan consensus over material relief betrays its fundamental purpose. The heartbeat of democracy is not found in its procedures but in its capacity to improve the lived realities of its citizens.
The luxury of principled restraint belongs exclusively to those who can afford to wait.