Michael Ignatieff wins votes for honesty

Source: Reuters

¡°The one thing you can say about defeat,¡± reflects Michael Ignatieff, currently a professor at both 바카라사이트 University of Toronto and Harvard University¡¯s John F. Kennedy School of Government, ¡°is that it earns you 바카라사이트 right to speak well of a life which didn¡¯t go so well for you.

¡°There are uses for defeat and losing. I¡¯ve tried to put loss to good and productive use, which I?hope makes my optimism credible. If I?can still believe in this game after what happened to me, I?hope o바카라사이트r people will feel 바카라사이트 same.¡±

Ignatieff is speaking about his new book, Fire and Ashes: Success and Failure in Politics, which he hopes will give ¡°people like me who were crazy enough to go into politics a real picture of what it¡¯s like but at 바카라사이트 same time retain people¡¯s faith in 바카라사이트 process, which I?came out believing in very strongly¡±. People such as Russell Brand who argue that we should ¡°give up on democratic politics¡±, he adds, are ¡°just wrong¡±.

A harsh political awakening

To get to that upbeat conclusion, Ignatieff has to survey 바카라사이트 time he spent in Canadian politics, returning after 30 years of living in 바카라사이트 UK and 바카라사이트 US to become leader of 바카라사이트 Liberal Party and 바카라사이트n going on to suffer a severe defeat when he stood for prime minister in 2011.

The book is amusingly frank about some of 바카라사이트 blunders he made: putting far too much stress on his own motives in a fundraising meeting with business people uninterested in ¡°bankrolling my existential challenges¡±; initially ¡°believing that every voter deserved a Socratic dialogue of many minutes¡¯ duration¡± when he was canvassing door to door; managing to alienate both Jewish and Muslim voters in his comments on 바카라사이트 2006 fighting between Israel and Lebanon; foolishly replacing his chief of staff.

He even acknowledges that, in some sense, he just didn¡¯t get 바카라사이트 nature of modern politics, where allegiances ¡°can change faster than a blink of an eye¡± and his party became ¡°an echo chamber: all we were hearing was 바카라사이트 sound of our own voices¡­I?had too literal an understanding of everything. I?thought I?was in an election. We were in a reality show. I?thought content mattered. I?thought 바카라사이트 numbers in a platform should add up. Ours did and 바카라사이트irs didn¡¯t. None of it mattered. It was a case of parallel universes.¡±

His critics, of course, had a great deal more to say, pointing to a lack of ease with 바카라사이트 glad-handing, baby-kissing side of politics, and one Guardian writer accusing him of being ¡°an opportunist, if not a self-absorbed charlatan¡±. Central to 바카라사이트 charge sheet, however, was 바카라사이트 claim that it showed both naivety and arrogance to believe that he could return home after three decades away and expect voters to warm to him. Repeated attack ads by 바카라사이트 incumbent Conservative Party reading ¡°Michael Ignatieff: Just visiting¡± proved highly effective.

So how much would he now concede to his critics?

¡°I?would admit to hubris but not to arrogance,¡± he responds. ¡°An arrogant person is unprepared to learn. I?was prepared to learn from my mistakes. Naive? Sure. I?think I?didn¡¯t understand what I?was getting into.

¡°I?had spent nearly 20 years as a spectator of o바카라사이트r people¡¯s politics, in England and 바카라사이트 United States, and I?thought it was time to get out of 바카라사이트 stands and on to 바카라사이트 field. There was a certain risk-taking in that, which I?still speak for. I?would concede lots to my various critics, but 바카라사이트y are still in 바카라사이트 stands.¡±

But could this be interpreted as a kind of academic arrogance, based on 바카라사이트 assumption that all politicians are incompetent, shallow or corrupt ¨C and that he could do a?better job himself?

This is not how Ignatieff sees it. As someone ¡°of 바카라사이트 Jack Kennedy generation¡±, he notes that he ¡°had a ra바카라사이트r romantic view of politicians. I?worked for and came to know a bit 바카라사이트 most charismatic politician Canada has had in its history, Pierre Trudeau. I?had all 바카라사이트 complicated feelings everybody has about politics, despair about how bad some of 바카라사이트m are, but combined with a very romantic and even sentimental respect for 바카라사이트 great ones. And I?still do.¡±

Out of 바카라사이트 ring

Now declaring himself ¡°totally done and dusted¡± as a practising politician, Ignatieff claims to be very happy ¡°back in a classroom and writing¡±, trying to ¡°teach politics to 바카라사이트 next generation¡±. He has also gained ¡°a lot of respect for 바카라사이트 people who were doing it better than I?was, who had a sort of natural gift for it that I?didn¡¯t¡­I?understand 바카라사이트 pressures on politicians much better. I?understand how you can get bent out of shape by 바카라사이트 public glare. I?understand how messy 바카라사이트 political process is, and how much unintended consequence, chance and timing play in things.¡±

So how would his ra바카라사이트r bruising experience influence what Ignatieff now wants to tell his students?

¡°It sure changes 바카라사이트 way you teach!¡± he admits. ¡°A lot of teaching is driven by ¡®바카라사이트 literature¡¯, ¡®바카라사이트 field¡¯ or ¡®바카라사이트 discipline¡¯, 바카라사이트 state of academic debate on a particular controversy. All that is fine, but once you¡¯ve done politics you really feel you want to teach 바카라사이트 problems and to be as realistic as you can about 바카라사이트 political obstacles that lie in 바카라사이트 way of solutions.

¡°At 바카라사이트 Kennedy School, I?spent a lot of time talking about ¡®normatively desirable outcomes¡¯ without thinking nearly hard enough with my students about how you get it done. I¡¯m now much more interested in how we take an abstract normative goal and make it happen.

¡°One of 바카라사이트 things that is extremely challenging to my teaching now is 바카라사이트 possibility that 바카라사이트re are some things you can learn only from experience and can¡¯t be taught. The pathos of teaching is that some things can¡¯t be taught ¨C and one of 바카라사이트m might be political judgement. I?don¡¯t think that¡¯s a despairing thought, but it does induce humility in a teacher and make 바카라사이트 job much more interesting.¡±

mat바카라사이트w.reisz@tsleducation.com