Kindness in Politics and Society

Worldwide, people step up in politics to respond to areas of social and economic vulnerability in society. They appeal to people because they promise to bring equity and justice in their government, their policies and the funding provided to neglected communities. However, their practices of justice can be evaluated by exploring two international examples. Donald Trump, former President of the United States, promised Americans they would become prosperous by cutting taxes and bringing or creating manufacturing jobs in the country. Jacinda Ardern, former Prime Minister of New Zealand, promised to provide 100,000 affordable homes and free tertiary education and to alleviate child poverty in the country.

Like all politicians, both Trump and Ardern did not keep their promises and delivered little to their people. However, their narrative to address problems varied in the public sphere. Trump spread hate, bullying and agitation to motivate his supporters. In contrast, Ardern promoted empathy, compassion and kindness. She introduced the well-being budget, addressing the challenges of determining the quality of life beyond financial prosperity. Her empathy and kindness approach became a global icon of progressive politics.

Politicians in Pakistan often announce grand visions without having the power, resources and authority to implement those visions. They hope that someday, somehow, someone else will provide them with resources and power, and they become unkind to each other and their supporters. This approach might be wishful thinking, but throughout history, it has become self-deception.

Kindness has an important but undervalued role in politics and broader society for shaping the practice of justice. In contrast to compassion, kindness promotes actions to achieve the well-being of a vulnerable population. Kindness is too easily called good intentions, but it involves actions to minimise other people’s suffering.

Professor John Forester from Cornell University categorised the application of kindness into four stages: (1) recognising the suffering of others, (2) identifying the sources producing their suffering, (3) recognising how we might actually influence and make a difference, and (4) developing our motivation to make that difference.

Let us apply the approach of kindness to Pakistan’s current political and economic situation. First, we can begin by understanding the suffering of others around us. It is society’s moral responsibility to develop compassion towards people suffering from floods, inflation and political unrest.

Second, we must decide what and who is responsible for producing vulnerability. This is difficult without a deep understanding of the country’s political, social, economic and environmental history. The problems of debt, extreme poverty, air pollution, traffic congestion, food insecurity, bad health and substandard education can not be blamed on one political party, one organisation and one ethnic group. Many groups and people are responsible for public suffering in one way or another. This is because national and international elites – politicians, the establishment, the corporate sector, professionals and international development organisations – are in complex relationships with each other, and avoiding blaming and vilifying one group or organisation is important.

Third, we all have to create a response that can make a difference in society. Of course, this depends on the context and issue and the availability of resources and mandates to take action. In each field, there is a vacuum of responsibility in Pakistan while we all fight for privileges. However, asking ourselves what we can do to make a difference in a specific situation would help the country.

Finally, the action of kindness depends upon addressing the self-arrogance, self-privilege and self-centred objectives of politicians and wider society. We should promote choices for the common people who have few opportunities. The government should promote kindness to those who have become victims of economic chaos and political propaganda.

Kindness is relational and interactive and can only be spread through humble and down-to-earth behaviour, which I have learned from Jacinda Ardern and the New Zealand society at large. We have to come out of our political biases, cultural stereotypes, hateful language, conspiracy theories and privileged status and develop trust and positivity in society through empathy and kindness.

The four stages of kindness are important for spreading hope and positivity in Pakistan’s current political and economic situation. We can get guidance from our social and religious values of relationality, responsibility and reciprocity to practice kindness and spread hope from politics to other professions and society in general.