Finland’s Prime Minster Sanna Marin made headlines this week after a photo was leaked of her partying at her summer home in July. But I think the world would be a better place if leaders partied more, not less.
Finland Prime Minister Sanna Marin this week came under fire for partying back in July with friends at her summer house. The images, which were taken by an influencer friend, had some of the world clutching their pearls. Others came to her defence, calling her a hero for being able to “work hard and play hard” (she took a drug test just to shut the rumours up, while defending her right to dance and have fun with friends).
Other people compared her actions to that of Australia’s Prime Minster, Anthony Albanese, who was also recently spotted enjoying himself (drinking a beer at a concert in Sydney). These people pointed out the double standard where male leaders are often celebrated for letting their hair down, while women are criticised.
These are interesting points, but today I’m here to make another one: the world would be a better place if Prime Ministers partied more. Now: before you tell me to be a realist, hear me out. I know it’s simplistic to say that if leaders spent more time organising piss-ups, they wouldn’t have enough time to start wars.
But… I still think the world would be a better place if more world leaders got blind more often. Now, by that I don’t mean politicians like Tony Abbot drinking wine with their buddies Costello and Dutton after work in their own offices (not that I particularly deny them that either). But I mean world leaders, as much as practical (I know security concerns will put a dampener on this) should get down the pub, under cover if necessary, and just soak in the conversations.
The logic? Though drinking is known to make you talk more, being in a drinking environment, like a pub, would perhaps teach a lot of politicians how to shut up and listen (a skill often lacking in politics).
On top of helping them understand their constituents better (and keep them grounded by their friends), partying is also renowned for building bridges. Whether that’s between a sports team, an office of workers (#teambuilding) or villagers in a remote Spanish town, partying is notorious for bringing people together and creating trust.
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That’s not to say politicians should get blind every weekend (even Bob Hawke, who is well loved in Australia for his drinking antics, stayed off the booze while he was in office). But they should have every right to, as the ABC put it (in the case of the latest instance involving Sanna Marin), “party heartily.”
For these reasons, I completely disagree with the opinion presented by Malcolm Knox in the Sydney Morning Herald in January, where he argues that politicians drinking beer is patronising and harmful.
Speaking about the downfall of former British PM Boris Johnson, Knox wrote: “The excesses and disdain for the electorate in the Johnson government are not, of course, the same as a candidate chugging a beer for a photo opportunity. But they stem from a common source and lead to a common result. The source is an infantilising of the public and the result is mutual disrespect.”
“A political class that believes voters are dumb enough to be taken in by all that beery faux-folksiness is a political class that places no weight on our intelligence, only on our gullibility.”
Malcolm Knox
Though I agree some politicians’ efforts to ~resonate~ with us have been cringe-worthy, I don’t think that’s a good reason for them to stop trying. The more they actually spend time with people, the less insincere these gestures will be.
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