Businessperson vs. Statesperson

by Sayed Javed Ahmad
February 11, 2010

http://www.weeklyblitz.net/514/businessperson-vs-statesperson

It is worth wondering on the point that if it is wise to let the businessmen run the state affairs. It has been increasingly observed around the world governments that more and more people from the business background are taking office in the government. This makes it clear that no country have any restriction on barring the business people to hold a public office elected or selected.

By definition, a businessperson is someone who is employed at usually a profit-oriented enterprise, or more specifically, someone who is involved in the management (at any level) of a company, or even an entrepreneur.

In other words, a person who is engaged in a business either as an employee or owner is a business person. A business is normally a profit driven enterprise where it sustains on profits realized from its activities. Therefore, a decision maker in a business enterprise is in a 'competitive' mindset that is required to win with challenges in a business environment. Their attitude is to 'win' at any cost, by hook or by crook.

On the other hand, by definition, a statesperson is usually a politician or other notable public figure that has had a long and respected career in politics or government at the national and international level. Statesmanship also conveys a quality of leadership that organically brings people together and of eldership, a spirit of caring for others and for the whole. The word is applied loosely to any head of state, any senior political figure, or anyone who in a given moment exhibits a certain quality of statesmanship. But is there any difference between the statesperson and a politician?

A politician or political leader is an individual who is involved in influencing public decision making. This includes people who hold decision-making positions in government, and people who seek those positions, whether by means of election, coup d'état, appointment, electoral fraud, conquest, right of inheritance, divine right or other means.

Politics is not limited to governance through public office. Political offices may also be held in corporations, and other entities that are governed by self-defined political processes. However, the members of government who serve purely functional roles, such as bureaucrats and the members of the judicial branch, law enforcement, and the military are not usually regarded as being politicians since they are generally executing or adjudicating established law and custom.

Politicians can be criticized for becoming "career politicians." A politician, who makes politics the source of their income, yet has to face re-election every few years can be less likely to make bold decisions or side with an unpopular bill. Some feel that fear of "rocking the boat" leads to a stagnant political climate, in which it becomes hard to address injustices and create change. Although members of governing bodies are often honored, many people today have a poor opinion of politicians as a class.

The so called career politicians are actually business people who primarily use their political muscle and connections to sustain and survive. Therefore, we could put this group in the 'businessperson' category. To make the distinction clear James Freeman Clarke (April 4, 1810 – June 8, 1888- was an American preacher and author) said, "A politician thinks about the next elections — the statesman thinks about the next generations."

Indeed there is a difference in mindset and attitudes among the businesspersons and statespersons, which is understandable. In our present world we are witnessing the pros and cons of governments when they are run by the business people, including Bangladesh.

A business person is motivated by greed and exploitation strategies to win all the games they play, where as, the states people always worry and care about the well being of all citizens and the country as a whole. This basic difference in attitudes and mindset makes all the difference in the governance of a nation.

Considering the brief discussion above, we could now safely conclude that a statesperson is a unique person, who has the ability to act without any selfish motives for betterment of the nation and for greater cause. Once again we see the importance of the "Double M Theory" even in identifying a statesperson.

We have tried all our experiments with businessperson and politician leadership and have failed utterly. What the world (including Bangladesh) needs today is a statesperson – a hero who would lead the world to a better direction for world peace. And how will this come about? It can only happen when the people (the citizens) take charge to sincerely appoint and elect the right candidate in power. How can we identify such an individual? Here is a clue from Aristotle (a Greek philosopher, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great), "What the statesman is most anxious to produce is a certain moral character in his fellow citizens, namely a disposition to virtue and the performance of virtuous actions." If this quality is missing in the person then the person is not fit to be a statesperson.

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