I think many top politicians are boring. They post everyday glossy pictures on Facebook, seem pretentious, and don’t make any mistakes either. It’s not really their fault, but ours. As soon as the privacy of politicians deviates from the norm, we are quick to point the finger to correct their behaviour. The result is that they slide further and further away from people. I gained more, not less, respect for Sanna Marin, the Prime Minister of Finland, when she threw a party. It is refreshing when young politicians show that they are just young. How else are young people today supposed to identify with politicians? Sanna Marin had to comment on the party videos that have circulated on social media. A prime minister should embrace everyone, and I think most of us benefit from seeing politicians as ordinary people. Even prime ministers deserve a good party. I call that folkliness. The same applies to the scolding Emilie Enger Mehl received for the holiday pictures on Instagram and the participation in Kompani Lauritzen. Criticism of politics should be hailed, but I think she is sporty and brave as a politician. Sometimes it’s nice to get to know politicians on their own terms, rather than via regjeringen.no or boring portrait interviews in the newspapers. In any case, it appeals better to young people. If young politicians don’t dare to be young, we also don’t have to wonder why more young people don’t get involved in politics and society. Abid Raja received solid criticism after VG’s statement that he would smoke weed if it became legal. In the drug debate, there must be room for many opinions, and we must accept that the politicians themselves have different experiences with drugs. We need both those who have read up on professional reports and statistics, but also politicians with experience and first-hand knowledge. Without them, we risk a professionally sound drug policy, but which is still not suitable for everyone in society. Norwegian drug policy does not work. Precisely because it is more adapted to the system than the people who need it. This is not meant as a call to hug a politician or brag about how good they are. Feel free to do that too, but we profit little from politicians who look more like made-up figures than people. The result is elected officials who do not understand people, and people who do not know their elected officials. It’s hard to get to know politicians when all we see are glossy pictures published by a poor adviser on Facebook. If all politicians are ordinary, boring and the same, no one will reach out to those who are different. I cheer for politicians who dare to show that it’s OK to make mistakes, stand out and be yourself. We must reach out to those who risk being left out, those who feel overlooked, and those who see politicians and politics as something distant and unimportant. Norwegian politicians do not do that today. The distance between people and politicians is getting longer and longer. We set sky-high demands on how politicians should be. We tell them how to behave, what they are allowed to do and what they cannot do. If they step outside the norm, we criticize them. When it is politicians who are supposed to shape society, it is stupid to push them further and further away from the society the rest of us live in. I am tired of stuffy and snotty politicians who are afraid to be themselves. If we are to expect generous politicians, the rest of us must be more open to different types of people in political office. As we say in Northern Norway, be a little generous, dammit! In any case, I choose a politician who has had a party every day, rather than one who never has.
ttn-69
Give me a politician who can party – Speech
