A point of view by Paul V Montesino

By Paul V. Montesino, PhD, MBA, ICCP.

Of lights and Lanterns. Diogenes’ endless search.

Many years ago I could not care or would dare to count, Pedro Pablo Montesino, my journalist father, became heavily involved in Cuban politics. After a particularly violent period in Cuban history during one of the dictatorships “du jour” that jailed him for a few months, he supported the liberal ideas and organization of a lawyer and economist friend who was himself supporting for president another lawyer well respected in political circles whose name I prefer to keep anonymous because in the end lost the election and my father his favorite candidate.

I was an elementary student and used to tag along with my dad attending many of his political rallies at several venues and on different occasions. My presence was not a waste of time. To keep the curious child in me busy, the organizers of the events gave me flyers and brochures to hand out to the audience, a task I conducted with pride, efficiency, and gusto.

The loss of “our” candidate was a painful disappointment not only for my father, who was convinced of the merits of his friend but also for me for not having accomplished much handing out “my” flyers and brochures. I neglected to say that I never read the material I was handing out, its political meaning, or its value to the electorate. I suppose I wasn’t less informed than many politicians back then or even now amongst us about the truth of the ideas being discussed. But this alienation between men and women with principles was and is nothing new.

Remembering those days, made me think of other political discourses. In the years 404-323 BCE, there was a Greek called Diogenes of Sinope who was dubbed a Cynic Philosopher. The difference between him and politicians today is not the cynicism, but that they are not philosophers.

This fellow Diogenes used to roam about holding a lantern or candle to the faces of the citizens of Athens claiming he was searching for an honest man. Yes, even in Greek pre-Christian times, honest men were hard to find and there weren’t cameras at the time to get selfies with them. It was not a lack of smartphones; it was a lack of smart citizens.

Without knowing the name or exploits of this Greek Cynic, I had thought that my father and I had found an honest man. His defeat in the urns put an end, if not to my father’s adult ambitions, at least to my childish expectations. I swore then never to run for public political office to avoid further disillusion. The ambition had been nipped in the bud and I never looked back. The Cynic Party had won the election.

In his search for an honest man “Diogenes also rejected the concept of manners as a lie and always advocated complete truthfulness and under any circumstance,” Wikipedia. Are we then surprised that current politicians, without lanterns or candles, lack all sense of manners and insult each other under all circumstances? That practice not only offends them but also us. I guess now you know the rest of the story and where it comes from.

And that is My Point of View Today. So long.