September Surrender: Day Six
I met a former Prime Minister today. Sat right next to him. Ate some pasta and asked all about the global landscape and if the Biden-Harris administration f*cked everything up. I didn’t say it like that, of course. I have more tact than that, something I proved to myself today, and I’m not just talking about my political ambitions.
We’ve been meeting with people who have says in the world. Policy-shapers. Those with big ideas. One of them today I certainly did not agree with. He was speaking about global goals and how we need to entirely transform everything to make things sustainable for everyone, but I just couldn’t get on board with it. I sat there listening, trying not to let my incredulity show up all over my face. And I was actually mulling a question to ask him in my head. I had planned to start it by saying “I’m going to play Devil’s Advocate a second here…”
But I said nothing. I made a decision not to be a provocateur in that moment. Because all that would have been accomplished by me asking my question would have been nothing but personal satisfaction. It would have done nothing to generate conversation, I just wanted to show my disapproval at the meat of the presentation. Which is why the conscious choice entered my head to try something new and not say a word. I’d rather have a political point that could potentially make a difference rather than score a cheap soundbite that comes with possible repercussions.
This trip so far has been incredible and we’re only going to be speaking with more VIPs along the way. While I’m not being mute and am actually asking these people questions, I’m discovering there’s a time and a place for provocation, and it’s not in a small forum of peers during an all-expenses paid trip in some of the most beautiful parts of the world. Sometimes there’s more power in the silence than there is in the wordsmithing. I wish more politicians understood that.