The Beggar and the Politician

                The Beggar and the Politician

                Alexandr Piatkov


A young man—scarcely more than a boy—stands in the

marketplace. He looks perfectly healthy, yet he holds a crutch in

his hand and feigns a limp as he walks. Gazing mournfully at the

passersby, the youth extends a plastic cup, murmuring a barely

audible plea for alms.


Many give—almost everyone, in fact—and he offers his thanks in

the same hushed whisper, strictly as a matter of form. What

catches the eye is the look he casts upon his benefactors. There is

no gratitude in his eyes. He clearly senses that those who give are

 humiliating him, feeding off their own sense of superiority. The

spectacle brings him an income, but it is purely business, nothing
 
personal.


One simply needs the audacity to approach people and ask them

for something. They will gladly help, provided that this act of

charity elevates their own social standing.


Every now and then, pragmatists stride past with a brisk step,

angrily telling the boy to go get a real job. He watches these
 
antagonists with the very same mournful aversion he shows his
 
benefactors. Perhaps he understands that in the workplace,

 people also endure humiliation for money, except they actually

have to labor for it. From him, nothing is required but sheer

audacity.


Is it not the exact same with politicians? Any young braggart can

appeal to the public and ask them to cast their votes for him. If

voting for him boosts the electors' social status, they will vote.


"Blessed are the poor in spirit"—a reflection that has lost none of
 
its luster, reaching us across millennia. Many claim that "this

gentleman"—whom one is deeply tempted to call "insolent"—is a
 
complete nobody. Yet, lo and behold, the people cast their votes

anyway, raising their social status and signaling their yearning for

renewal!


The "beggar" youth comes to the marketplace every day, as if to

an office. The politician goes out to the public, as if to an office. But

 while interacting with the beggar makes people feel significant, the

politician, in his interactions with the public, nurses a sense of self-

importance within his own beloved self—leaving the people with

nothing but a sense of their own worthlessness and destitution.



Publication Details:
Original Text © Copyright: Alexandr Piatkov, 2013
Certificate of Publication No. 213091201461
Translated from Russian by AI Assistant, 2026