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The political landscape: Consequences beyond borders

The Mercury

|

September 19, 2025

POLITICS is not confined to parliaments, manifestos, or ballot boxes; it is woven into the daily fabric of society.

It shapes how people interact, influences opportunities, and drives collective action.

When politics fails to deliver stability, fairness, or dignity, the consequences spill into the streets; sometimes peacefully, sometimes violently. From Nepal to Brazil and the US, recent events illustrate how political decisions echo far beyond the individuals who make them, affecting entire nations and their democratic institutions.

Politics, for those of us who believe it, is an intrinsic part of how individuals interact with one another. In other words, it exists in all spheres of life and by extension has consequences. These consequences tend to repeat themselves over time, as this opinion exemplifies, the consequences can be unforgiving.

Nepal

We are reminded of the youth of Nepal who at 20.9% unemployment spearheaded a revolution, physically removing those in power. Sparked by high levels of unemployment, social media bans, and the killing of youth at the frontline of protests where police used live ammunition to neutralise protesters. This, however, has not deterred protesters from turning out in the numbers at an unprecedented rate for Nepal.

In the end protesters neu-

tralised the defence force, burned parliament buildings, primary residences of incumbent ministers, many of whom had to flee. The youth of Nepal succeeded to physically remove those who led them in an effort many would term the destruction of consciously ingrained power structures in their society.

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