Momis: Use Melanesian way in politics

The president of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville, Dr John Momis, says that Pacific Islands countries often become vulnerable when they try to imitate western countries and their political styles.
Momis said this at the launching of a new book by Marist priest Fr Andrew Murray, titled Thinking About Political Things: An Aristotelian Approach to Pacific Life.
The launching was on Sunday at the St Joseph’s Catholic parish in Port Moresby.
He said that often governments were busy playing catch-up with the rest of the western world while communities and societies and the Pacific or Melanesia way of life were forgotten.
Momis said that the Pacific lifestyle promoted sharing and caring with the community.
He said the Pacific lifestyle is being more concerned about the welfare of its individual members, which was very similar to the Aristotelian concept of politics.
The Aristotelian concept of politics is centred on the individual and family.
Aristotle was an ancient Greek philosopher who saw politics as a collection of parts of which none can exist without the others.
All aspects of Aristotle’s philosophy continue to be the object of active academic study today.
His ethics, though always influential, gained renewed interest with the modern advent of virtue ethics.
Though Aristotle wrote many elegant treatises and dialogues – Cicero described his literary style as “a river of gold” –  it is thought that only around a third of his original output has survived.
Momis said the Aristotelian concept of politics should be used more to guide us in our walks of life, rather than trying to imitate other western nations, since we differ in many ways and  that what may work well in western nations may not work for Pacific Islands countries
Murray said that the problems faced by Pacific Islands nations and western countries differed in many ways, ranging from the importance of extended families through to economics and geography, which all affected our political style.