First it was the little town of Talkeetna in Alaska and Mayor Stubbs, the cat regarded as the unofficial mayor - see:
http://gerryshedd.blogspot.co.uk/2015/04/politician-overload-and-how-to-solve-it.html
Now Barsik the cat looks set to emulate Stubbs by being unofficially elected as Mayor of the Siberian city of Barnaul:
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/dec/16/disgruntled-siberian-city-wants-cat-for-mayor
It must be something to do with the cold weather in both Alaska and Siberia that makes the inhabitants want to elect someone who wears a warm fur coat. Or maybe the citizens of those two chilly outposts are on to something. Those in the world of healthcare are (or should be) familiar with the Latin phrase Primum non nocere.
This roughly translates as "first do no harm" and suggests that it may be better not to do something or maybe to do nothing at all than to do something and cause more harm than good. Google had a go at introducing a similar maxim into the commercial world with their "don't be evil" motto. What they discovered was that if you say and write the words, you have to act accordingly. They seem now to have watered it down with the slightly more equivocal "You can make money without doing evil." They failed to add "Don't forget to pay tax on it."
Back to the world of politics and those two mayoral cats. Of course, it's all a whimsical fantasy. Mayor Stubbs isn't actually in charge in Talkeetna and the poll in Barnaul is just an informal social media exercise. In the real world, we do need leaders capable, for better or worse, of making decisions. It would just be nice to think that they would make those decisions honestly, without thought of personal gain and for the benefit of those they serve.
Maybe the attention received by Mayor Stubbs and the overwhelming support given to Barsik will at least act as a reminder to those in power, in Alaska, Siberia and elsewhere, that primum non nocere is not a bad motto. That would be (sorry, I can't resist it) just purrfect!
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