In this season, it is easy to get lost in a negative attitude towards politicians and take an extremely cynical view of them. After all, if every politician is a power-hungry lying cheat, it makes it easy for us to blame them for all of our problems and wait for some maverick-chosen one-golden boy to come "fix the system" and save us.
The reality is, while many people get involved in politics in search of prestige and power, there are many who get involved because they have a true passion to help their country/state/municipality and make it better. They enter office ready to change things, to effect action on their campaign promises, and they find themselves in committee after committee of people with the same calling. The problem is this: while many of them have true desires to help and make things better, they almost all have different ideas about exactly how this should be done. There simply isn't a way for everyone in the political arena to make things better in the exact manner they would like.
As a result, you find people compromising their principles in the minutia so that they can accomplish something in the bigger picture that aligns with their goals. As long as they are happy with what they get out of the deal, the end result justifies the means. After a while, they find themselves on a slippery slope, clinging to whatever they have left of their principles and struggling against becoming that person in politics whom they so abhorred (the one that drove them into the political arena to make a difference in the first place). As bigger and bigger compromises of principle are required in order to further their original agenda, they realize, "If I only had more power, then I could get this done..."
This is a very dangerous period in the development of politicians: if power becomes the conduit through which they hope to attain their goals, then any compromise of principle is justified if it moves them closer to this goal. If they have to vote for a proposal they detest in exchange for someone's support on a proposal they detest, they'll do it. If they have to abandon their duty to make difficult decisions for the betterment of the country because the electorate demands it, they'll do it. They become slaves to power, because it is all that remains for them. This is their life's work, their mission to save the world: failure is not an option.
Politicians do not need our cynicism. They need our understanding, our support. If there is someone in politics whom you think is principled and prudent, let them know. If they only hear our voices when they do things we don't like, how will they know we value their principles and judgment?
If you are cynical towards politicians or politics in general, perhaps it's not the system that's broken: perhaps it is the electorate. Perhaps if young politicians understood their constituency supported them, they would fight for their principles rather than compromise them. Perhaps it is up to the electorate to change the world rather than the "chosen one" for whom it seems to be waiting.
Perhaps this should start with you.
The reality is, while many people get involved in politics in search of prestige and power, there are many who get involved because they have a true passion to help their country/state/municipality and make it better. They enter office ready to change things, to effect action on their campaign promises, and they find themselves in committee after committee of people with the same calling. The problem is this: while many of them have true desires to help and make things better, they almost all have different ideas about exactly how this should be done. There simply isn't a way for everyone in the political arena to make things better in the exact manner they would like.
As a result, you find people compromising their principles in the minutia so that they can accomplish something in the bigger picture that aligns with their goals. As long as they are happy with what they get out of the deal, the end result justifies the means. After a while, they find themselves on a slippery slope, clinging to whatever they have left of their principles and struggling against becoming that person in politics whom they so abhorred (the one that drove them into the political arena to make a difference in the first place). As bigger and bigger compromises of principle are required in order to further their original agenda, they realize, "If I only had more power, then I could get this done..."
This is a very dangerous period in the development of politicians: if power becomes the conduit through which they hope to attain their goals, then any compromise of principle is justified if it moves them closer to this goal. If they have to vote for a proposal they detest in exchange for someone's support on a proposal they detest, they'll do it. If they have to abandon their duty to make difficult decisions for the betterment of the country because the electorate demands it, they'll do it. They become slaves to power, because it is all that remains for them. This is their life's work, their mission to save the world: failure is not an option.
Politicians do not need our cynicism. They need our understanding, our support. If there is someone in politics whom you think is principled and prudent, let them know. If they only hear our voices when they do things we don't like, how will they know we value their principles and judgment?
If you are cynical towards politicians or politics in general, perhaps it's not the system that's broken: perhaps it is the electorate. Perhaps if young politicians understood their constituency supported them, they would fight for their principles rather than compromise them. Perhaps it is up to the electorate to change the world rather than the "chosen one" for whom it seems to be waiting.
Perhaps this should start with you.
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