In a too rare reflective moment, I wondered how it was possible for local politics to be so full of self-serving people whose only real goal was the acquisition of power. Then I realized that these folks are just like the rest of us, only different.
How can you be the same and yet different? Relatively easy when you think about it. Since the Garden of Eden man has possessed a sin nature (don’t believe in God? Then man is just evil, no garden needed), and most people’s goal is to be as good as we can although our nature puts temptation in front of us at every turn. With me so far?
The difference between politicians who lust for power and everybody else is a lack of a strong moral code, the kind of code that requires you tell the truth no matter the consequence. Many (I’d say most) career politicians don’t have this inbuilt code. The result is an inability to care for anyone but yourself, no matter how you act in public or what your career is or was outside of politics.
A prime example of this is a man of the cloth who runs for office and wins. Sunday and Wednesday he’s the salt of the earth, a man you can look up to, the kind of person you hope your kids grow up to be.
The problem is the rest of the week he works at politics.
There is no way the person I’ve described can be good at both things. A good churchman will never put up with the character assassination or dirty tricks or just plain power-mongering that goes on as a regular part of politics, and if his political nature exerted itself, he wouldn’t be a successful pastor. Oil and water, so to speak.
How can anyone run for political office without lying to themselves; If you tell yourself you’re working for the greater good enough times, no matter what you really do, you’ll believe yourself. I use politicians simply because they’re low hanging fruit. The examples abound.
If you had a business, would you continue to employ someone who lied about what they were doing and failed to produce the goods they promised when you hired them? Add illegal acts to the mix. What if they were breaking the law while they were working for you? Would you keep them on the payroll.
I believe the answer is no, this person would not work for me.
Yet in Arkansas 35 state senators and 100 state representatives work for the citizens right now. And no matter what state you live in, at least one works for you as well. Are they all honest, upright citizens?
Having second thoughts?
What about the lifeblood of politics (after money that is), the quid pro quo. Have any of your upright squeaky clean politicians ever voted for a bill to get the favor of a vote for their own bill? Still squeaky clean? Maybe a little dusty around the edges?
What about supporting a governor’s plan for the state even though you don’t agree with it because the governor has a PAC and will get you a primary opponent if you cause trouble. You see the governor is as much a power seeker as you are, and has the same problem with the truth. If your governor was truly a good person with the strict code of honesty we “all” desire, the governor would acknowledge your differences and work to bring you to their side. They wouldn’t work to end your career.
And it’s not just politics.
We’re told by people who’ve been there that no one gets promoted beyond the rank of colonel in any branch of our armed forces without being a politician as well as a war fighter. The examples abound here as well.
Generals with a chest full of medals who forget who their boss is and commit treason by making unauthorized calls to Chinese generals to tell them they’ll let them know if we’re going to attack.
Or maybe a general who disagrees with his boss and decides to hold the national guard from working the demonstrations in Washington DC at the Capitol because he has differing political positions than his boss.
Or maybe a colonel who is quick to convict a man of an action he asks that same man to perform for him.
Do any of these people deserve to keep their job?
We all know the joke about how you can tell when a used car salesman is lying – his lips are moving. Seems there’s a lot more of that going on than just used car salesmen.
So back to the beginning, how are we like self-serving people whose only goal is to acquire power, but different?
Simple. We think of the consequences before we act. We don’t believe we’re too smart to get caught. We understand we’re responsible for whatever we do no matter what the inducements. When we make a mistake we apologize and mean it.
So we’re different exactly because we’re the same, but we realize our nature and fight it every day.
I sincerely wish you good luck with that. I know I need all I can get.
We can’t ask often enough that you contribute to a charity or organization that is taking care of them. We recommend Samaritan’s Purse or Mercury One. They are already on the ground and doing excellent work. Thank you.
If you like what you see, there’s more at Jack’s Substack.
Continuity planning, civilian and military
Jack, well said. I’m guessing because I’m not a politician in mind set, but only one of the people the political machine will find a way to replace me. I would welcome our elected leaders to take the time to convince me of their position. I have heard it said in our county committee that the republican platform is what they use to get elected but its not law and they don’t have to abide by it. Well that is a true statement the platform isn’t law but if the platform doesn’t hold true to you why would you run under that platform? I guess this is why there is so much division in the Republican party here in Arkansas. There has to be room for compromise, but I always thought the party platform were the key things a party wasn’t willing to compromise on. well at least not at every turn of the political page. I am finding it hard to see the difference between many elected republicans and our democrats. So much for us having a truly Red State. Jack keep up the great writing who knows maybe you will help some people wake up and realize they actually work for us not the other way around.