It is an interesting conundrum that plays out in the political scene the world over. This is not something that is specific to American politics and your upcoming elections there. A few days after the American elections, we here in New Zealand will be going to the polls also for a new government. Yet we face the same challenges that you do, and the same problem that you have outlined above,
rayzoredge.
What is politics? Here is one explanation that I have heard.
poli =
poly (meaning
many).
tics are blood-sucking insects. So thus
poly tics means
many blood-sucking insects!
Anyway, as to your observation about knowing the candidates, I share your concern. When someone stands for a political office they bring their own perspectives on an issue, such as, say, global warming. But their views must be tempered by the views expressed by the party that they are representing. If their opinions on the issue are opposed to their own party's views then they won't get far. But also, their own background speaks just as loud, if not louder, than their expressed opinions. As the saying goes,
"actions speak louder than words". If somebody were to stand for a political office and tout a tough line on big business polluters, for example, and yet it comes out in the media that this same person themselves has a huge carbon footprint, then isn't that hypocritical? Aren't we then getting into the
"do as I say, and not as I do" realm of fascism?
However, being a politician is just another job. Compare being a politician to being a burgermeister at McDonalds. You could be flipping burgers all day, feeding up the nation on McD's quality, nutritious, healthy potions (yeah right!) and then go home via the gym, get a good workout and eat really healthily at home. You might even be a vegetarian at home in your own private life. But at work you are responsible for feeding that nasty fatty stuff to the citizenship! Shame on you! Bad, bad person! But as you see, we don't have to force our personal lives to conform to our work lives, or the other way around. There is no requirement to be consistent in life. Take the Internet, for example. Do we
have to be the same here in cyberspace as we are in real life? No! We can put on any persona that we want to. As long as we are consistent to that persona here, then there is no problem. What I am trying to say is that we can be good at our jobs, whether we flip burgers at McDonalds or whether we run the nation as political leaders, without our personal lives and personal opinions getting in the way. It is just a job!
Take as an example your American politician Sarah Palin and the story of her unmarried teenage daughter being pregnant. Firstly, does that make Sarah Palin a bad mother? No! It happens in America and around the world all the time, teens getting pregnant. It is a situation that may not be ideal in the eyes of certain groups, such as in religious circles, but it has to be remembered that it is something that even affects teens of strongly religious families sometimes too! But you can't blame the parents for the teen's life choices! Whether the parents are religious or not! And secondly, does it really affect Sarah Palin's ability to do her job as Vice-President if the McCain-Palin ticket wins? No! Not at all!
But it
does make a good story, and sells newspapers and increases revenue for the media moguls. And that, in my opinion, is what all the dirty politics is really all about. It's just a show, an extravaganza, put on for your entertainment. When they get into the White House and start doing their jobs, none of it will actually affect what they do or how they do it.
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