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“The major problem—one of the major problems, for there are several—one of the many major problems with governing people is that of whom you get to do it; or ra

“The major problem—one of the major problems, for there are several—one of the many major problems with governing people is that of whom you get to do it; or rather of who manages to get people to let them do it to them. To summarize: it is a well-known fact that those people who must want to rule people are, ipso facto, those least suited to do it. To summarize the summary: anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job.” ― Douglas Adams, The Restaurant at the End of the Universe

TulliusCicero 10y ago
This is an intellectually lazy and overly cynical view of human nature. The reason politicians seem so terrible is not that they were the dredges of human morals and character to begin with, but because a) power corrupts, b) the stronger the light you shine, the worse every flaw looks. Do you ever make mistakes in your job? Things that, in hindsight, were non-optimal? Of course you do! And in most jobs that's not a big deal, but when you're a head of state, even a slight error in judgment can get you torn to pieces in the press. And since positive news isn't news, most of what anyone hears about a given president will likely be bad, so inevitably you've mostly heard bad things about what a president (or national-level politician) has done in the past. Hence, everyone seems terrible.
- soylentcola 10y ago
  It's meant to be a bit of dark humor. Sometimes the folly of humanity (including much of what you bring up) can make us cynical, angry, or depressed. Being able to have a laugh at those troublesome aspects of human nature is one way some of us can find a bit of a respite.
  - TulliusCicero 10y ago
    I realize it's meant to be somewhat humorous, but I also think it's meant to be taken seriously; or at least, there are a lot of people with exactly the viewpoint espoused in that quote.
boggydepot 10y ago
This is where Jesus comes in: We must get everyone mature and not be greedy. Also my favorite, Epicurus: Epicureanism: Having enough wealth that is enough to get you your Freedom is enough. More that that won't make you happy. Instead you'll need two more things: Friends and "time for Self understanding". --- This and positively probably Marxism (maybe not revolution, but effective destruction of big corp capitalists is a must). After capitalism is destroyed. The first two paragraphs I wrote will be needed.

TulliusCicero 10y ago

This is an intellectually lazy and overly cynical view of human nature. The reason politicians seem so terrible is not that they were the dredges of human morals and character to begin with, but because a) power corrupts, b) the stronger the light you shine, the worse every flaw looks. Do you ever make mistakes in your job? Things that, in hindsight, were non-optimal? Of course you do! And in most jobs that's not a big deal, but when you're a head of state, even a slight error in judgment can get you torn to pieces in the press. And since positive news isn't news, most of what anyone hears about a given president will likely be bad, so inevitably you've mostly heard bad things about what a president (or national-level politician) has done in the past. Hence, everyone seems terrible.

soylentcola 10y ago
It's meant to be a bit of dark humor. Sometimes the folly of humanity (including much of what you bring up) can make us cynical, angry, or depressed. Being able to have a laugh at those troublesome aspects of human nature is one way some of us can find a bit of a respite.
- TulliusCicero 10y ago
  I realize it's meant to be somewhat humorous, but I also think it's meant to be taken seriously; or at least, there are a lot of people with exactly the viewpoint espoused in that quote.

boggydepot 10y ago

This is where Jesus comes in: We must get everyone mature and not be greedy. Also my favorite, Epicurus: Epicureanism: Having enough wealth that is enough to get you your Freedom is enough. More that that won't make you happy. Instead you'll need two more things: Friends and "time for Self understanding". --- This and positively probably Marxism (maybe not revolution, but effective destruction of big corp capitalists is a must). After capitalism is destroyed. The first two paragraphs I wrote will be needed.