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I hear this a lot but I think it’s kind of a cynical take. There are plenty of people who run for office because they genuinely care and genuinely believe they

I hear this a lot but I think it’s kind of a cynical take. There are plenty of people who run for office because they genuinely care and genuinely believe they can make a difference. Of course there are power hungry sociopaths who make it. But there are 535 members of Congress, 50 governors, thousands of mayors and city council members and state reps, etc. They can’t all be terrible, yet I feel like the popular refrain is still “no one actually good wants to be in charge.” I don’t know. Just feels very self fulfilling and defeatist.

Waterluvian 4y ago
I’ve seen the “voluntold into politics” at lower levels: like in schools and community organizations and such. The president of my province’s dental association is someone new every year. It seems to work, particularly at lower levels. At high levels, perhaps not so much. I agree that there’s people who sign up out of civic duty. I think the sexiness of politics attracts the wrong people. I think this is particularly an American phenomenon, but not unheard of elsewhere. We have a handful of cult personalities in politics but 99% of the politicians you can’t even name. They’re not getting huge kickbacks or a big salary. It’s just a job.
pydry 4y ago
If you take principled stances you will generally end up making a lot of enemies of powerful interests. They will shred your character in public mercilessly and persistently even if your record is pretty much spotless. It's much much easier to be casually evil and join a bloc of powerful interests who will take care of you and look after you if you happen to be caught in bed with a prostitute.
- Avicebron 4y ago
  Sounds like how people join prison gangs regardless of any previous sympathy towards them
yellowapple 4y ago
It's hard to find solid numbers, but even assuming only 0.5% of Americans meet the criteria for a Narcissistic Personality Disorder diagnosis (https://www.therecoveryvillage.com/mental-health/narcissistic-personality-disorder/npd-statistics/ https://www.therecoveryvillage.com/mental-health/narcissisti...), that's still 1,666,437 people - more than enough to fill nearly every (if not actually every, with room to spare) candidacy for every elected position in every level of American government. Solid numbers for Antisocial Personality Disorder (a.k.a. "sociopathy") are similarly hard to find, but are in all likelihood double that of NPD (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK546673/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK546673/). That is: yes, politicians can absolutely all be terrible.
- Mountain_Skies 4y ago
  Watching campaign events, even for "good guy" candidates, is really unnerving. There aren't many opportunities in life to have that many people, even if you're just running for city council, screaming your name and laying into what's borderline worship behavior. Off hand, only entertainers and religious figures get that same type of admiration. Doesn't seem like a good way to select a leader with the whole public's best interests in mind.
- Forgeties79 4y ago
  Honestly, I find this comment kind of patronizing, as well as buying into the cynicism I was talking about. Of course it is statistically possible that all of them are all terrible. Are you willing to bet that it’s the case?

Waterluvian 4y ago

I’ve seen the “voluntold into politics” at lower levels: like in schools and community organizations and such. The president of my province’s dental association is someone new every year. It seems to work, particularly at lower levels. At high levels, perhaps not so much. I agree that there’s people who sign up out of civic duty. I think the sexiness of politics attracts the wrong people. I think this is particularly an American phenomenon, but not unheard of elsewhere. We have a handful of cult personalities in politics but 99% of the politicians you can’t even name. They’re not getting huge kickbacks or a big salary. It’s just a job.

pydry 4y ago

If you take principled stances you will generally end up making a lot of enemies of powerful interests. They will shred your character in public mercilessly and persistently even if your record is pretty much spotless. It's much much easier to be casually evil and join a bloc of powerful interests who will take care of you and look after you if you happen to be caught in bed with a prostitute.

Avicebron 4y ago
Sounds like how people join prison gangs regardless of any previous sympathy towards them

yellowapple 4y ago

It's hard to find solid numbers, but even assuming only 0.5% of Americans meet the criteria for a Narcissistic Personality Disorder diagnosis (https://www.therecoveryvillage.com/mental-health/narcissistic-personality-disorder/npd-statistics/ https://www.therecoveryvillage.com/mental-health/narcissisti...), that's still 1,666,437 people - more than enough to fill nearly every (if not actually every, with room to spare) candidacy for every elected position in every level of American government. Solid numbers for Antisocial Personality Disorder (a.k.a. "sociopathy") are similarly hard to find, but are in all likelihood double that of NPD (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK546673/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK546673/). That is: yes, politicians can absolutely all be terrible.

Mountain_Skies 4y ago
Watching campaign events, even for "good guy" candidates, is really unnerving. There aren't many opportunities in life to have that many people, even if you're just running for city council, screaming your name and laying into what's borderline worship behavior. Off hand, only entertainers and religious figures get that same type of admiration. Doesn't seem like a good way to select a leader with the whole public's best interests in mind.
Forgeties79 4y ago
Honestly, I find this comment kind of patronizing, as well as buying into the cynicism I was talking about. Of course it is statistically possible that all of them are all terrible. Are you willing to bet that it’s the case?