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"I want to reach Prime Minister of Israel, not President of the United States" I suspect becoming PM of Israel (or any other country for that matter) would inv

"I want to reach Prime Minister of Israel, not President of the United States" I suspect becoming PM of Israel (or any other country for that matter) would involve you having to play plenty of dirty games - maybe the games have a different surface feel than if you were to attempt becoming US president- you may have to compromise with religious nutcases to sanction semi apartheid policies, say, to get support for a crucial vote)

eli_gottlieb 15y ago
Do you live in the United States? I ask this seriously, not sarcastically. The games are qualitatively different. Israel has publicly-funded elections and a proportional-representation Parliament (the Knesset). Every nation's political processes involve some level of compromising, politicking, and unwanted deal-making to get one's way on important issues. "Politics is the art of the possible", fact of life. The United States, on the other hand, does not even really operate on the basis of votes. It operates mostly on the basis of dollars: the highest spender(s) get(s) their way on the issues, with that ruling principle expressing itself in various forms through actual elections, votes, court cases, etc. Israel, as we have always thought democratic nations should, has politics as its own profession, separate from others. America does not; becoming a politician of any stature means acquiring or marshaling financial power.
- plinkplonk 15y ago
  "Do you live in the United States? I ask this seriously, not sarcastically." I don't live in the United States now, but I have lived there and seen elections and politics at close range. As to the rest I guess we will agree to differ on the idea that Israel (or any other country for that matter) has significantly cleaner politics or that United States pols plumb some depths of evil that politicians in other countries don't. YMMV etc.
  - eli_gottlieb 15y ago
    Israeli politics? Clean? By objective standards, oh dear God no. It's immensely corrupt. But it's not captive. Israeli politicians give away favors and embezzle because that's what they think they get for winning the Politics Game. American politicians don't (didn't?) actually embezzle that much from the government, because American politics are really just a rich person's game in the first place; why embezzle when insider trading is legal for legislators?

eli_gottlieb 15y ago

Do you live in the United States? I ask this seriously, not sarcastically. The games are qualitatively different. Israel has publicly-funded elections and a proportional-representation Parliament (the Knesset). Every nation's political processes involve some level of compromising, politicking, and unwanted deal-making to get one's way on important issues. "Politics is the art of the possible", fact of life. The United States, on the other hand, does not even really operate on the basis of votes. It operates mostly on the basis of dollars: the highest spender(s) get(s) their way on the issues, with that ruling principle expressing itself in various forms through actual elections, votes, court cases, etc. Israel, as we have always thought democratic nations should, has politics as its own profession, separate from others. America does not; becoming a politician of any stature means acquiring or marshaling financial power.

plinkplonk 15y ago
"Do you live in the United States? I ask this seriously, not sarcastically." I don't live in the United States now, but I have lived there and seen elections and politics at close range. As to the rest I guess we will agree to differ on the idea that Israel (or any other country for that matter) has significantly cleaner politics or that United States pols plumb some depths of evil that politicians in other countries don't. YMMV etc.
- eli_gottlieb 15y ago
  Israeli politics? Clean? By objective standards, oh dear God no. It's immensely corrupt. But it's not captive. Israeli politicians give away favors and embezzle because that's what they think they get for winning the Politics Game. American politicians don't (didn't?) actually embezzle that much from the government, because American politics are really just a rich person's game in the first place; why embezzle when insider trading is legal for legislators?