Politics, Disgust, and Great Men
From great expectations comes great men
Politics is being poisoned by an unhealthy disgust for politicians that turns great individuals away from doing great deeds.
Indeed politics is the realm where otherwise ordinary men are capable of extraordinary things.
Abraham Lincoln, for instance, lived an initially undistinguished life of little merit. And at 40 it looked as if he was on his way to being out of politics for good. Then five years later he was elected to the US House before declining to take the seat. Lincoln would then go on to lose a US Senate race before becoming President.
Initially there was little to suggest that Lincoln would become the president we remember today.
Ronald Reagan’s life prior to politics was no more distinguished than Lincoln’s. He appeared in 50 forgettable films and was a spokesman for General Electric. Despite this initial lack of distinction Reagan remained committed to articulating his vision for less government by practicing his speeches on long business trips.
But again -- there was little to suggest that Reagan would become the president we remember today.
Yet the great accomplishments of Lincoln and Reagan will never be forgotten. From winning the civil war and freeing the slaves to winning the cold war and reducing the size of government, both Lincoln and Regean achieved what seemed to be the unachieveable.
And this should be enough of an example to prove that great men can emerge to do great deeds if they believe they’re capable of doing great things.
Today, however, nobody believes anyone is capable of anything let alone greatness. And this pervasive negative mentality is damaging the future of political leadership.
Think of, for example, all the other potential Gen-X Lincolns and millennial Reagans that choose to do something other than politics because of the rampant public disparagement of politicians.
Perhaps without such disparagement we’d have real leaders with youth and energy instead of party rule by geriatrics and anonymous donors.