The fall of New York governor Eliot Spitzer once again reminds us that things are not always what they seem, in politics and marriage alike. And it begs the question, is there such a thing as an ethical politician?
Or is it like the sports world, where a top athlete once in a while is caught using steroids and everyone is shocked and outraged, but deep down we suspect that they probably all do it; or they wouldn’t be top athletes. Once it becomes widespread practice, you either play the game or you leave. Some people become scapegoats so the rest of us can pretend it’s an anomaly; yet it continues to happen behind the scenes.
Is it the same with politics? That you cannot possibly get to the top level of power without some amount of lies and deceit? That a truly honest and ethical person will never get anywhere in the world of politics? In other words, it’s not a matter of who’s doing something unethical; it’s a matter of who’s getting caught.
It’s a discussion we have frequently in our household. My 25-year-old stepson has been actively involved in politics (in Denmark, presumably one of the least corrupt nations in the world), and my 10-year-old son wants to go into politics when he’s older. My husband strongly advises against it; he maintains that politics is a dirty game and all politicians are corrupt. I ‘d hate to believe that he is right, but sometimes I can’t help but wonder.
What I tell my 10-year-old is that I believe many people go into politics for idealistic reasons, because they want to help make the world a better place. And that I believe it is a noble career choice, because democracy depends on people being willing to spend their time and energy in all levels of government.
Of course I realize that politics tend to attract people who are hungry for power and have big egos, and they are the ones who rise to the top. I also realize that you probably won’t be in politics for long before you find out that you can’t always stick to your high ideals; you’ll have to make compromises to get anything accomplished. When do you cross the line between being pragmatic and being corrupt? Do they all cross it at some point?
It makes me worried about our presidential candidates, especially Barack Obama, whom I strongly support. He seems “clean”, but can he possibly be? He’s coming out of Chicago politics, which is notoriously corrupt – after all, Illinois has a former governor in jail and the current governor under investigation in the Rezko trial. Obama seems to have only minor ties to Rezko, but can we trust that to be true?
And the next question is, can ANY candidate at that level be “clean?” Will we just have to accept that they all come with baggage and we can only hope that it isn’t “too” bad, i.e., obviously illegal or blatantly unethical. And at least Obama is young, which means that he has had fewer years to be corrupted than Hillary or McCain. And at least it appears that he started his career from an idealistic standpoint, choosing to be a community organizer rather than working for a prestigious law firm.
Or we can choose to make a leap of faith and believe that maybe there are a few rare individuals who are truly driven by a desire to accomplish the highest good for society; individuals who are able to navigate the balance of making the deals that are required to get things done and get ahead, yet maintain their personal integrity and never sacrifice their inner core and highest ideals.
Perhaps Obama invokes such strong emotional reactions in his supporters, because he makes it possible for us to believe that he could be that unique person – a powerful political figure who’s still a decent human being. It may be a leap of faith, but it is a leap we need to take.
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2 comments:
Hey Marianne -
I think whats happens is this: people go into politics because they want to make a difference in the world. But then somewhere along the way, they get hooked on the power aspect and have a hard time letting it go again. If I'm right, then maybe the ideal candidate is someone who doesn't really need to become president? :-)
Trouble is, as you write, that since its such a hard 'game', almost every candidate has to push the limit for what is morally acceptable - in Rome you killed your opponent, in Russian you deny them the right to participate in elections and in the United States you do everything possible to discredit the others.
In the end, I don't really think its different in any profession - professors fight over grants, blue collars over promotions, and so on .
Interesting blog by the way!!!
Good point. By the way, did you know that George Washington didn't really want to be president, and he also turned down suggestions to become king. Unfortunately, it's rare to find people who truly want to serve and aren't motivated by personal power.
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