Where interest lies

Why would anyone want to be in politics? As someone who likes to comment on it, I think about that question a LOT, and guessing at reasons for politicians is kind of fun. However, it seems key to me that something simple should be true. And I tweeted about it:

Nations at their best require leaders who seek their nation's interest first. Their own? Not worth mentioning.

— James Harris (@jstevh) September 19, 2015

Are they dumb enough to just blurt it out though if in reality their own interests are what really matters to them? Won't every politician claim to be for others first?

Watching political candidates in the news I often wonder where their focus is. Search for clues. Of course opinions are all over and how can you really know? Beyond the talking points, carefully prepared statements, or attempts at pretending at not giving them, where does the truth lie?

Where is their focus really? And if that focus is on self, then you gotta wonder, what are they doing there?

Ego? Ambition? Delusion of their own worldview?

Guess that's what is supposed to be up to the voters to figure out.

Where is the good for the country?

It is an interesting question to me whether or not most Americans think that puzzling it out is important or take it for granted that people at the highest rungs of politics are only in it for themselves.

I know I don't.

And I fear that can be a problem with our television and movies which are works of fiction, where the truth is not as important as the entertainment value. But what if people believe that's the way it really is?

So yeah, in movies, or on television all kinds of craziness can rule. But there writers can just write away the consequences too. Make up rules, ignore legalities and skirt realities of law enforcement, all in the name of entertainment. Or how voters would actually react. Writers can make it work out a certain way which pleases a particular viewing audience.

In reality though, writers are just some more people, still just workers among millions in the nation with no more power than anyone else. And if something really big happens they're as likely to be befuddled as everyone else. But unlike others they may be studying to learn and write that into their pale reflections.

If throughout this nation's history its leaders had ever for the most part been only in it for themselves then this country would be in a bad state. It might not even still be here.

That's reality. No human writer good enough to come close to writing a script that can handle it.

Politicians come and go. It's the nation that must last.

The needs of any particular politician today can be very important to that person, and dominate a life. On the national stage such personal interest can capture the attention of millions.

But in time, those needs will disappear like those of every other throughout human history, and what will be left behind?

I find it hard to believe that a selfish focus on one person, in a reality where the needs of millions, and even billions must be considered, can lead to anything other than ephemera of the moment. Such a brief burst that it might be hardly thought of as real once it's gone.

That such an empty life would be even more transient than our worst entertainment, something people wish were just a bad movie that had been kept in the can.

That is, something that should never have been released to the viewing world.


James Harris