There was a time in the history of man when a leader’s focus was upon the benefit of society. Some of America’s early presidents were highly lauded for shaping the structure of society. To name a few, Abraham Lincoln introduced the Emancipation Proclamation to end slavery and bring back unity to America. George Washington got America on the right track to becoming one of the most powerful nations of the world. Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the only president to be elected four times, helped to relieve the American people from the harsh situations of World War II, among many other things.
The presidents and other politicians of today have not exactly been model citizens. George W. Bush has been constantly criticized for going to war in Iraq. Not to mention, he has been often ridiculed for his overall stupidity. Bill Clinton is now notorious for having relations with a White House intern. There have additionally been quite a few politicians that have embezzled government money. Corruption by money, sex, and power has been uncomfortably common.
There are plenty of reasons why this may be. The primary reason is the shift of focus from the good of the society to the good of the politician him or herself. A leader should be devoted to the people that he or she is governing. He should be serving the people, not using them.
The secondary reason comes from how complex our society has become. The human population has been growing at an obscene rate, which means that the amount of leaders to govern a growing population needs to increase as well. Therefore, there can be a variety of different combinations of factors that could possibly go into a campaign. For example, candidates these days are sponsored by large corporations under the table. Most of the time, the purpose of this is to get the candidate to work for the corporation, not for the general public. An excellent example is cigarette companies, who attempt to prevent federal lawsuits from occurring by sponsoring certain politicians.
The increased complexity of society has also reduced the productivity of it, surprisingly. These days, bills have to go through too many people. It could take weeks or months for something simple to become federal legislation. This is common within every branch of government. The standard for the amount of accomplishment of any political officer has decreased over time because of it, therefore decreasing their productivity.
When did the devil start winning all the internal conflicts of politicians over the angel? Where did the purity in American politics go? Where did the true ambition go? Where did the true passion for progress go? When will the word “politician” have a better connotation? We are due for someone to step up and challenge the status quo.
