Dr. Martin Hash Podcast

Should politics be a popularity contest? When someone "represents the people," do they really need to be liked? Should their fashion sense, age, and speaking powers be a determination of whether they're qualified? Reading about Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, James Madison, and many of the other Founding Fathers; few of the early pioneers of pluralistic politics could be elected today; they just weren't cool enough.

How it got this way is glaringly apparent but nobody actually consciously admits it: people get into politics to be famous, and even though they mewl about “wanting to help people,” that's only a cover phrase because admitting to being ambitious is considered gauche. Everyone would run for political office if they could do it anonymously, that's why the idea of an election lottery is so appealing. The reason the quality of candidates is so low is that conscientious people have some misgivings that they are competent to be making decisions for everyone. It takes a truly experienced & confident individual, or a totally clueless one, to actually run for office. On the one hand, there are successful people whose achievements were earned without help of physical appearance or social facility; but on the other, attractive people are often unaware that the accolades they receive are primarily a result of someone wanting to sleep with them.