Skip to main content

Should Students Consider Politics As A Career Direction?


With all that has been going on during the past few years in the political area, some students serving in student government and those with Political Science or History as a major may think about going into Politics.

People who choose that direction may be motivated by a number of things. Among them may be the desire to:

- Serve the people in their community, city, state or Country

- Do good and make things better for the people they represent

- Assume a position of power

- Boost their ego

- Take advantage of opportunities for personal gain

To be successful, students must possess the personal qualities that seem to permeate politics today. Of course, some of these qualities may be good, while others tend to be bad for the people they represent.

Admirable Qualities:

- Looks out for the best interests of the people they represent

- Puts Our Country ahead of Their Political Party

- Honest

- Trustworthy

- Hard Working

- Good communication skills

- Intelligent

- Self-confident

- Able to build agreement and support

- Always concerned with the best interests of Our Country

Less Admirable Qualities:

- Is Willing to Tell Lies about everything and anything

- Obfuscates information and facts to make them difficult to understand

- Talks out of Both Sides of His/Her Mouth, whichever is expedient

- Puts their Political Party ahead of the People they represent

- Takes Money in return for their support and votes

- Allows Lobbyists, Special Interests and PAC's to influence their votes

- Sponsors Bills that support Large Organizations but Hurt Average People

- Puts Personal Gain ahead of Constituents and Our Country

- Ignores the National Debt

- Ignores the need for a Balanced Budget

- Favors the Rich over the Middle-Class Workers

- Tacks on PORK to desirable and important Bills

- Willing to Inflate Costs, as long as it Benefits Them

- Is willing to obstruct investigations to protect cronies

- Makes unsubstantiated accusations against opponents

- Plays fast and loose with facts

- Denies responsibility for anything that goes wrong

- Quick to hurl insults at anyone who disagrees

- Unwilling to work with members of the other Party on any issue

- Willing to blindly follow Party dictates

Of course, some people go into politics with the best intentions but end up being seduced by money, power and personal gain. Others are pressured and intimidated into submission by other politicians in their own party. Sometimes, it is not a pretty picture.

Those with political power seem to be motivated by one thing - staying in power. It seems that they are willing to do anything in order to accomplish that goal. Either way, aspiring politicians should ask themselves:

- Are my political intentions good and honorable?

- Will I always put my Constituents, State and Country first?

- Will I work to eliminate unethical behavior, corruption and improper personal gain from politics?

Some students see a broken system and want to change the way things work in politics today. Other students may only see the personal benefits that can result from holding political office. Which person is hiding in you?

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Too Much Of Politics Over Policy: 5 Considerations

Is the American system of governing, and political system, wounded, destroyed, weakened, or, merely, undergoing a period, of extreme distress? Those, who have followed politics, and the national news, for decades, realize and recognize, there is widespread apathy, within our electorate, which probably, largely explains, our relatively, low, voter turnout! In addition, many, who vote, do so, based on the empty promises, and rhetoric of political candidates, as well as their perceptions, personal biases, and prejudice, and, rather than hopes and aspirations, focus on self - interest! Unfortunately, we often, witness, far too much emphasis on partisan politics, over, quality policy, and the needs of the American people. With that in mind, this article will attempt to briefly review, examine, and consider, using the mnemonic approach, many of these concerns, and considerations. 1. Political/ personal agenda: Who should, versus, who do, elected officials, actually serve, and represent? T...
Post a Comment
Read more

Political Blogs - How to Write Them Effectively

For years you've probably been hearing about blogs, bloggers, the blogosphere, and all things "bloggy". When most people hear the term blog they might think of some geek in their underwear writing unimportant and pointless stuff for other geeks to read. While many blogs might be like this, political blogs are of a different class. Political blogs can be very informative, enlightening, and funny. If you like politics and think you have what it takes to write a blog on politics, you came to the right place. I'm going to share a few tips with you on how to write a great political blog. Even if you don't know how to write like a journalist it doesn't matter -all you need is passion (and a little knowledge). If you don't have strong political opinions then let me stop you right there and suggest you pick a different topic than politics. In order to write a great blog on politics you have to have politics on the brain, meaning, you have to be a politic...
Post a Comment
Read more

Political Correctness and Bigotry

The word "bigot" gets thrown around all the time in politics, and in many cases it is wrongly placed. I got accused of being a bigot when I suggested that peaceful Muslim-Americans should report those Muslim-Americans who intend terrorist action. This is not bigotry, it is reason. The Muslim-American communities are tight-knit, and people there are in a position to know who is planning what action. So getting them to report the terrorists is simple common sense. I, for one, am as far from being a bigot as anyone can be. Many of my best friends are black or Hindu, and I am myself a Russian-Jewish immigrant. If I can be accused of being a bigot, then what hope is there for anyone else? Cultures differ, and practices in them differ. If something exists at a higher rate of chance, then there are going to be reasons for it, even if those are not the reasons that you expect. Most stereotypes have their roots in reality, even when those roots differ from one's expectat...
Post a Comment
Read more