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Question of the Week, Week 4

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Ok, Here goes.. :-)This is from the United States POVQuestion #1Q: Is it possible for politicians to be totally honest to both themselves and their constituents, especially in this day an age, or does the nature of the political beast ultimately make them corrupt?A: I don't think I agree with the form of the question. Constituents, according to my understanding are a representative group who are in your legislative boundaries. This means they are people who voted for and against you. So based on that understanding, there will always be a group of constituents who oppose any decision you make, thereby under their definition, you are not "Totally Honest". It is impossible to please all of your constituents, so IMHO, it is up to the voter to determine the values and opinions of those that they elect. I consider it a responsibility of every citizen with the right and obligation to vote. Most candidates for an office above the City or Municipal level have web sites. Yes that means you have an obligation to do your own research and form your own opinions. (Sounds familiar, huh. :-) ). I also feel that yes, politicians should attempt what they proposed to do. Any politician that promises anything is a fool for the idiots that belive they will accomplish it. I do have respect for someone that promises nothing, shares their views and opinions and says they will try to have something enacted. Then that politician gains perspective from his/her constituents and maybe something gets done. Depends on the legislation.Notice how I did not mention CNN, NBC, ABC, Fox, etc... never look at any political ad other than the humor it is intended to deliver. IMHO, people that use ads to determine who to vote for are IDIOTS. They are too lazy to do their own research, and are the first ones to complain about corruption, and politics. If you honestly delve into how politics work in your area, you will be surprised to find out that a lot of politicians do care, on a local, state, or federal level. I have had the opportunity to speak with many of my Representatives on many issues and have had legislation enacted due to my concerns. So for me, who chose to get involved, yes, the system works. So I believe that the majority of politicians are not corrupt, and do try and be honest to their Ideals, Morals, and the betterment of their community. I vote because the majority of whom I vote for share most, but not all of my views. I would encourage all to do the same. If you are not involved, get involved. You might be surprised at the outcome.I also disagree with the second part of the 1st question. You state:"or does the nature of the political beast ultimately make them corrupt?"I don't know what book these questions come from, but IMHO, that question has an agenda. And one that I disagree with and has history in the press. That statement "ultimately make them corrupt", IMHO, assumes that they will become corrupt. For every politician that is found to be corrupt, there are most likely many more who are not. Example: Trafficant was found guilty of a crime. He is corrupt. How many other Reps. were found guilty of anything in the last two years, and what is that percentage to the overall total of reps. Very small..So I don't think there is a nature of the political beast, I think more people need to get involved. It also means that a small percentage of crooks get 99% of the liberal (US Definition) press attention and the good guys get hardly any press at all.Q: #2 "Supposing that you're one that considers politicians to be corrupt, I ask, at what level of government does the corruption set in?"Again, I disagree with the context of the question, as I disagree that politicians are corrupt and I would like to see factual proof or a study on the percentage of convictions compared to overall numbers of politicians in the USA, so this falacy can be broken down. IMHOSo In closing you wrote:"As always, be prepared to back up your answer"I would like to see first the facts regarding your questions, sources, and bibliographies that formed the basis of your questions prior to me having to back up my responses.Regards,Joe :-wavehttp://home.attbi.com/~jranos/mysig.jpg


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There was a talented Roman general, Cincinnatus (yep, the same) who returned to his farm after each victory. Three times he was called to lead the army, each time he returned to his plough once the job done.

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OK. I'll e-mail you. There is actualy a book with these types of questions? WHat is it called?Take careMike

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I'm surprised at the answers, though, I'm not sure why. The people in these forums have always seemed quite intelligent.Now, to respond to your responses....Yes, after reading what your wrote, I can see that my questions sound like they are biased and leading to the idea that all politicians are corrupt. However, this was not my intention. I have argued exactly what you've argued, before when asking these same questions to people. I believe that politicians by and large are honest. To be honest, if I am cynical (and I am, and have been told this very thing by people before), it's cynical of the everyday joe. The poster who responded that anyone who even writes a letter to the editor should be forced to take courses at their local community college, I agree. I personally believe that too many people in this nation have based all of their opinions on the 20/20 type of programs that were in abundance a few years back. Trust no one. Politicians are all crooks because they were able to bribe 1. Technicians are all crooks because 2 failed to fix their vcr. Etc etc. Yes I am cynical, but it's cynical of "people".Last night my girl friend and I had a discussion about am talk radio. I can't even bring myself to listen to the programs because it seems like all that calls in are idiots who listen to no news, have no understanding of the true facts governing the political decisions, and only call in to b***h about things. It drives me nuts.On the other hand, I think that people enter office with the most sincere intentions, and are suddenly disliked by the public because, among other reasons, maybe they had to compromise one of their promises to get another passed.It seems that the history books always talk of the most influential decisions are government has enacted, and they are almost always based in huge compromises. Yet, the word "compromise" seems be a slanderous term to use when speaking about politicians today. What once made our country great always seems to be looked down upon.Just my rambling thoughts on this subject.And again, you all have given me much to think about.-Brian

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Hi BrianI guess opinions about politicians form based on experience. Most of my life I lived in Countries where politicians were not honest so I started to generalize politicans as dishonest. I's a mistake because I am judging people like that but I hope that with time living in a better country my opinion will change.Take careMike

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Maybe you did base your opinions on your experience, but that's not a bad thing. I actually enjoyed re-reading your original post more after I found out a bit of history from you. Having been born and raised in the US (and in fact, other than 5 days in Toronto, I've never left this nation), it's very interesting to read the views of others. I guess in a way, it makes me realize what I've been taking for granted.Anyway, back to studying (final test for my MCSE...After taking over a year off between test 2 and test 3, I should be able to say tomorrow that I passed 5 tests in under 4 1/2 months! whew!!! After that, it's finally time to take a break and sim for a while without any nagging voices in my head telling me that I should be studying!)-Brian

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That's what I love about the forums. You get to talk to people from all over the world and find out things and learn things. Good Luck with your course.Take careMike

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>I believe that in the truest form of representative >democracy, the representatives of the people should be the >voice of the majority of the citizens he/she represents. >>The success for a representative democracy depends on an >informed, educated, and engaged public. >>Unfortunately, at least in the US, we have none of the >above. > Ok, I'll pick a nit on this one. The reason that none of these exist is because the US in *not* a representative democracy. It never was intended to be such. Just read the writings of the framers. The US is set up by the constitution to be a republic. While the government is elected by the people, they were never intended to be beholden to the people's will (i.e. majority opinion) on all the issues. The people's voice really only comes into play at election time. Frankly, the framers viewed the public in general as maybe a bit too ignorant to make wise decisions on all the issues. That may have changed in 200 years and the roles reversed ;-), but the system is pretty much operating as intended. Mike Monce

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I agree. But I didn't say it was either. I was talking about representative democracies in general.I guess I should have been a bit clearer.And I don't agree with the Framers that the republic was the best idea...but who am I? ;-)Even so, in US the public is tragically unaware, so when election time rolls around, who do they vote for? And for what reason? Assuming they can comprehend the voting machine in the first place... :-rollhttp://www.thesalters.org/images/Avsim_sig_KS.jpg

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