What's Wrong With America: Professional Perpetual Politicians

Part of the problems facing this nation, at least as I see it, lies in the fact that we now have a ruling class, something to which the majority of the Founding Fathers were vehemently opposed.


Benjamin Franklin, arguably the greatest mind ever to set foot on this earth, believed that a person elected into office should be a "common man," motivated solely by helping out his fellow citizens as best he could, then stepping down and making way for the next common man. He also believed that public servants shouldn't receive a salary, as the office should attract people "...wise and moderate... the men fittest for the trust..." The idea of a "career politician" was anathema to the Founders.


Thomas Jefferson, the second greatest mind of his time (behind only the aforementioned Franklin), said, "(a) government of representatives elected by the people at short periods was our object." Writing about a proposed Constitution for Virginia, Jefferson favored a single long term for senators, thus preventing senators from conducting their office to further their own careers, with the added benefit of focusing a senator's perspective on those whom they represented. Holding public office was to be a public service, not a means of lining one's own pockets.


George Washington, our first president, eschewed his $25,000 yearly salary and voluntarily left office after two terms to make way for others who wished to serve their fellow man. Try finding a politician who would make this same sacrifice today. Washington gave us the example to follow, like he had for so much of his life, in that the duty to serve was never supposed to mean a longevity in office. Until Franklin Delano Roosevelt, no other president served more than two terms.


The intent of the Founders was to limit time spent in public office. If it isn't, it leads one  to become besotted with his or her own power, the belief in one's infallibility, and the notion that you, and you alone, can solve the problems you were elected to fix in the first place (yet done next to nothing to actually repair). A case in point - FDR. His "New Deal" prolonged the Great Depression by several years, if not decades, while raising federal taxes threefold over just seven years (1933 to 1940). In combination with several other policies, hundreds of thousands of jobs were lost, not to mention the jobs that were never created due to a lack of capital overall.


Today, we have politicians who spend lifetimes in public office. That's true on both sides of the aisle. I'm sure most, if not all of them started their political lives with a sincere desire to do good things for their constituents, but like all things that grant power over others, they became addicted to that power. They're focused more on how to stay in power rather than focusing on how to exercise that power to benefit the nation. It's time to put an end to it.


I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm pretty sure the Founders of this great nation would have already ended it, given that it was leaders they wanted, not rulers. ~ Hunter