The Most Important Job Of Politicians

What is the single most important job in the mind of politicians? TO GET ELECTED — DUH!!

In order to get elected they need an issue — a “hook,” if you will — and the can’t-miss hooks are: terrorizing senior citizens — as in “they are going to take away Social Security and you need me to save it;” and government sponsored extortion, i.e. taxes, “gonna take from the evil ol’ rich and give to the poor.”

The easiest way for a politician to convince people of their (the politician’s) value is to convince people that they are better off with them than without them. So they create scenarios to make that appear to be the case. Social Security cannot survive without them (remember Al Gore) and they’re the only ones willing to do anything for the poor and the needy.

[adsanity id=8405 align=alignleft /]The bold truth is that the Social Security system needs to be revamped from top to bottom. It is inconceivable to me how people who have been independent and capable their entire lives suddenly reach a preset number, then suddenly become dependent on the government for medicines and income. One day they are totally capable, the next they are dependent. People work, buy homes, automobiles, raise families, put children through school, etc., then at a pre-selected date in time they automatically become dependent upon the government.

The other bold truth is that there are the “haves” and the “don’t have as much;” the number of “truly have nots” are far, far, fewer than the provocative numbers tossed around by politicians and their ilk.

But politicians are masters at changing definitions, and they love victims.

There is no question that there are those who are truly needy in this great land. But that classification should be reserved specifically for those people. There is a tangible difference between people in that situation and the “have nots” and the “don’t have as much.” No one is served save the politician when it comes to pontifical grandstanding and handouts.

Don’t misunderstand me, I am not a Mortimer Judd; I just happen to believe that Social Security undermines and limits the independence of the very ones it is intended to help. I believe people should have been encouraged to invest their own money and not turn responsibility for same over to a government administered by a collective of morally opprobrious individuals without spending constraints. I also believe that help for the truly needy should be in a capacity that enables them to ultimately help themselves. Continual handouts do nothing more than sustain the poor and disadvantaged in the same quagmire they are in. It does nothing to help them out of their rut or help them up. Continuous handouts breed dependence, not independence.

Dependence may be viewed as a positive by those empowered through its use, i.e. politicians — but such cannot be said for the families trapped in the downward spiral of its application.

Growing up, my cousins and I, along with many of our friends, lived in homes that did not have indoor plumbing; some of the homes did not have electricity, they had kerosene lamps and wood stoves. While we were aware that we did not have as much as some, we at no time equated that with being poor or needy. We were never told we were disadvantaged. We had food, we had clothes, we played instruments (bassoons to clarinet), we had parents and family that loved and cared for us. All of my cousins and I graduated from high school and college. Today, all are professionals in various fields.

But, alas, the times have changed. The politicians of my youth told us to “ask not what our country could do for us, but to ask what we could do for our country.”

Today, the person standing on the corner wearing a fedora, with an open trench coat, saying “Pssst, hey buddy,” is neither flashing their genitals nor selling stolen watches — they is a politician saying “vote for me and I’ll give you ‘fill in the blank.'”[adsanity id=11817 align=alignleft /]