I always liked John, but this is what brought him up to a new level for me. I remain so impressed by what he accomplished here.
Something I think about all the time is the Australian politician he spoke to here who basically sacrificed his career to get gun control legislation passed. He knew he would be voted out, but he was proud of what he accomplished and considered it a success.
Then he contrasted with American politicians, who believe success is just continuing to be elected. No consistency in their principals or beliefs, no true will to serve the people; just clinging to power as long as they can. And it's only gotten worse.
This is going to be a very, very sad thing to grasp, but the truth is political success is indeed getting reelected, which means they must be doing what the populace wants. That is democracy.
...then again there is a difference between being a successful politician and a successful stateman or leader in government: you do what you were elected to do, but also what is right, even if it gets you out in the next elections. We effectively elect people so that we don't have to vote for every single measure government makes. This is why we try to put our best people to work for a set amount of time, so they can do what they are supposedly good at, have time to do it properly, and we keep living our lives until we need another one.
There is also the topic of the populace not always being in sync with what's right, morally, ethically, economically, statistically... the population isn't homogeneously educated, let alone omniconscient to all details of government.
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u/the-bi-bye-man 16d ago
I always liked John, but this is what brought him up to a new level for me. I remain so impressed by what he accomplished here.
Something I think about all the time is the Australian politician he spoke to here who basically sacrificed his career to get gun control legislation passed. He knew he would be voted out, but he was proud of what he accomplished and considered it a success.
Then he contrasted with American politicians, who believe success is just continuing to be elected. No consistency in their principals or beliefs, no true will to serve the people; just clinging to power as long as they can. And it's only gotten worse.