Why are politicians so stupid?
From the August 2008 Elliott Wave Theorist, titled
Some Myths & Realities in the World of Politicized Finance
by Robert Prechter | Excerpted with permission
Why are politicians so stupid?
This is another belief that is totally wrong. How many times have we all read a letter to the editor from someone who calls government actions “stupid?” They say government-created lending institutions were a “dumb” idea; FEMA’s waste of half a trillion dollars after hurricane Katrina was due to “ineptitude”; the war in Iraq is “idiotic”; the state-controlled educators are “incompetent”; the military is “mismanaged”; the subsidy of ethanol is a “colossal failure”; the Fed is “foolishly” inflating; the welfare system “doesn’t work”; the immigration department “can’t do its job”; the war on drugs is a “failure”; and so on.
All of this is completely wrong.
Over the past 40 years, members of the House of Representatives have enjoyed an average re-election rate of 94 percent! In the last five elections, they have enjoyed a re-election rate of 97 percent! What is stupid about that? Obviously, politicians are not wasting a dollar or mismanaging anything. Government is designed to serve the people in it, and for that purpose, it works great.
The public gets fleeced, cheated, punished and crushed, but that is just a side effect. The favor-trading process, in which special interests fund campaign coffers in exchange for pet legislation, is a form of unnatural selection that weeds out those who are unwilling or incapable of predictable, reliable and discreet power brokerage, which is a rare and delicate skill. People who can rob their fellow citizens blind, throw their money down rat holes, plague them with endless rules and punishments and simultaneously get their victims to confer upon them society’s highest level of respect are in some intuitive way geniuses.
Members of Congress may be short-sighted, dishonest, corrupt, pragmatic, hypocritical, immoral or amoral, but they are not stupid. They know exactly how to influence voters, hand out tax money and manipulate the political system to enhance their personal, social and financial status while making it look as if they are upstanding citizens trying their gol-darndest to provide services.
And the public buys it. So which group is stupid?
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For more fascinating & counter-intuitive perspectives, download the entire report here: Some Myths & Realities in the World of Politicized Finance
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And let's take that re-election rate down from 94% to, oh, say zero come November 4. (Dr. Paul has no challenger, so he has to be reelected.)
"We the People" are the ones that are stupid...
We don't realize what power we actually wield--and we're too lazy to get involved beyond sending a "petition chain letter" in e-mail.
With respect to our government, "we reap what we sew."
"Don't get pissed at City Hall, BECOME City Hall."
Amen
bump
"Freedom is a right that can never be won in war,only by each individual "
Yet we remain divided.
I see people here are also trying to kill the 700B bailout.
Good luck.
What the politicians and their enablers know is you must form alliances.
And that is the one thing which will not happen to those opposed to what his happening now.
People here will not ally with anyone else, nor will those elsewhere ally with those here.
So as Ben Franklin pointed out, we will all assuredly hang separately since we refuse to hang together.
yes, we have to remember
the pursuit of elected office does not attract everyone. You get a certain sort of man or woman, not that they are all the same. I won't venture a typology, but I will say that some of the necessary qualities are very superficial, they need to know and to be trusted by some big money people to even get started, and the job is very glamorous and does not DEMAND that much effort once you are in. They simply, in general, cannot be trusted or taken at face value.
Couldn't have said it better myself!
The fact is that for the last 100+ years Americans have been brainwashed in government schools to believe that our form of government is the best in the world. It's been drummed into their heads for so long, that most of them still don't have a handle on reality.
An irreligious government that can produce moral people (which was Thomas Jefferson's goal) is an oxymoron. The seeds of our destruction were planted right at the beginning.
I think Id say that the form of govt is decent,
we ought to try using it some time.
Lazy
Voters are lazy. Plus, some of us hate politics and we try to ignore politicians and bureaucrats as much as possible.
This combines in voters with the philosophy of "better the devil you know" (incumbents) and those who don't vote.
Of course, some of us vote for libertarians.
IMissLiberty
IMissLiberty
Make government smaller!
Michael, your list drives home why we need to make government smaller. Constitutions set out to keep it small. Our challenge is to start making it small again.
Rally this October 4th to END the Income Tax in Massachusetts. If you can't make the rally you can at least enjoy reading about it here:
http://www.onemonthfromnow.org/
watch the bill moyer interview. It is great!
http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/08152008/watch.html
I found it on this thread: http://www.dailypaul.com/node/64565#comment-679448
I agree, but... I wouldn't
I agree, but...
I wouldn't necessarily say they are all just corrupt... some of them just sincerely have a difference of opinion in their philosophy.
Still, I enjoyed this critique. It was very persuasive/witty.
Yes and that opinion is ...................
Some say yes to the constitution, and others say it is just a g-- damned piece of paper.
How I ask can you defend that opinion?
The constitution by the way is not a philosophy
" In Thee O Lord do I put my trust " ~ Psalm 31:1~
" In Thee O Lord do I put my trust " ~ Psalm 31:1~
Public Choice Theory
The incentives that make (free) markets work, are those that make governments fail (which is the opposite of what we're told). This is why their behavior seems so strange and destructive... it is. Also, some of them are actually psychopaths, which makes things even worse.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_choice_theory
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"Let the good heart speak words of true peace, not inciting others to further war." -- B.I.S.
It's
a pyramid scheme.
look at the back of your FRN !
I would think
all of them put there not voted in. But then how could I explain Ron Paul?
"In politics, nothing
"In politics, nothing happens by accident. If it happens, you can bet it was planned that way."....Franklin Roosevelt
We all know how the game works
Old 'conservatives', 'Christians', and the military vote Republican.
Everyone else votes Democrat.
Things shift back and forth depending on who is currently screwing up.
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Nonetheless, America has to die.
Just look around you at the average person -- who are we kidding?
The good times are over -- this was the pinnacle of what we had.
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Glen Beck -- An Exposed Enemy:
http://www.dailypaul.com/node/90198
Glenn Beck Supports NAFTA and taking your job:
http://www.dailypaul.com/node/86643
take you tears to the BANK
ONE of my other opinions is:the polititians reflect the voters wants therefore the voters actually are responsible for this financial mess.
YOU voted them in ..They are YOUR representatives..THANK YOU. YOU can take that to the BANK..AND now they vote your & my life saving into servitude ...CONGATULATIONS I_I_I_I_d__i___o____T.......................
says
I'm an ELEPHANT
WE need to get good people wanting to do what is best for all .Not accomidating small ideas or loby groups .. IF it is not good for ALL it is not good .WE as a nation should have had HEALTHCARE as a priority BUT, BUT, BUT, not now... WE wasted our money & talents on too many frivalous policies & programs that help a few here & there, instead of helping the entire populous..NO social programs should be addopted that prefferences any 1 sector of society...This is not for the COMMON GOOD...Common good is the reason this country was founded..TOO many porkers & shortsighted programs have used up & wasted taxpayer monies ..NOW we cannot afford the big ones...THIS bailout will surely sink this COUNTRY into VERY RISKY DEBT & bad position in the world financial scene...I believe A vote yes is TREASON....WE will be giving up our own LEVERAGE & LIQUIDITY & SOVERNTY as a nation to do this bailout.. THAT translates to other nations now telling us what to do ...alas NWO...SIMPLE, DONE, TAKEOVER....IS it planned or just the way the cards fall??? ..I don't know ...BUT I do know what brought us here & who brought us here ...I will not forget ...I'm an ELEPHANT
says
lack of O2 in
DC?
The voters usually get the politicians that they deserve and
they usually get it good and hard.
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"An economy built on fiat money is a society on its way to ashes."
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"An economy built on fiat money is a society on its way to ashes."
PERAMID upside down rules
YOU must not let rotten apples spoil the ideal... BAD administration does not make a bad business....AMERICA in ideal form is the best man has ever devised ..IF you inject all the individual wants & cares, YOU end up at the beginning, (trying to have a comprimise), which is what the founders of AMERICA did..THEY chose to comprimise. that benefited ALL parties the best that they could, to form this union ..Everyone gave & agreed on some points to get a job done for the COMMON good of all parties ..This is why we still have STATES..In order to divest into society these differing ideals that are not addressed in the cental GOV"T.. THEN we get broken down farther into smaller divisions by COUNTY ,LOCAL & BORO...ALL these are a FORM of (dissention &/or affirmation) not addressed in the central CONSTITUTION & we are broken into areas of the populous....CHOOSE what rule you want to live under, to a degree not in conflict with the central laws' intent...This is a very ingenious society setup.. MAGNIFICENT AMERICA..
says
why are the American people
why are the American people so stupid to vote in STUPIDS!
I am more concerned about the return of my money than the return on my money. --Mark Twain
“A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished.” (Prov. 22:3; 27:12 KJV)
Hey McCain-----┌П┐(◣_◢)┌П┐
We've become
We've become a society that rewards failure, the current commander-in-chief is an excellent example. The CEO of WAMU who has been with the company less than three weeks will get $18 million.
http://money.cnn.com/2008/09/26/news/companies/fishman_wamu/...
Intelligent, honest people are very unlikely to get far in politics. We can change this if we really want to, however I think we will have to hit bottom first.
I was stupid also
Until I heard about Ron Paul ... then Aaron Russo ... then G. Edward Griffin, and I'm 67 years of age.
Probably my only saving grace is that I have never voted for a republican or a democrat. On my first opportunity to vote (1964) I was just 23 and was planning to go with JFK .. we all know what happened to him a year earlier. I was positive then that he was taken out under false flag, so that was all I really needed.
(Most) politicians, have youth against them and only recently have we seen a new breed emerging. I hope it continues.
"NO BAILOUT"
kinds of politics
IF you ever got involved in PARTY organization ,you would very swiftly realize it takes your money..THIS is how people get nominated ...BUY $ your way up the ladder of inside influence....THEN they on committee will nominate you for an office ...YOU don't contribute you are OUT....
OF course it apparently is in the GENES or something that most people who make money or have it are stuck on themselves & their ideas, so that is what is promoted...It's ALL like the rest of society: WHO GET PROMOTED....NOT neccessarily the brightest or good idea people ..Right now POLITICS is : feel good politics...PATRONISE the citizens
says
touche'
What your government pays for it gets. If it did not want the desired results it would CHANGE IT.
'Peace is a powerful message.' Ron Paul
most
because most are failed business men that there fathers put in business now they become politicians and ruin the country. not just a small bus. that dad put them in. it starts at the top also with shithead bush.
democracy
My faith in democracy went down the toilet with Bush's second election.
The democratic process is inherently flawed, and fataly flawed, in the absence of a press that is free from commercial and political interests.
In an idiocracy, the democratic process is totally doomed. To get elected, you have to appeal to a lower and lower common denominator based on the most vulgar of the human social instincts.
My proposed solution is to select our officials on a lottery system from qualified candidates. The details could be worked out.
The fact that we care so much about the president of the executive branch of the federal government is one clue that the system has run its course down the drain.
Excellent point! Most of
Excellent point! Most of them, however, are ignorant, at least about what they are voting for. A speed reader could not wade through the thousands and thousands of pages of legislation these people vote into law every year. We really need the "Read the Bill Act". If they had to read this crap, you can bet the bills would become a lot skinnier and far more clear.
Pat
BOHICA!!
to take an idea from another Repulic
Look at the dreaded "terrorist loving" Iran. They realized that the same forces that have destroyed the US would do the same to them after they over threw the Shah if they let it and made it Iran an "Islamic Republic". Their laws and politicians have to meet strict standards according to their religion. They have a special committee that can veto any bill or reject any politician (including president) with their vote if it does not meet these standards.
While freedom of religion is important ... if you knew certain things about real history (past & present) you could understand their stance ... but in our case:
Imagine having a committee like that here going strictly on the constitution. They would assure everyone is kept in line and if ever citizen was educated on the easy to follow constitution ... it would be very easy to tell if the committee itself was getting off course. If at any time Congress voted for any bill/law (Bailout *cough cough*) against the will of the people .... it could instantly be vetoed on the grounds it was unconstitutional.