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Will Today's College Grads be Tomorrow's Politicians?
- Thread starter Awoon
- Start date
Change is inevitable.
Whether or not it will be in the direction a particular interest group wants, however, is a valid question. I do not have a crystal ball to foretell this (well, I do, technically, but that's not what I use divination for... heh).
Whether or not such changes can realistically be attributed to individual politicians is also debatable.
Part of why "change" (as in change in a particular direction) comes so slowly is because it is not one person making all the decisions. At least not here. The individual exists within a system, and their power is relatively limited because of that.
Whether or not it will be in the direction a particular interest group wants, however, is a valid question. I do not have a crystal ball to foretell this (well, I do, technically, but that's not what I use divination for... heh).
Whether or not such changes can realistically be attributed to individual politicians is also debatable.
Part of why "change" (as in change in a particular direction) comes so slowly is because it is not one person making all the decisions. At least not here. The individual exists within a system, and their power is relatively limited because of that.
Well yes I think they do.
Father Heathen
Veteran Member
Unfortunately a lack of one never seemed to dissuade voters.
Are you seriously suggesting that uneducated village idiots would be significantly better?
I'm somewhat in favor of certain educational requirements to hold office, but that's not how things work, for better or for worse. But I am not certain what form those requirements would take. They would need to be flexible and adaptable, because the world stage is constantly changing. It would make it difficult to decide what a president "needs to know," yes?
They'll change everything & nothing.
Most of the trouble with politician's education is that it tends to be in Law.
Law is a barely useful activity, and one that is rather easily twisted into a drain to a society's resources, physical and (perhaps most significantly) intangible too.
True college education would be very welcome among politicians. But the educated would have a hard time finding a reason to get their hands dirty in that field.
Law is a barely useful activity, and one that is rather easily twisted into a drain to a society's resources, physical and (perhaps most significantly) intangible too.
True college education would be very welcome among politicians. But the educated would have a hard time finding a reason to get their hands dirty in that field.
I certainly hope not, as a college education does little to actually add to knowledge. Given a certain intellectual monopoly in much of higher learning in social science related areas, it's quite possible (and I would say almost certain) for you to graduate from a political science program by simply towing the "party line".
I have had discussions with poli-sci grad students who didn't know the difference between Rome and Romania, or Taiwan and Thailand, who didn't know that Victor Emmanuel unified Italy, or that the Queen of England is technically the Canadian Head of State, and so on, but were able to obtain good marks anyways because they agreed with the professors.
I have had discussions with poli-sci grad students who didn't know the difference between Rome and Romania, or Taiwan and Thailand, who didn't know that Victor Emmanuel unified Italy, or that the Queen of England is technically the Canadian Head of State, and so on, but were able to obtain good marks anyways because they agreed with the professors.
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Kilgore Trout
Misanthropic Humanist
The problem is the type of people drawn to politics, whether they're educated or not. I've always thought a pretty true rule of thumb is that anyone who wants to be a politician, is the kind of person who shouldn't.
What else would we expect from you of all people!?!
Certainly one who selected "Kilgore Trout" as his moniker would favor the presidential selection process (totally random) from the
movie Harrison Bergeron. (It's based upon the eponymous short story by some obscure American author.....I forget his name.)
Kilgore Trout
Misanthropic Humanist
Hmm, interesting...yeah, I'll have to look that up.
You know the Douglas Adams quote yes?
"The major problem one of the major problems, for there are several one of the many major problems with governing people is that of whom you get to do it; or rather of who manages to get people to let them do it to them.
To summarize: it is a well known fact that those people who most want to rule people are, ipso facto, those least suited to do it. To summarize the summary: anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job. To summarize the summary of the summary: people are a problem." - Douglas Adams
There's education and there's education. The Republican leadership may have a lot of business and law degrees, for example, but they're almost universally scientifically illiterate -- and have a pretty poor grasp of history as well, now that I think about it...
Kilgore Trout
Misanthropic Humanist
Yep, I've always found a lot of wisdom in his humor. Probably one of the authors I've found who most coincides with my views.