Politicians are evil?

I am long overdue for a new blog post.  Summer school turned out to be more hectic than I had expected.

On another note, this post will be about my potential future occupation, as a politician that is.  It's funny because I kind of always wanted to but was never sure if I would pursue such a thing outside of any kind of student government.  But my parents actually truly believe that I "will be famous one day so a name with an easier pronunciation is necessary."  They even made me sign papers the other night changing Crystal to my first name and changing my original Chinese first name into my middle name.  Thank you mother and father for forever looking out for my future, even in the most unexpected ways.

"I've got the greatest job in the world.  There's no other job in government where cause and effect is so tightly coupled where you can make a difference every day in so many different ways and in so many different people's lives.  It's a great challenge."  -Michael Bloomberg, mayor of NYC 

Before you say anything about how he's the 8th richest person in the country or how he changed NY law to be able to run for a third-term, or even just the fact that he's a politician using his rhetoric to better his image - the quote above is truth.  My professor in my government class, The American President, was lecturing about how support for presidents usually results in their better performance because they're encouraged by the American people and are consequently more confident and clear-minded about anything they implement.  He started talking about how support was crucial because people drawn to these kinds of careers are what we call "people persons."  Their successes and achievements often feed off of the energy that is derived from other people's approval.  They're extremely social beings and they need public acceptance.  That's when a light bulb went off in my head.

The lecture resonated with me.  I realized that I was always drawn to student government elections in high school and now the student government in college because that's exactly who I am, a "people person."  I feel my best when people praise me and are appreciative of me, and I tend to get horribly discouraged when someone criticizes me, particularly in a harsh manner.  I do more things to help other people than myself because I have this natural affinity to make people happy.  And though many people's views may differ from mine, I think politicians are, at the core, genuinely good people with good intentions.  I'm not surprised if a lot of them turn to some corruption because the political world is an unforgivingly trying arena full of trials, threats, and risks.  But I am a believer (or as some people may say, too much of an optimist) that when they are governing the people of the United States, they are using their best judgments on what is best for their constituents that they are accountable to.  I actually rather absolutely hate it, and it appalls me, when people say that politicians are evil or that they are just rich, powerful elites who don't give a care in the world about the average middle-class or working-class citizens.  I don't really think that's true.  They're "people persons" and they work to strive for your happiness and satisfaction.

Also, my best friend and I got in a mini-debate online, maybe somewhat heated on my part, about the support for Obama.  I, being a political moderate, will really support any President in which I interpret them to be genuinely finding the most efficient and best possible means to administer to the public.  That being said, I am an Obama supporter because I do believe that he's really trying in such tough economic times as these.  But my best friend, like most die-hard South Carolinian Republicans, pretty much does not approve of him. And I don't really blame her because surveys show that people have high opinions of a President's success given that the President follows their ideological beliefs.  So basically, no president can ever satisfy all of America's individuals.  Though this led me to think, it doesn't really matter if we approve of the President or not, does it?    I think what the American public really should do is be constructively (rather than destructively) critical to Obama and support him for future endeavors, or any president really.  He's not evil, he's not a bad person - he's just faced with enormous pressures that would make anybody's head spin.  Would you do any better?

Hope for the best and have a little faith.