In Defense of Politicians

By Katie Foley

I recently interviewed for a new job within my organization. One of the first questions was, "Why do you want this job?" A lot of possible responses came to mind. I wanted the job because it would pay more, because it would be more of a challenge than my current job and because the job meant more responsibility and greater opportunity. I wanted the job because I would have been good at it.   

These are pretty straight-forward reasons to want a new job. Never did it cross my mind to be critical of the job during the interview - I would have been treated to a very chilly audience if I had. You don't generally seek a new job because you think the job itself is flawed and faulty and you alone can save it. For example, people don't become plumbers because they have long been disgusted with the way houses are plumbed. You never hear of a little kid wanting to grow up to become a ballerina because they believe all ballerinas to be corrupt and they hope to be the exception. 

And yet, this seems to be the norm in politics. Many people deem "because I hate politicians" to be an acceptable reason to want to be one. You do not bash Thomson Reuters or 3M and then seek to become employed by them - yet people rail against the government while seeking government employment as a matter of course. Every profession has it's bad actors, but most professions don't draw critics into their ranks. 

If my house is ever on fire I hope a firefighter shows up to help. I'll leave sales to the salespeople, electrical work to the electrician and auto repair to the mechanic. Let's leave politics to the politicians - that's what they are here for.