Career Politicians and the Problems with Our Society
In 1513, there was an Italian philosopher named Niccolo Machiavelli. He was best known for outlining a ruthless strategy for seizing and holding political power. Machiavelli following three guiding principles in his quest for power: 1.) never show humility, 2.) arrogance is more effective when dealing with others, and 3.) Morality and ethics are for the weak, therefore resulting in the freedom to lie, cheat, and deceive to suit their own interest.
These guiding principles resulted in being described as a personality trait involving the willingness to manipulate others for one’s own purposes. We have seen these principles in action every single day with our politicians that we the people put into office. When someone runs for public office, such as mayor or congressman, they preach what they think the people want to hear so that they can gain the votes that will get them into office. Once in office, they forget what they said to the people and start pushing their own agenda. It’s like telling the people, “gotcha sucker.”
Career politicians that we have in office right now are considered to be high on the personality trait of Machiavellianism, because they are the masters of deception. They convince other people that they have their interests at heart, and that they are often at their most persuasive when they are busily cutting the ground out from unsuspecting victims.
An example of this kind of deception, is the recent use of eminent domain. The government most commonly uses this power to gain acquisition of real property that is necessary for the completion of a public project such as a road, and the owner of the required property is unwilling to negotiate a price for its sale. In many jurisdictions the power of eminent domain is tempered with a right that just compensation be made for the appropriation. The problem with eminent domain as it is used recently, is the government is using it to seize control of your private property that you own and giving it to another private person such as a real estate developer. They are no longer using it to improve public services which was the original intent of eminent domain. This use of eminent domain is for personal gain and is an abuse of power by people manipulating the system.
An example of this latest abuse of power belongs with the Oakland City Council who evicted John Revelli from his store and locked the doors. The Revelli family owned a tire store in that same community and same location for 56 years. The Oakland City Council is giving the property to a real estate developer to build a condo development with a Sear’s Tire Store on the premises. It is taking one individual’s private property and giving it to another private person for personal gain. The city council’s rationale was that “one landowner should not impede the progress of a city on the move.” Revelli’s property is located in a block targeted for redevelopment. There is nothing wrong with redeveloping the community in which you live in. However, it would have been best interest of the Oakland City Council to work with the Revelli family to allow them the opportunity to upgrade their facility. This can be done by giving this mainstay a tax break. After all that is the very principle that this country is founded on.
How can you protect yourself from such tactics used by these career politicians? By focusing on what others do rather than what they say. It also involves standing up for yourself, and holding them accountable for their actions. If their actions suggest that they are cold-bloodedly manipulating the people around them, disregard even fervent claims about commitment to principles of loyalty and fair play: these are just camouflage designed to mislead you.
