Politicians Shouldn't Come First
by Tibor R. Machan
A few weeks ago I attended a conference of business professionals at which a number of awards were given out to people in the local community. There was also a pretty interesting talk, given by the famous ethics pundit and radio commentator, Michael Josephson.
The talk was a bit too off the cuff for me, lacking a unified goal and structure, but the excuse was that it was supposed to be accessible to lay people, not to academics. Still, there was little in it beyond, "Do good, avoid doing evil," and similar pretty obvious injunctions to the business community. Apart from a few snipes at people who sell versus people who are sincere -- as if the two had to be in conflict -- there was nothing much to complain about.
What was a bit irritating to me is that the first few awards handed out by the organizers of this event went not to people in the business community or in other regions of the private sector but, you guessed it, to local politicians. I suppose this is good strategy in our times -- business folks in my region and elsewhere need to be nice to politicians these days, given how much power regulatory and taxing politicians have over them.
But talk about sincerity! Surely some worthy professionals in the profession of business itself could be found to receive the first awards. Politicians really ought to be left out of these celebrations, I think.
Then came the sad passing of former president Ronald Reagan. He was one of the better national politicians in recent times, although far from as good as he should have been. His commitment to furthering liberty at home and abroad, if mainly rhetorically, was admittedly unmatched by other presidents in recent history, but still, that is only a matter of comparative excellence. Reagan talked a very good talk but didn't quite walk it, actually. He did more for the freedom of people under Soviet rule than for the freedom of Americans who, believe it or not, could well use much more of it than they possess.
The week following Reagan's death was a media frenzy of accolades and honors and rememberances, so much so that I couldn't help entertaining the possibility that it wasn't done so much to honor Ronald Reagan but to keep politicians as a class in the limelight. But I am perhaps a bit too suspicious when it comes to political maneuverings.
Yet, consider that shortly after Reagan died, Ray Charles, the superb blues and soul performer, a man twenty years Reagan's junior, also died. I venture to speculate that Ray Charles' contribution to human happiness, via his superb musical talent and prolific output, was equal to that of Ronald Reagan, even if you factor in, somewhat problematically, that Reagan had a lot to do with liberating the Soviet bloc from communist oppression.
Maybe I am wrong. But what stood out for me is that here is a major artist of perhaps the quintessential American musical forms, the blues and soul, whose passing went by with much less notice than that of a major American political figure. OK, so you may take issue with me on my particular pick. But if it isn't Ray Charles, it could well be someone else outside politics who should get a lot more public respect -- not the same as celebrity status -- than most people in the private sector receive.
Come to think of it, why are our dollar bills and coins adorned by the faces of politicians? Most of these folks knew only how to spend money, not how to create goods and services for which money is supposed to stand. Let's put some inventors, merchants, artist and scientists there to remind ourselves who really makes the world go around.
Many years ago one of my children had a little celebration at her elementary school and there, too, they bestowed an honor on someone in the community. But once again it wasn't a novelist, engineer, farmer, or merchant, but a member of city council. At that time, too, I made note of what I consider to be the unfortunate elevation of the significance of politicians in our lives to undeserved prominence. In the USA, especially, we are supposed to have championed the idea of limited government, with limited powers, duties, and scope of influence. Yet this is often overlooked by the citizenry itself. Many simply follow the bad old habit, established under monarchs, Caesars, Tsars and the like, of worshiping heads of state instead of the real contributors to culture and civilization.
Sure, we do not find pictures of presidents displayed on every corner of every street, as Saddam Hussein's was in Iraq vefore he fell, although even in America too many streets are named after politicians. We do honor inventors and scientists and artists and entrepreneurs here and there. But there is a disproportionate amount of attention and regard paid to politicians. Let us demote them already -- their work is not primarily what keeps the country strong and prosperous and flourishing.
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