Politicians Are Not Special

We have placed our politicians on a high pedestal that they simply do not deserve. The original concept of political positions like the President and Vice President, congressperson, and Senator, were to serve your term and then return to your life, and your life was likely working and owning your farm or business.

Somehow we have moved so far away from that concept, that our elected politicians are career politicians, with some serving 50 years or more terms, and that is insane.

Imagine being a farmer who owns your own several hundred-acre farm, which includes livestock and gardens/fields, then being elected to a political position, such as a U.S. Senator. While in session, you will be used to busting your ass to make sure things work and survive, just like you would when you are working the farm.

Now, fast forward and you own a small bakery and you make donuts for a living, you ran for and were elected to the U.S. Senate. You are new to all this, but you bring to the table, years of owning a small business, years of serving the community, you are in the lower part of the middle class, your children are in public schools, your spouse works at a doctors office as a receptionist. Yes, there are many things that you need to learn and some games that you need to learn to play, however, you bring fresh, new blood, with new ideas, and more importantly, you don’t have any plans on making this your life. The other Senator for your state has been in his office for over 40 years, and currently brings to the table, nothing compared to what you bring. He is making $174,000 a year in salary, yet his taxes show that he has managed to somehow increase his worth by $4.5 million in 2022 alone. After a session, he gets into his limo which takes him home to his million-dollar house, which is guarded with armed security and is maintained by his staff of servants. His wife doesn’t hold a job, his children all went to private schools, and he has no plans of losing this gig.

I’m not picking on any Senator or Congressperson in particular, instead, I’m showing you what new blood can do. But it isn’t just money that a politician receives, Social Security perks, free Health Care, free parking, a nice retirement package, certain allowances, a staff, oh and all the free candy they want.

So is it that we almost always vote for the same person every election? Mostly because of name recognition. You are a the polling place and you have your ballot in hand. You look at the names and you see Brock and Carter are both running for the same seat. Strange, you have seen signs for both of them, but you have heard Brock mentioned hundreds of times in the media and on the TV and radio. Now Carter, that name doesn’t really ring a bell, so you select Brock and so does 70% of the rest of your locality, and bingo, Senator Brock is once again re-elected into his cushy job, where he does very little.

If you have ever watched a vote on C-SPAN, it is almost comical, except it is real life. They have 60 minutes to come and vote, most come in, sit down, push the button, and then go back to doing nothing, but this time it is on the golf course.