Why You Can’t Trust Politicians

Recently, a reader of mine asked me about politics and politicians. They had been taught — like so many people in this country — that you can’t trust politicians. They lie, cheat, and steal.

Since I have a tendency to talk about how the world is getting better, they wanted to know my opinion on the matter.

I told them I thought it was bigotry. No different than calling all black people criminals.

Yes, I realize my title was says the exact opposite. That was on purpose. I wanted to get your attention so I could point out a serious problem in our society.

We have a tendency to consider politicians guilty until proven innocent. This borders on racism.

Just because some politicians do bad things does not mean all of them are bad people. And it is wrong of me to assume so.

People are people, whether they are teachers, CEOs, mechanics, or senators.

Some people choose to do bad things. But most don’t. Most just want to do what is right.

I had the privilege for working with an elected official for 3 years. Answering phone calls from constituents was an eye-opening experience. Every day I would deal with people who entered the conversation assuming we were liars. It was offensive and hurtful.

We were just trying to best job we could. I wanted to say to them, “Who do you think we are? Monsters? Do you think we get up in the morning and have meetings on how we can screw the little guy?” I don’t think we realize how ridiculous our assumptions often are.

When we depersonalize things like the government or corporations we forget one important thing… they are made up of people.

People with families.

People with dreams and aspirations.

People that go to church, or temple, or whatever.

People that take their kids to baseball practice and piano recitals.

They are like you and me.

Now, we should hold our elected officials accountable — because a few of them have chosen to do bad things. But it is wrong for me to assume that they are all liars because of the actions of a few. It is easy to judge from a distance, but it is nothing more than bigotry.

If we want to be an enlightened society, then we need to do away with this ideology. It is impeding progress and holding our great nation back.

Lets (cautiously) assume the best in people and just see what happens.

Originally published at www.seanedwards.com on July 21, 2014.
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