Our current system

[Repugnant Abomination]

Shit's whack, yo. I was just thinking the other day about politics, wealth, and the social elite, and it got me all kinds of riled up. Generalizing a bit, my thoughts were as follows:

1.Only rich people get into the highest positions of government outside of the military.
2. We're only ever given the "choice" to vote for rich people in elections.
3. They are part of a social elite and are a minority.

Okay, before I go on and before UB and GWB's heads explode I just want to say that there's nothing wrong with being rich, and blah blah blah.

But look at the last 20 years of politics in our country - the Bush's and Clinton's are worth millions. Even if a young politician isn't worth much he'll never get anywhere if he goes against his party, i.e. Obama; you do what those in charge say or you'll be ostracized from your party. Then you have lobbyists backed by millions if not billions of dollars who try to get their rich bosses agendas pushed, and so on and so forth. Follow the trail and it goes to money and the social elite.

okay, so that's kind of a general outline to set up my next points. I realized there are some holes in this so far, but just go with it for a second.

I think that we're basically living in a thinly veiled oligarchy masquerading as a pseudo democracy. The end result is a kind of modern day feudal system, where the "poor" work the lands, work the shit jobs, or even work the nice jobs, but will never, or very rarely, be able to overcome the system and be one of the "lords" themselves; we do what's necessary to keep society as we know it running, while the rulers sit comfortably at the top, manipulating and disguising things and ensuring that they'll always stay in power.

/endrant.

If I'm wrong in my thought process then by all means feel free to point it out and debate me or whatever. I just think it's interesting.

[Ironic Mustache]

An overwhelming amount of presidents (our president elect for one) and other political positions are currently inhabited by lawyers. It doesn't take any money to become a lawyer, because something like 90% end up taking out of 100k+ in loans to go to school anyway. In America, if you're smart enough, you don't have to be poor.

[Repugnant Abomination]

Yeah. I guess the part I'm struggling most with is if you manage to claw your way to the top does it really justify the system? It only rewards really ambitious, power hungry people...People who, in a perfect world, probably aren't the best ones to be in charge in the first place.

[Mr. Blonde]

There generally aren't enough good people who are willing to make the sacrifice of years in political manipulation to get to a state to make things matter, and from what i've heard, the ones that are genuinely good people end up becoming corrupted by DC. Sucks, but its hard to find a way around it. In the next 5-10 years I see myself either very involved in programming or politics; pretty much the only two routes I can see myself in at the moment. I've considered going to law school in a year or two, and/or trying to get a job as a foreign service agent for the US dept. of state. But in regard to kiss baby/shake hands politics, I can't see why anybody in their right mind would want to be a part of that.

[Ironic Mustache]

I didn't see this:

Yeah. I guess the part I'm struggling most with is if you manage to claw your way to the top does it really justify the system? It only rewards really ambitious, power hungry people...People who, in a perfect world, probably aren't the best ones to be in charge in the first place.

So people without goals or ambition should be in charge? That sounds worse to me.

Blonde, if you do plan on applying to law school around that time, talk to me first. There is a shitload of stuff you need to know before you get involved in it.

Also in regard to the "good people" thing, I've heard time and time again that these idealistic young 1L students go into it thinking they're going to change the world... All too often they end up just wanting to make a few bucks. If law school is that bad, I can't imagine what DC might be like.

FTR, I already don't want to change the world. The only thing I might be interested in in that regard is family law. Especially in divorce......... Guys get fucked over and it's definitely one area I know I wouldn't mind putting over time in.

[Repugnant Abomination]

It's not that I think lazy people should be in charge, it's that I think there are a lot of smart, creative and brilliant people who devote their lives to things other than power, who would be better. But perhaps even more so I think the right people to run things are the ones who don't want to. Good hearted, humble, modest people (if they exist).

It's like how a lot of cops are assholes. It's not the profession itself, the profession simply attracts the wrong kind of people - people who want authority over others.

You know how anti-religious I am, but I think the Bible was on to something when it said the meek will inherit the earth. They probably won't, but they probably should.

[Mr. Blonde]

Originally Posted by Repugnant Abomination

It's like how a lot of cops are assholes. It's not the profession itself, the profession simply attracts the wrong kind of people - people who want authority over others.

False. Until you have worked in law enforcement, its pretty much impossible to make a statement like this. It IS the job. Completely honorable people enter the profession and have to deal with the worst of society every day. Being called a pig, getting spit on, seeing rapists, murderers, etc on a daily basis, and it encompasses their lives. When I interned for county there were guys who had only been on the force for 2-3 years who I worked with, who actually went to the same school as me and got the same degree, who were legitimately cool, good people...but whom I could see the system was already taking its toll on them. Granted, while there are always going to be power hungry assholes who become a cop to take advantage of that, a lot of them are just manipulated by the system. It sucks, and the prime reason I decided not to do into law enforcement.

[THEINCREDIBLEdork]

It is true that anti-socials are attracted to law enforcement.

[Repugnant Abomination]

I'm pretty sure law enforcement attracts more bullies than just about any other profession. Hell, I can think of a few examples from my graduation class.

[SittinOnDubsWGW]

Originally Posted by Mr. Blonde

False. Until you have worked in law enforcement, its pretty much impossible to make a statement like this. It IS the job.

THIS. Hell, I haven't been nearly affected as much as I have seen attitudes change from several friends that have joined local/state PDs. They overall have quite a bit different job than me as in the deal with the public a lot more and also deal with more cases where they are dealing with shitty people.

Law enforcement as a whole is one of those jobs where it is extremely hard to leave work at work and try not to have it affect your day-to-day life outside of work. In my circumstance, its OBVIOUS that I am an agent in my town. The town is roughly 90% hispanic and I'm a clean-cut white dude. Only clean cut white people you see around here are either agents or military (a lot less military since the National Guard has left the area). With that being said, you tend to take your surroundings a lot more seriously and tend to be more alert even in your off-time. People talk shit, sometimes make threats, etc... this is not terribly uncommon.

A few things that I have seen change in myself, I am a lot more skeptical of people's statements. I tend not to take things at face value near as much as I used to. Overall I'm also a lot more observant. You tend to notice things that "just aren't right" and tend to stick out that you wouldn't have paid attention to before.

Originally Posted by THEINCREDIBLEdork

It is true that anti-socials are attracted to law enforcement.

May be true, but I don't think that it is the standard.

Originally Posted by Repugnant Abomination

I'm pretty sure law enforcement attracts more bullies than just about any other profession. Hell, I can think of a few examples from my graduation class.

It happens. As was stated above, you're going to have people in every position of power that want to use their authority and hunger for power. But as a whole, I don't see it as being the standard for the way people act.

[Mr. Blonde]

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