Musing about government.

Politics is the way it is because that's the only way to get a few things done.  Now, once in a while someone can force something on people because of a special circumstance but its not like people like to be liars and influence peddlers, well maybe some do, but generally you learn that you have to compromise without losing your support, the very definition of politics.

Once in a while we elect someone who tries to just govern, but that is a sure fire way to self eliminate yourself.  When you strive to find the best course of action, you end up getting attacked by pretty much everybody.

Now the people who've been in the Government learn this.  They need to find money, they need to convince their base they are defending them and they may need to get something done.  However the getting something done is not going to interfere with the first two or you won't be around very long.

Getting money is the primary goal.  You can distort things to your base and suppress the opposition to a certain degree, but you need to make sure you have the money to do it. 

Getting money is job one for a politician and there was an interesting article about this in The Atlantic during the last election about how each party makes members spend hours fundraising.  Now we do make contributions tax deductible, but realistically,  a few big donors are a lot better then millions of small ones.  The big donors know what they want and they are willing to tell you.

In fact the system we have today came about because its good for the people with money.  Its important to note that people with money mostly want more money.  Similarly people with power want more power.  Of course those two things are not really that different.

The idea that politicians entered politics to perform public service is pretty silly although you hear it a lot.  Politicians, at least those that survive, do it because they like power and money.  Having power will end up getting you money and as much as we pass ethics laws it hasn't really changed.

In fact if you consider Government the one everyone deals with are the civil servants who really are just people who got jobs doing government work.  Not being politicians they get to tell people what they can't have, and the politicians are happy to blame them for this, although they simply follow the rules written by the congress. 

If you think about your general interactions with these people, it might be frustrating, they generally are understaffed and it might seem confusing, the regulations and rules are an area that isn't mastered by many, but generally its pretty fair.  If you don't get what you want, you may not feel that way, but the size of your social security check or your access to VA benefits is based on laws that apply the same to everybody.

Unfortunately, this isn't going to get better, since in order to give some money back to the wealthy, the number people who serve the public will be reduced even further.

How bad is it going to get?  Hard to say.  I'm sure there will be exposes about the failings, like we had for the VA when they were unable to keep up with their workload.  I know that it won't be good for the people who need these services, I'm just not sure how bad it will get. 

Except for those who die waiting, it probably doesn't make much difference.