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From: rf@wu1.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.politics
Subject: Power corrupts?  A note.
Message-ID: <219@wu1.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 27-Dec-83 20:46:21 EST
Article-I.D.: wu1.219
Posted: Tue Dec 27 20:46:21 1983
Date-Received: Fri, 30-Dec-83 00:23:54 EST
Organization: Western Union Telegraph, Mahwah, NJ
Lines: 35

Power does not corrupt individuals.  Rather, positions of power
attract the already corrupt power hungry.  There is hope in
this.  If one offers rulership to competent men and women of
good will, one will have good rulership.

But who offers?  How shall we choose rulers?  How shall we pick
administrators and statesmen, rather than actors, salesmen,
sycophants, and power-hungry fools?  The work of political
office is mostly unglamourous.  It's mainly concerned with
services.  Forget the latest stupid war!  What's the Federal
Communication Commission doing?  What's the Justice Department
doing?  But you cannot build a platform of such matters.
Necessarily, one must campaign on catchy ideas: space programs,
defense, motherhood (consider the current abortion controversy.)  

Consider the importance of stage presence to a Presidential
candidate.  Despite popular opposition to Pres. Reagan's
policies (as cited in the current public opinion polls) Pres.
Reagan is sill a popular president (according to those same
polls).  Why?  He's got stage presence.

The Vice-Presidencies of two corporations for which I have
worked have been loaded with incompetent sycophants.  Sometimes,
a company president will be such a man--a yes-man to the
company's Board, who knows little of the business of the
company.  American industry has fared badly at the hands of such
men--good business practice dictates that everyone in a company
know its business, yet if one asked ten Western Union executives
the company's business, one would get ten answers.  How can one
run *any* business with such management?

So what *is* a good ruler?  How do you put such a person in
office?  Comments, suggestions?

				Randolph Fritz