Idealism in politics
It is fair to say there are people who want to change the world for the better when they enter politics. They are idealists who want to positively influence the world around them. These idealists are eventually faced with a Catch-22 scenario. They are going to find out the more things change, the more they stay the same. John Kennedy’s Presidency is a shining example of this.
In politics, key decisions are often made behind the scenes, at informal meetings. Political summits serve as official confirmations of what has been established earlier. The idealists want clarity but they soon realize politics is a complex web of interests and intrigue where psychopathy corrupts idealism, if not downright destroys it. This has been the case for thousands of years.
Faced with this depressing dilemma, the idealists turn into Machiavellian cynics simmering with anger who smile through gritted teeth. There are exceptional individuals who manage to resist the wave of psychological corruption, but they are extremely rare. Most people who enter politics are going to eventually have to develop psychopathic traits, even when they have not displayed those tendencies before. Confidence, charm and manipulation are essential in politics. Indeed, psychopathic traits help in life. It is not a secret there is a fine line between leadership and psychopathic manipulation.
It seems we are all politicians these days. We want to think our opinions matter but there are social structures in place which are not going to instantly change just because we dislike them. Society, overwhelmingly, is not a place for idealists and magical thinkers.
I am sure many South Korean men hate the mandatory military service. Does that mean it is going to disappear? Of course not. Voicing your discontent on Facebook is not going to be noticed by a powerful government official. In fact, if you are not an influential politician, or a celebrity for that matter, your Facebook comments are going to have no impact on the world. This is the inconvenient truth many of us are not willing to face. Someone who believes otherwise suffers from delusions of grandeur which is a fatal flaw in a ritualistic, hierarchical Confucian society.
It is the same with idealists in politics. They want to change the political system from within but there comes a point when they realize it can’t be done. The best we can hope for are cosmetic changes in certain areas of the political world. Don’t count on completely changing the deeply entrenched political system. To use an amusing comparison, establishing a fair political system in our lifetime is about as likely as me magically becoming a Korean female superhero.
In light of the seemingly hopeless situation, is there anything that can be done?
Buckminster Fuller said: “You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.’’ His words are the only sensible way forward.