Are politicians inherently bad?

[Rayliikanen]

They are all irrevocably and most Wickedly Evil (not just Bad) for they love to rule over others. It stems from their Egotistical, Power Mongering Minds and their Desire to make L:aws to Lord it over You, tell you what you can and cannot do, and bleed you dry by siphoning off your hard earned Money--which they Crave above all else.

[Hereandnow]

Or, Rayliikanen, they're very decent and intelligent public servants who have nothing but the public good in mind. We call these liberal democrats. You're talking about conservatives, and they are a nasty bunch.

[Platos stepchild]

Babble babble babble babble,expletive, gerund, babble babble babble babble..., Indians.

[LordFarquad]

When we look at people in positions of power, we have to realize that to attain that power you will have to go through things that a lot of people would deem to be "bad", and power itself is always corrupted. There are things that politicians do that are bad but necessary for their progress and even for the progress of the government and nation. This is the reality of the system, can you label these people bad? I would say that answer is baseless, you have to understand the differences between what a civilians interpretation of "good and bad" is and a politicians. It becomes more about perspective. I think a better approach of the question would be "are politicians inherently corrupt?" which the answer would be yes.

[Supine]

As an individual person a politician can be a "good" person or a "bad" person. But I think the deeper and more practical question applies to political culture. What is the political culture of a given nation-state?

I'm not a critic of Brazil, in terms of one that wants to see the Brazilians fail. And I was happy to see the Brazilians be awarded the host country for the Summer Olympics. But I can't help notice what seems to be a lack of professional pride, competence, and honest business dealings throughout the bureaucracy of the Brazilian Government within Brazil's own political culture.

Political culture can be observed at more micro levels too at the the level of the city. So, say, one can look at a political culture in the City of Chicago and contrast it to the political culture of Portland, Oregon.

Some corruption isn't even regarded as corruption in some cities or countries. The former Chicago Machine in which a citizen of Chicago had to monetarily pay off his alderman to get a city job was regarded as normal, business as usual, as was paying off bailiffs and judges in the city's traffic courts. At the Federal level in the United States big businesses openly purchasing politicians is accepted as normal and the way things are done, whereas in some European nations such legalized pay offs in the USA and purchasing would be regarded as corruption. So, banks can buy Hilary Clinton as one among many of their politicians, and for her that price tag for her service comes in at a retainer of $200,000 an hour or so per speaking engagement. Americans tolerate this much the same way Brazilians tolerate never-ending road works or building projects by private building contractors awarded government contracts by a politician(s) receiving kickbacks.

So, the question I would say goes beyond individual politicians and into the political culture itself.

[TigerNinja]

It depends is my opinion. They are not inherently bad, although there is some modernly seen 'morally questionable' actions involved in which politicians have to participate in, they are not inherently bad. Inherently is the focus, as their primary aim is to help and provide, as they think that they can be a good leader. There may be personal self- glorification, power hunger or misconceptions about what you can do as a president that drive them but nonetheless they are not inherently bad. To be inherently bad is impossible, although the job itself may yield some bad people. The job may cause some people to become bad, therefore making the job worse than the actual people who participate.

For this reason, I do not believe that politicians are inherently bad but only bad to an extent, as it is in the nature of politicians to lie and do such things to get to the top. A more valid example of a job in which someone must be sly, deceptive and cunning and much more brutal is in business as they have to overcome opposition (Like in politics) but gain a profit which may need some nasty deeds in the process.