:Is there ever a good kind among politicians?
What do we mean by good politician? Oxymoron .. ain't it?
A politician is a politician.. he is shrewd, he has to be.. he has to be smart and he has to be capable of manipulating people..
The only thing that matters is... would his actions lead to growth of the region/entity he is associated with and apparently representing.. IMO, that is the only yardstick.. a politician is good, as long as he proves to be a good leader with a healthy growth vision of his state and delivers the same. Going by that, yes there have been some in the history.. but then like we have been learning since forever.. good leaders are hard to come by..
As far as being selfish and power hungry is concerned.. i think that's the basic human nature..we are ruled by our sense of protecting 'Prestige'.. whatever we may associate our prestige with - powerful position, kids, families, job, status.. whatever..
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How low is too low?
Relativity.. as a society too low is anything that hurts the society as an institute..its morality or infrastructure.. as an individual, whatever hurts me...opinion will vary accordingly..
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Specifically, do attack ads and ruthlessly shaming/ poking fun at/ finding faults in the opposition (for things that are not politically relevant) okay? Do attacks sway public opinion for or against the candidate being attacked? Does the attack approach need to be restricted?
Attacks ok- well, its a competition.. ok or not it will happen.. you can't control it.. what you can do is build an intelligent society that can identify non relevant material in the context of the situation ( for e.g. in case of politicians.. are some topics worth wasting time on debating when the incremental impact may be minimal.. simple opportunity cost evaluation..
Do attacks sway public opinion: depends really!.. comes down the intellect level of the groups.. a confused, underconfident, unclear , not knowledgeable group is very very very vulnerable.. easy to confuse and convince.. really depends with the group and the topic of attack... all of this is a big game of manipulation.. the more intelligent party wins.. either they fool you or you stand strong and the politicians mend their ways.. 😃 ..
Restricting attack ways: practically yes, they must be.. to safeguard interest of the society.. you need to have rules, absence of which may prove extremely detrimental... see at the end of the day , I repeat myself, its all about a mind game.. who values what, what are they ready to do for it. .. and who survives the attack most.. and who gets manipulated/coaxed/convinced first..essentially who becomes a follower first.. ..and who clearly communicated his/their individuality's presence, purpose and power
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Edited by enigmatic_zephy - 12 years ago