The American Spectator : The Spectacle Blog : The Great Reconsideration

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Legit good egg Joe Carter recently wrote a semi-tongue-in-cheek Letter to a Young Conservative over at First Things. I agree with some of it ("understand the emotional appeal of liberalism") and think other bits are unfortunate/too easy ("be wary of taking libertarians too seriously"--this worked fantastically well during the Bush II years...), but this section on not worshipping politics/politicians is pretty funny/insightful:

If you are considering a career in politics — Reconsider.

If you are considering a career in politics and have reconsidered the decision — Carefully and honestly assess the reasons politics attracts you. Chances are you have the wrong motivations and you’ll only be miserable once political life takes shape.

If you are considering a career in politics and have reconsidered the decision and will not be dissuaded — If conservatives cared less about power and more about principle, we would send our best and brightest political minds to serve in local government, our mediocre but capable to the state level, and the lackluster yet satisfactory to the federal. If you have political ambitions and believe that you are called to serve in government, ask your most brutally honest critic where you fall along that spectrum and dispatch yourself accordingly.

JP| 2.3.11 @ 10:11AM

Plato wrote about political ambition in his commentaries concerning Socrates. Young men full of idealism and ambition complained bitterly about either thier lack of connections or the the fact that thier youth played against thier ambition. Instead of scolding them, Scorates allowed them to vent thier frustations. He took thier longings seriously, as in his view it was perfectly natural. He channeled thier ambition constructively, and made it a first step in the direction of the philosophical way of life. He questioned not thier ambitions or idealism, only the young men's motives.

It is in this theoretical context that each young person who harbors ambition must be taken to the philosophical "woodshed". For it is self knowledge that eventually will win out. The great Delphic dictum, "Know Thyself!" will be satisified. And those few who persist in thier political ambition will be all the better prepared. The universities used to fill this function. Know it is up to parents or the fortunate few who read Plato and Aristotle.

Rogue Elephant| 2.3.11 @ 10:42AM

I think it's fair advice. However, if one chooses to run for state or local office, be prepared to encounter the very ugly reality of politics, parties, and politicians.

You will discover that state and local politics is full of half-bright political climbers, vicious out-for-a-buck political consultants, and stultifying party organizations overloaded with incompetents.

Amidst the detritus and useless buffoonery, you'll also discover a few hardy, principled souls tiling tirelessly to do the right thing. But, politics being what it is, these same folks might throw you under the bus in order to prop up some useless political hack in the name of political compromise.

And what are you willing to compromise on to get elected and hold office?

Clint| 2.3.11 @ 12:14PM

Ronald Reagan:
"If you analyze it I believe the very heart and soul of conservatism is libertarianism. I think conservatism is really a misnomer just as liberalism is a misnomer for the liberals–if we were back in the days of the Revolution, so-called conservatives today would be the Liberals and the liberals would be the Tories. The basis of conservatism is a desire for less government interference or less centralized authority or more individual freedom and this is a pretty general description also of what libertarianism is.

Now, I can’t say that I will agree with all the things that the present group who call themselves Libertarians in the sense of a party say, because I think that like in any political movement there are shades, and there are libertarians who are almost over at the point of wanting no government at all or anarchy. I believe there are legitimate government functions. There is a legitimate need in an orderly society for some government to maintain freedom or we will have tyranny by individuals. The strongest man on the block will run the neighborhood. We have government to insure that we don’t each one of us have to carry a club to defend ourselves. But again, I stand on my statement that I think that libertarianism and conservatism are travelling the same path."