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Sunday, 16 September 2018

The danger of entering politics before 30

Generally, a man should not be active in public politics under the age of thirty unless he is of
extraordinary talent.

Otherwise, he is in danger of either changing his previous positions on fundamental questions once he realizes he was wrong or clinging to a view which he no longer supports or may even be against. This will make it politically difficult for his followers to maintain their faith in him. Their old unshakable solid belief will be upset because he now appears to be undecided himself. To followers, such an about-face of their leader, means complete confusion in addition to their feeling of shame in front of those they have previously attacked over the issue. The second alternative brings about a result which is particularly common today. The leader continues to publicly claim he believes in what he had previously said. He then becomes more hollow and superficial and eventually becomes more corrupt. He no longer dreams of working seriously for his political ideals; no one dies for something  he does not himself believe in, and his demands upon his followers grow greater and more shameless to compensate for his own insincerity until at last he sacrifices his remaining fragment of leadership and begins to play the political game for the sake of politics alone.

He has joined that class of people whose only real conviction is absence of conviction coupled with a bold and shamelessly well-developed skill at lying. Unfortunately for decent people, if such a fellow moves into big government, the essence of his politics is limited to a heroic battle for permanent possession of his position to maintain his political life for himself and his family. The more his wife and children cling to him, the more stubbornly he will fight for his seat. If only for this reason, he is the personal enemy of every other man with political instincts. In every new political movement he senses the possible beginning of his end. In every greater man he senses a danger which may threaten him.

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