Two Politicians Visit A Farm…

Suppose two politicians are running for president, and one goes through the farm section and is asked, “What are you going to do about the farm question?”  And he knows right away — bang, bang, bang.  Now he goes to the next campaigner who comes through.  “What are you going to do about the farm problem?”  “Well, I don’t know.  I used to be a general, and I don’t know anything about farming.  But it seems to me it must be a very difficult problem, because for twelve, fifteen, twenty years people have been struggling with it, and people say that they know how to solve the farm problem.  And it must be a hard problem.  So the way that I intend to solve the farm problem is to gather around me a lot of people who know something about it, to look at all the experience that we have had with this problem before, to take a certain amount of time at it, and then to come to some conclusion in a reasonable way about it.  Now, I can’t tell you ahead of time what conclusion, but I can give you some of the principles I’ll try to use — not to make things difficult for individual farmers, if there are any special problems we will have to have some way to take care of them,” etc., etc., etc.
Now such a man would never get anywhere in this country, I think.  It’s never been tried, anyway.  This is in the attitude of mind of the populace, that they have to have an answer and that a man who gives an answer is better than a man who gives no answer, when the real fact of the matter is, in most cases, it is the other way around.  And the result of this of course is that the politician promises can never be kept.  It is a mechanical fact;  it is impossible.  The result of that is that nobody believes campaign promises.  And the result of that is a general disparaging of politics, a general lack of respect for the people who are trying to solve problems, and so forth.  It’s all generated from the very beginning (maybe — this is a simple analysis).  It’s all generated, maybe, by the fact that the attitude of the populace is to try to find the answer instead of trying to find a man who has a way of getting at the answer.
—    Richard P. Feynman
From his book:  “The Meaning Of It All“
[Actually, I think we’ve already elected this politician to be President (once so far, anyway) — well, except for the part about him being a “general” and all.    —    kmab]
.
On This Day In:
2022	Why Today’s “NO” Republicans Can’t Govern
2021	Back To Paying Dues
	Keep Rollin’ (Drivin’ My Life Away)
2020	Diets And Lifestyle Changes
	Pay Attention (Don’t Blink)
	Just Not Sure, And That’s Okay
2019	The Right Questions
	Day 3: Still Difficult
2018	A Thought For Those Continuing To Support President Trump
	Day 36: Pushing On
2017	Imagining Humor
2016	So Go On And Deal With It
2015	From A Letter To A Friend
2014	Your Part (Here)
2013	Complements
2012	Sound And Light
2011	Two Politicians Visit A Farm…
2010	Labor Day And Honorable Men

Read Full Post »