Good faith in politics

I’ve been thinking, lately, about politics, politicians, and acting in good faith to solve problems. As you might surmise—rightly, in this case—I’m not of the opinion that our current crop of politicians, by and large, are capable of acting in anything remotely resembling good faith. My reasoning runs along these lines.

At my place of employment, and I suspect in many, the process of achieving a goal runs something along the lines of deciding what the goal is, deciding on a course of action, trying it, and then trying something else if it doesn’t work. It’s practical, sensible, and places the emphasis on achieving something. In other words, completely opposite of how politics appears to work.

Take taxes and growing the economy, as an example. Democrats believe (or claim to) that in order to grow the economy you need to cut taxes on middle and lower class citizens, have government taking an active role, helping people, regulating business, and creating jobs. Republicans believe (or claim to) that growing business means obliterating taxes on the wealthy and ceasing all regulations, letting the “market” take care of itself. Obviously, these are two very opposite ideas about how to achieve the same goal.

If politicians were men and women of good faith, and if the American voters were actively engaged (shareholders instead of victims), the actual process would be a matter of everyone sitting down, agreeing which method to try first, trying it, and then evaluating it. Based on that evaluation they would then either continue in that vein, or try the other method. After trying a different direction there would be another period of evaluation. No matter how things worked out there would be an honest evaluation, whoever was proved right would be gracious, and whoever was proved wrong would change their position.

The problem is, of course, that politicians are not men and women of good faith. If they were honest about their goals and motives then there would be progress. If they were honest about their goals and motives the American people could choose which option they truly preferred. If they were honest about their goals and motives we might not end up with the government we deserve, but instead of government that could actually make our lives, and our country, better.