Are politicians businessmen or professionals ?

[Nick at Noon]

In his book "And the Sea Will Tell", (PAGE 186) Vincent Bugliosi makes the following observation

It is said that the principal element that distinguishes a profession from a business is that in a profession, one's primary obligation is to those he serves, not to himself.

Bugliosi goes on to criticize his fellow lawyers, but it made me wonder if the same lack of "professionals" and the presence of so many "businessmen" is what has turned politics into what it is today.

[treestar]

1. I think an argument could be made for raising the ages needed

to get into Congress. I don't think it was intended as a career, just service of those who could afford to give back to the society that had made them prosperous.

When it became a career for so many of them, they no longer could just speak their minds but had to pander to get the votes, and like any other career, it's hard to stand on principal if that means you're going to lose your livelihood.

[Az]

2. Politicians are marketing campaigns

Or at least many of them are. Those that aren't are being forced to become the same as each day goes by.

[Coyote_Bandit]

3. Neither

There are five "traditional" professions - medicine, law, engineering, architecture, and accounting. Some also include the clergy as a profession. Politicians largely lack the skills necessary to succeed in these professions. Aside from technical knowledge and skills, these professions require creativity, discipline, and independent thought and action.

Our national budget - past and present - is proof positive that politicians are not businessmen.

So what, exactly, are they? Mostly hucksters and snake oil salesmen. Uniformly they seek personal advantage by selling something they to may not be able to deliver - and something which in fact may prove to be quite dangerous.