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<font face="Verdana" size="1" color="#002864">http://www.mises.org/fullstory.asp?control=1452</font>
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<font size="2"><font face="Verdana" color="#002864" size="5"><strong>Why Honor Politicians?</strong></font>
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<p class="MsoBodyText"><font face="Verdana" size="4">by Tibor R. Machan</font>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><font face="Verdana">[February 24, 2004]</font>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><font face="Verdana"><img alt src="http://www.mises.org/images3/leechaward.gif" align="right" border="0" width="159" height="260">Once,
when my son was in elementary school, they had some kind of special event
celebrating the achievements of various students—I can't recall just what
the festivities were all about. What I do recall vividly is that the principal
had invited a local politician to head up the feast, to make a keynote address,
some kind of inspirational speech for the kids.</font>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><font face="Verdana">Not being one who stands idly by
when rank malfeasance is rife around me, I went home after the event and wrote
to the principal protesting the invitation of the politician. I noted that it
would have been far more appropriate and useful for the students had she
invited a local artist, engineer, merchant or scientist to make the address.</font>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><font face="Verdana">I wrote,"What is the reason
you selected a politician to stand before your students? Do you believe
politicians these days are the best role model for encouraging young people to
succeed in life? Please reconsider this belief—politicians are leeches,
mostly, and our kids need productive role models." Or something along
these lines.</font>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><font face="Verdana">Needless to say, my letter was
ignored, although at least my child didn't seem to have suffered any adverse
repercussions.</font>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><font face="Verdana">I was reminded of this episode
when I was watching my favorite television program the other night, <em>Law
& Order</em>. This show always begins with the discovery or commission of
a crime, followed by the detectives figuring out who is the most likely
suspect and then the assistant DA and staff going about mounting the
prosecution. In this episode someone had shot up City Council in New York
City, killing and injuring two politicians. When the detectives come to the
scene of the crime, they see one member of the council dead and ask whether
the injured victim, by now taken off to the hospital, is also a member of the
council. In response, the investigating officer says,"No, thank God, it
was some civilian," or words to that effect.</font>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><font face="Verdana">OK, perhaps this isn't much to get
bent out of shape about but my tentacles are very, very sensitive and I
noticed how the writers snuck in this odd tip of the hat to politicians,
suggesting that it is much worse to have injured such an individual than a
"mere" civilian.</font>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><font face="Verdana">There is an interesting, even
challenging issue afoot here, actually. In a society in which public officials
are involved in the honorable task of securing the rights of citizens, they
are a bit like good soldiers, standing guard against criminals and others who
would undermine civil society. That is perhaps one reason why even after the
sorry record of governments throughout history, there is still some kind of
honor attached to the term"statesman."</font>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><font face="Verdana">The idea is that some folks in law
enforcement and administration may actually be performing a noble task,
standing up to defend the citizenry against barbarians, those who would wreak
havoc against peace and justice. That is one reason many people have a certain
degree of native respect for police officers and soldiers, especially in a
relatively free society, or for the sheriff in the so-called Wild West. That
is why in the famous movie, <em>The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance</em>, Jimmy
Stewart's character, the man who brings law and order to a Western town, is
taken to be a hero, along with the character played by John Wayne, a decent
but very tough ruffian who fights the evil bloke, a robber and murderer,
played by Lee Marvin.</font>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><font face="Verdana">In the idealized American context,
champions of law and order are seen as good guys, unlike, say, in Nazi Germany
or the Soviet Union—and, if one is realistic about it, in much of
contemporary America.</font>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><font face="Verdana">Sadly, in the country that America
is today—or may in fact have always been when we take a closer look—it is
entirely gratuitous to cast politicians and bureaucrats as heroes. Members of
a city council, especially in major cities such as New York, Chicago, Los
Angeles and San Francisco, are as a rule undeserving of special respect. They
do not hold honorable professions. They are, essentially, power brokers and
wielders, not professionals standing up for peace and justice. Therefore their
deaths or injuries at the hands of criminals certainly don't deserve special
lament, as against the deaths or injuries of ordinary citizens.</font>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><font face="Verdana">The writers of this <em>Law &
Order</em> episode ought to get real—people in politics today don't merit
special consideration, even in fiction, let alone in real life.
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<p class="MsoBodyText"><span class="244273214-24022004"><font face="Verdana">__________________________</font></span>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><font face="Verdana">Tibor Machan, adjunct scholar of
the Mises Institute, teaches at the Argyros School of Business and Economics
at Chapman University. You may send him </font><font face="Verdana">MAIL</font><font face="Verdana"> and
view his Mises.org </font><font face="Verdana">Daily
Articles Archive</font><font face="Verdana">.
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