Delusions of Grandeur
Where do kings come from?
I read today that a candidate for governor in some state declares that she will bring the cost of living down 'on day one' of her administration. Sound familiar?
It's familiar to me because I've been getting proclamations from politicians all my life like, "Elect me because I alone can fix things".
Note: I've been getting these messages all my life. This isn't a new idea invented by Trump. It's built into our political system. Candidates for mayor, for example, say, "Vote for me. I alone can get the pot holes fixed."
Canadian politics isn't quite as extreme as American politics but we share the idea that politicians become king like figures once they are elected. They change from being conniving politicians into wise king-like figures. Now our Prime Minister is saying he can transform our economy. The leader of the opposition wants to prosecute a former PM for 'crimes' done 10 years ago that have already been investigated a lot.
A politician needs to present themselves as people who will solve our problems. But are social problems things that are as easy to fix as pot-holes? What if there's a shortage of nurses? Well - for a politician the solution is obvious. Vote for me and I'll hire more nurses. Problem solved. How grand. There's a problem though. It takes many years and significant investment to train new nurses.
I'm an amateur philosopher. That is; I indulge delusions of grandeur all the time. For instance, I think that a lot of social problems would go poof if we were not a capitalist society. How grand is that?
One might take delusions of grandeur as aspirational things - we certainly need politicians who will support the long term goal of training more nurses - even if that goal is a moving target.
What do you think?
I present regular philosophy discussions in a virtual reality called Second Life.
I set a topic and people come as avatars and sit around a virtual table to discuss it.
Each week I write a short essay to set the topic.
I show a selection of them here.