5 reasons why politics just doesn't work

1. It's tribal.

It's human nature for us to want to be part of a tribe. We've always been this way, and once we've picked an allegiance to a tribe we rarely deviate. We see this in the way we pick a sports team, and support that team for the rest of our lives, through good and bad, whatever the results. Politics plays on this emotion, so therefore having only a few parties to choose from makes it a system based on bias, not one which works solely on logic.

2. We hate to be wrong.

Nobody likes to admit they were wrong about something. So after the party they've voted for are going down paths they don't agree with, it's rare people will admit that they messed up in voting for their tribe. Their allegiance and dedication remains as strong. Again, our bias nature and ego gets in the way of logic.

3. They don't speak like us.

Politicians never answer questions in the same manner common people do. They have a fantastic way of side-stepping questions, yet sounding as though they are addressing the question directly. And, of course, they consistently lie, make undeliverable promises and are rarely held accountable for this. Until we get people in power who have honesty and integrity and answer questions like normal people do we'll never have a system which is based on truth .



4. The system never evolves.

Most things get better with age. Look at the technological advances we've made with computers (as an example) over the past 30 years. Political systems have barely evolved at all during that period. Sure, we may have added a few new laws over that time, but the age old rule of having two tribes compete against each other hasn't changed.

5. It's insanely boring.

Listen to a political debate or speech in the House of Commons, UN General Assembly etc and it's enough to send anyone to sleep. The tone of voices and speed of speech of many politicians is somewhat hypnotic. Not so much in a way that you will believe every word they say, but in a manner which makes you disinterested. In fact they sometimes bore themselves to sleep.

Politicians boring themselves to sleep

There is, of course, many other reasons why politics just don't work, so feel free to add your own

ill tell you the one reason why it doesnt work
1. because were human
we have the ability to come up with great ideas, and in theory politics is that..but we corrupt everything we touch for personal gain

Great observations.

I completely agree!

Same here, I fully agree. Given enough power, people will change into … well, something else. The only variable here is the threshold where the transformation takes place.
Politicians are nothing more than public servants. With time, "the elected ones" have realised that they have in their hands both the hammer and the anvil, to shape the world as they like. People didn't give them too much power. They gave it to themselves.
People on the other side, didn't react accordingly at the right time and things went sour, no surprise here. What to do next, this is the main question. "Occupy Everything" is a small step forward, but most people are lazy and complacent about their situation, waiting for someone else to take the risks and do the fighting.
The future is uncertain.

Power Corrupts.

This is clearly obvious with politics. I believe the majority who go into politics are probably well meaning individuals, but once in a position where they have power and access to power they will be open to corruption. For a start you will always need to fund your campaign and as such have a responsibility to represent the interests of your financial backers.

Do you mean a political system or politics in general?

As long as you have people, you will have politics...there is politics and political ploys in play in government, in business, in church, in a Cub Scout Pack, in a Bingo tournament.

Someone somewhere is always trying to manipulate things to their favor or point of view... and that means swaying people to see things their way...that's politics...

A political system works until another political system is in place and then it works...we may not like how it works, but it works.

That is why I don't understand the OWS protests and how short sighted they are. They want equality, they want to rid the government of corruption, and monetary abuses by the rich against the working class...

So who is going to adminiter these corrections? The people in charge of these corrections to the system and passing out the equality will then become the top teir of another system...open once more to corruption, abuses of power, and politics.

Originally posted by Ginga
1. It's tribal.
3. They don't speak like us.

Politicians never answer questions in the same manner common people do. They have a fantastic way of side-stepping questions, yet sounding as though they are addressing the question directly. And, of course, they consistently lie, make undeliverable promises and are rarely held accountable for this. Until we get people in power who have honesty and integrity and answer questions like normal people do we'll never have a system which is based on truth .

They sure don't.

OT: I agree somewhat, problem is what would you replace politics with?