Single Story Assignment: U.S. Politicians.

The Single Story of US Politicians:

One of the main purposes of the mass media is to be a check on government and the people who run the government- politicians. When I think of U.S. Politicians I think of bickering, back-biting people who will do whatever it takes to be put in a position of power. I think of scandals, government shutdowns and injustice towards the masses. Why do I think this way? What does the rest of the country think?

My search for artifacts began primitively. I Google-searched U.S. Politicians and the first item to appear was a list of history’s richest American politicians. I don’t feel like many other occupations would result in such an online list. People view politicians as rich (have you ever heard of a poor politician?). People view rich people with many other negative social stigmas such as being self-centered or snobbish. The next artifact is the first YouTube video hit when I searched the keywords there. Good luck finding one good thing that is said concerning politicians there. They are portrayed as ignorant of the issues and simply unqualified for their jobs in government. My third artifact comes from Facebook. The picture of my findings below speaks for itself. Liars. Cheats. Power-hungry. The negativity continues. The only page that doesn’t seem anti-politician is the first on the list (which ironically enough rallied a mere four members, the least popular of all pages on the list).

All of these artifacts represent the first things that popped up when I searched for them through various sources. Generally the first hits on a search results page represent some of the most popular links available. The story is undeniable: The press and the public both have a severely negative view of the people who run our country, 

                                           

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_richest_American_politicians

How does this single story limit the role of politicians in the U.S.? In my own experience, trying to understand and have a solution to every national/international problem is impossible. Politicians are put in a lose-lose situation when they step onto the public stage. There will always be something they don’t know, therefore there will always be something else to criticize about them. No politician will be able to please everyone all the time, therefore there will always be someone who feels the right to criticize. If the mass media disagrees with something a politician says, they demonize him/her. The truth is, we need them. Politicians were our Founding Fathers. Did they disagree on some things? Yes, but that is part of the democratic process. We’ll take them over a king or dictator any day of the week.