The Road to Hell is Paved With Good Intentions

Let's say there's a politician who mean everything he or she say. They are hardcore on freedom and want provide skills to people stuck in poverty. Let's say they have no connections to any big corporation and haven't talked to lobbyists. They are as real as it gets. This politician Runs for the Congress and wins. They go to Washington hell bent on changing the system and honoring promises made to the voters. They have the best of intentions.

They have been in Washington a week and already they have been bombarded with scum and shit they never thought possible. Everyone around them are lying criminal scum, pedophiles taking bribes and it is the rule, not the exception. This particular individual continues to resist all temptations that fall before them. This Congressman presents all kinds of ideas for reform on many fronts. The problem is they don't get any cooperation from the other Congressmen. They are blocked at every turn, until another Congressman offers support. They just have to vote yes on an upcoming bill in return.

The bill is to invade another country. They still vote yes on the bill and then they get the support for their projects. In their mind they justify their support with thoughts like "they are not my people what do I care?" and " you have to give a little to get a little". A second offer comes up and it takes much less thought for the deal to be accepted this time around. After all he or she wants to be liked by their colleagues , wants to be part of the team. Before they know it ideas of freedom are forgotten after all they have all the freedom in the world. Why should they give a shit about the freedom of others or anything else for that matter.

Many who run for office begin their careers with the best of intentions but through certain psychological phenomenon those in good intentions fade away. The process I described above is simplified but it does go something like that. The Solomon Ashe conformity experiment shows the need for people to fit in.

When a person enters the political world they fall prey to both normative influence and informational influence as a result of the need to fit in and a belief the group knows better than the individual. These politicians end up in a heavier more constant presence of the crowd or group. This puts that person in suspended state of being in a crowd. According to Gustave La Bon when a person is in such an environment they lose total control of their will and become a cell in this new life form the crowd. Once one becomes a cell in this life form their personal beliefs and ability to reason vacate.

The Psychological phenomenon talked about is the very reason simply voting in a new person to punish the old corrupt politician and to change things from the inside will never work. Once an individual is exposed to that particular crowd they almost instantly adopt the beliefs and ways of that crowd. Recent social experiments show that most people will do nearly anything to fit in. Politicians are no exception to this rule.

According to Gustav La Bon " From a Psychological point of view the expression "crowd"presents quite a different signification. Under certain given circumstances, only under those circumstances , an agglomeration of men presents new characteristics very different from those individuals composing it. The sediments and ideas of all the persons in the collective mind is formed, doubtless transitory, but presenting very clearly defined characteristics". (The Crowd: A Study of the Popular Mind P.9 " He is no longer conscious of his acts. in his case, as in the case of the hypnotized subject". ( The Crowd: A Study of the Popular Mind P.13 ) Once the politician is a part of that crowd they lose all individual characteristics and adopt the characteristics of that particular crowd.