“Keeping It Real,” Plus 3 Other Threats To My Political Career…

Someone commented on one of my recent live streams, in which I touched on some political stuff from a practical outsider perspective, that I should run for political office.

Though it was a tongue in cheek comment, I appreciate the sentiment.

I think I’d be good at politics. Telling people the truth (as I see it), giving context to that truth, and sharing with the people what they need to hear — not just what they want to hear. The political landscape could use a healthy dose of Work On Your Game.

But it would never work. For multiple reasons…

1) Politics is where “keeping it real” goes wrong.

Here’s a truth: the masses of people would rather hear a lie that they like, than to hear a truth that slaps them in the face.

Those slaps are the fun of what I do for a living. Take that away, and who am I?

Politicians aren’t allowed to slap anyone with truth. When’s the last time you heard a politician offer what you’d label a “harsh truth”? They don’t do it. Those truths would offend too many people who expect the elected official to “fix” everything for them.

This is the very illusion that drives many people to polling places. This is not to say that politicians don’t do anything — but they don’t affect personal outcomes as much as some people want to believe. Those who do think so, don’t want to hear a harsh truth from the very person who was supposed to be fixing things.

That person (me) would never secure political funding, let alone win a primary, let alone a general election. Fuggedaboutit.

2) Politicians have to massage the truth in order to slip it past you.

Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. Satisfying one group of the constituency would mean less satisfaction for another group. This is a basic reality when resources are finite. When’s the last time you heard a politician articulate such a point?

Other than, “we should raise taxes on the rich,” I never hear it. That doesn’t mean those affects don’t happen, though. They just happen quietly, under the guise of complex bills and hidden agendas that every politician must partake…