Politician-Ambition

In Kinsey’s article the question arises as to why a candidate runs for office. Is it for the good of the people represented, to improve society, and/or make the world “a better place” or is it for purely political reasons – ambition? Kinsey says that we’re told to be ambitious, then we spend all our lives hiding this trait as though it were an embarrassment to possess it. There are many different kinds of ambition…for intellectual, social, or monetary reasons. “But the purest form of ambition is political ambition, because it represents a desire to rule over other people.” (Kinsey). Is this such a bad idea if the world’s people need a ruler to guide and lead them? Throughout time there have been many great leaders whose political ambition changed the course of history for the better….Napoleon, Lincoln, Churchill, Trudeau, Martin Luther King to name a few. Would we have wanted it any other way? Was their political ambition such a bad thing? As Melinda Gates once said, “What great changes have not been ambitious?”.

Kinsey asks how the world would be if Mitt Romney, Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama were born and lived at another time or place. One could only hope that their power would be such that they could still make a difference wherever they were. “Yes, we can!!” Politicians must identify with ordinary people and show that they too are human. In order to deserve being a leader they must also prove that they have something more…the proper qualifications and that little “extra” to merit the position. If “politics is an act” (Kinsey), then politicians are actors performing on a world stage. It is up to the public to decide who is the best actor/actress and deserves “the part” they seek.

Shakespeare’s Macbeth was a fearless, brave soldier who was willing to sacrifice his life for his king and country. I feel that this was the extent of his ambition and he really didn’t want to be king. It was Lady Macbeth’s ambition that forced him to commit the crimes that brought him the crown…crimes he was reluctant to carry out on his own. It was Lady Macbeth’s political ambition that manipulated his actions and eventually brought them both down.