Yes it's Hippolyte Taine again, but he blasts the political classes with such gentlemanly venom that I can't resist another quote.
Most of them are mere politicians, charlatans, and
intriguers, third-class lawyers and doctors, literary failures, semi-educated
stump-speakers, bar-room, club, or clique orators, and vulgar climbers.
Left
behind in private careers, in which one is closely watched and accepted for
what he is worth, they launch out on a public career because, in this business,
popular suffrage at once ignorant, indifferent, is a badly informed, prejudiced
and passionate judge and prefers a moralist of easy conscience, instead of
demanding unsullied integrity and proven competency.
Nothing more is demanded
from candidates but witty speech-making, assertiveness and showing off in
public, gross flattery, a display of enthusiasm and promises to place the power
about to be conferred on them by the people in the hands of those who will
serve its antipathies and prejudices.
Hippolyte Taine - The Modern Regime (1893)
Hippolyte Taine - The Modern Regime (1893)
3 comments:
From memories of my studies of French History of that period he was pretty much right about the membership of the Assembly of the Third Republic. Also, I do not think it is much better now. What a pity the House's of Commons is now much the same, but that's democracy for you.
Not sure it's good that nothing has changed.
Demetrius - it's a problem with democracy - we elect too many who are simply gaming the system.
James - it isn't.
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