Could I ask you to answer a couple of questions. You can do this offline or in the comments of this post.
*1. Name 3 people you consider wildly successful. *2. For each person you named, what is the number one criterion for establishing his or her success?
Please do that before continuing.
Done?
Okay. I’m going to guess that, when all the answers are tabulated, wealth and income will be the top criteria for success. The people will be mostly famous and rich with a smattering of Mother Teresas and Martin Luther Kings.
The problem with measuring success with money is that we might admire horrible people. Adolf Hitler ruled Nazi Germany by decree and acquired access to any luxury he desired. By that measure, Hitler was one of the most successful people of the 20th century.
Another way to measure success is whether you leave the place better than you found it. Or do people get better or worse because of exposure to you. On those measures, Hitler was, perhaps, the greatest failure of the 20th century.
I’ve heard my whole life that politics is “rough and tumble,” “dog eat dog,” and “winner take all.” So the only thing that makes a politician successful is winning an election. The only thing that makes a political consultant successful is the consultant’s wealth.
If those are our criteria for success in politics, then people need to stop whining about corruption, crony capitalism, decaying values, deteriorating schools, and declining civility. Working to make our communities and our country better interfere with financial success in this dog-eat-dog, winner-take-all world.
Zahlungsmittel über alles!