Chapter 2. Where to start? - continuation

The previous paragraph contains everything that is said in this book. All other chapters tell what you will learn if you do everything that is written in the previous paragraph.

So if you are in a bookstore now and have looked through a book to this place, without having bought it yet, you can not buy it, remembering only one paragraph from the book - the one above, and having done what is written there

On the other hand, if you buy this book, you can give it to your foolish son-in-law, who likes to talk about how bad the government is in our country, while doing nothing to influence the situation. Except that in the elections he votes for the wrong candidate, crossing out your vote for the right candidate. Give him this book and tell him to either act or shut up.
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At the same time, you can remind him that the future of his three children is determined by what decisions will be made by politicians, so his duty is to influence the adoption of these decisions instead of beating for nothing. And if he does not tear off his fat fatty seat and does not engage in politics, but continues to rant on political topics, then you have every moral right to send him away. In the end, you wanted it for a long time, didn't you? Now it can be done. As a politician, you will not lose anything, because your son-in-law has always voted for the wrong party, if he ever went to vote. And you will get a discharge, having expressed to him a long time ago boiling. After all, as a politician, you have to be polite with all visitors.

Tell him about how deep and ignorant he is, that he doesn’t understand anything at all in politics, and that he is so irresponsible about his civic duty that he shouldn’t express any opinion about politics at all if he, of course, has this opinion , and so he shut up and poured to play his bridge.

At this time I will quietly laugh aside: I, too, do not like whiners like your son-in-law.
You may not believe that entering a policy is as simple as I have described. I will describe how I became involved in politics myself. It all started with the fact that I returned home after a long absence. My profession requires long trips, and this was the first time in many years when I was at home during the election campaign. I came to the office of my party on a street nearby, and said to the woman sitting there at the table: “I have a telephone, a car and a typewriter. How can I help?"

I was redirected to another office, a few miles away — I was so ignorant that I did not know the boundaries of the districts, coming to the wrong office.

On the same day, to my extreme surprise and confusion, I became responsible for the work in the territory of seven polling stations. After six weeks, I became the director of a political club. And after six months, in my free time, I published a political newspaper with a circulation of two million copies.

During the next election campaign, I was already a member of district and state party committees, as well as the chairman of the district branch of the party. Soon after, I was appointed as the district coordinator. And so on. You can develop in politics indefinitely. The scope and importance of the work entrusted to the volunteer is limited only by its efficiency and willingness to take responsibility.

And this work always brings results. The organization of volunteers, in which I eventually became a member, was able to recall the mayor, dismiss the district attorney, replace the governor who was not satisfied with us with another one that suit us, completely changing the political landscape in one of the largest states in America! And all this took only four years! Of course, I did it all not alone: ​​in politics, nothing is ever done alone. But the group of people who did all this consisted of a very small number of disinterested volunteers, and almost all of them at the beginning, just like me, did not understand politics at all.

And now I will tell you about Susie. Together with her husband, this pretty woman volunteered into politics almost simultaneously with me. At this time, Suzy grew up baby, she put him in a basket from the supermarket, put the basket in the back seat of a family car and went to visit voters.

Over the next four years, Suzy: has succeeded in replacing the chairperson of the national party committee with one that suited her; led to victory in the election of a new congressman, and in no small part contributed to the victory in the election of our new governor. She crowned her political career, becoming one of the key participants in the nomination of a presidential candidate from one of our two main political parties. I will tell this exciting story.

And all this time, every three years, Susie had a baby. When Suzy became a lot of children, she began to hire a nanny at the expense of the party funds to look after the children during election campaigns, although Suzy herself did not demand a cent from the party. The rest of the time, Suzy personally managed the household, cooked food and raised children. And when the Second World War began, in addition, she began to work at night on an aircraft factory producing bombers.

Of course, not all of us are as workable as Suzy, but the main thing that is needed in order to be useful in politics is honesty, a willingness to do something, and an unlimited faith in democracy.

I can tell many more stories about people like Susie. Most of them are not rich, and are quite busy, earning a living. Nevertheless, one of the most frequent excuses that I heard from those who do not want to engage in politics is that they would be happy to help change something, but are so busy working in sweat to feed themselves and their family. that anything else they have neither strength, nor time, nor money.
The German middle class thought the same, and this led to the rule of Hitler, who destroyed the middle class, and led the country to defeat. So the next time you realize that you are likening to German inhabitants, think of Susie, with her four children. Or about Gus, who every day, from 4 am to noon, works as a truck driver. In addition, he has a wife and two children. Snatching time to sleep during the day and after midnight, Gus manages to devote some evenings to politics. In less than three years, he became chairman of the youth party organization and one of the most influential party politicians in his staff.

What benefits did he get from it? None but a feeling of satisfaction from the awareness that he has made his staff a little better for the life of his children in it.

Those who have preserved and continue to preserve our democracy are not big party bosses, not Washington politicians, and certainly not like your lazy, blatant son-in-law, but such as Gus and Suzy.

As I said, the rest of this book is about what you will learn from your own experience when you start to engage in politics. Everything else I write only in the hope of saving your precious time and saving you from disappointment. I think that you will be able to act more efficiently and quickly by learning from my experience, and not from your own mistakes. I also hope to help you overcome the despondency and frustration to which every participant in the Great Game, sometimes called politics, is subjected.

I would like to warn you about this, until you quit reading this book.

You go into politics, considering it as a service to your country and society, and not as a means of earning and an opportunity to get a post in the government. However, almost immediately you will be offered money for the work. You must refuse them. You will again and again be offered money, and sometimes a post in the government.

The day will come when you will be offered money for conducting a campaign in support of the law or whose candidate you already wholeheartedly support. This offer will come from your side-friend, whom you consider to be a sincere patriot and an honest person. He will prove to you that any work should be paid, and you should not work for free. He sincerely wants you to receive a salary for your labors, and besides, this will clarify your status in the party.

All that he says is the absolute truth, to pay for your work is fair, you will earn money with honest work for the idea you believe in. And it is even possible that at this very moment, you will need pocket money. What do you do?

Do not take money!

The moment when you get paid for political work will almost certainly be the end of your party career. After that, the money, your entire subsequent political life, will be considered as petty, or, at best, an average hired bipod on errands of regional politicians. A volunteer policy does not need a lot of money to have influence in society, and he should not earn money on politics, even if this money is earned by honest labor. If you take money, then you are an employee, and you are never reckoned with employees.

There is a bearded anecdote about a rich businessman who was courting a young, secular beauty. He offered her five thousand dollars for her to spend a week with his mistress. After some thought, the beauty agreed. Then the businessman offered to reduce the fee to fifty dollars. “Who do you take me for?” - the beauty cried out in indignation. The businessman otpariroval - "For whom to take you, we have already agreed, the question - in the price."
Do not make the mistake of this beauty. Although, sometimes all the same there are times when the issue of price makes sense to discuss. If you have progressed to such an extent that you have been offered a state or government level party or government position, and you understand that to work in this position you must leave your business, then discuss the question of salary, unless of course you sincerely confident that your work in this position is necessary, and you can handle it better than anyone.

In political circles, it is well known that salaries in government and party positions do not correspond to the talents and experience required for them, they are enough only for the position holder who works for the benefit of society to have what to eat. So with a similar appointment, the salary question is appropriate.

But do not be hired six!

However, my advice does not give you the right to treat with contempt hired employees working in your party. You will often deal with them, regardless of which party you are in.

Even in the most respected volunteer political movements there are areas where professional politicians work, and in the most established organizations of political professionals there are volunteers who work for free. At the polling stations and in the branches of the parties, you will find hired employees who are honest and conscientious, and sincerely support the party for which you work. And they usually work more than their salary implies. Keep this in mind, and be careful about what you say to them or about them behind their backs. Most of these employees sincerely support the victory of your candidate, as you yourself.

But you yourself would never become an employee if you want to influence the future of your country.

However, if you do not have to get paid for political work, and the remote possibility of paid work in a party or government post does not promise a salary comparable to that which you could get in your main job, then what benefit can you get from politics?

The reward for political work is intangible, but very pleasant for a truly mature person. Although, there are also negative aspects of practicing politics that are easier to feel: some of your friends will begin to be wary of you, and even with suspicion. Most of the townsfolk around you will be sure that you are engaged in politics for profit, because this is the only reason they can imagine. They look like free-riders "hares," riding free, clinging to a tram. Although they themselves do nothing to make the government work the way it should work, they sincerely believe that the policy tram is moving only because of their kind permission, which gives them the right to be caustically and illiterately criticized by the government in their kitchen.

When you go into politics, with some of your friends, you stop communicating at all. You suddenly find that those with whom you communicate, who you invite to dinner, and who play golf, you choose from among your political colleagues. This will happen because in them you will find much more merit, intelligence and eloquence, than among the apolitical inhabitants. You did not expect such a turn of events, but it will happen. You will start to play less bridge. Bridge is a good game, but compared to politics, it is boring and not so reckless.
Well, your son-in-law will start to avoid you. This is definitely a win!

You will begin to feel a sense of warm satisfaction — every time you read a newspaper — from what you begin to understand what is written in political editorials. News, once so boring, will be filled with life, because you will understand exactly what they mean.

Even from the point of view of simple entertainment, politics is the most gambling game of all. All these horse races, gambling, football and boxing are small and banal, compared to the Big Game - incessant, always filled with meaning, always fresh and full of surprises. To play it well, you need all your intelligence, dexterity, knowledge and experience. The stakes in this game are the highest possible - survival and the future of all life on our planet. It depends on your skill, whether we all perish, or remain free, whether humankind will exist, or perish in the flame of an atomic fire. Because the decisive moment of choice has come, and no one, except yourself, will choose the right path for you in this labyrinth.

And on top of all this, you will experience the greatest, and the most that adult enjoyment is - the knowledge that you have grown out of an infantile irresponsible life and have finally taken full control of your civil rights, taking full part in the life of the country, in which they were born, or which they chose to live in, taking their part of adult responsibility for the future!

Part 1
Part 2
Part 4