You have unfortunately chosen a profession where even the best among you will produce very little of value. If you had pursued a career in medicine, engineering, or business you would be working to provide goods and services that improve people’s lives. Instead you chose politics where the most you can hope for is to add a few temporary talking points to the vast and ever-rising sea of expert opinion.
Regardless of where a career in politics takes you, you will almost certainly have little impact on the issues you care about most. If you become a successful writer for a prestigious publication like the New Republic or Foreign Affairs you will only reach a small audience of similarly-minded readers. If you are one of the rare few who achieve an even higher level of success by becoming a best-selling author, a regular contributor for the New York Times, and an expert interviewed on cable news shows, your message will receive modest attention at best. Those who currently occupy the upper echelons of your profession achieve little more than confirming the ideas of those who agree with them and being immediately dismissed by those who don’t. The more successful you are, the more you will be attacked as a partisan hack by your peers. If you eschew such lofty goals in favor of working as a professional advocate, you will be working in direct opposition to advocates on the other side of your issue, where the benchmark for progress is so low that merely protesting or “raising awareness” is considered success. You might find yourself wondering why millions of dollars and thousands of man hours need to be spent lobbying for a change that is supposed to be in the public’s best interests.
But what else can you do? We live in a country that offers people of all viewpoints the ability to influence public opinion and government policy. Confusion and gridlock are the inherent result of such a system.
An innovation is needed that will not only improve discourse but the results of discourse and provide information that is of value to the public. The world does not need another book.
The Social Scientist was created to serve as a proving ground for people’s ideas, a place where arguments are broken down and comprehensively examined, a place where good ideas will triumph over bad. If you enjoy argument for argument’s sake then there are many other debate websites that can better accommodate you. However, if you tired of reading glaring falsehoods in the works of prominent intellectuals and if you want results in place of endless chatter then you have come to the right place.
How can you get involved? The Social Scientist is looking for qualified individuals interested in putting their ideas to the test. Applicants selected to participate in debates will be compensated. Submit your proposals here for consideration: http://thesocialscientist.com/propose-new-argument/
Some suggested issues in need of addressing are:
- Why should the Stop Online Piracy and Protect IP Acts be signed into law?
- Was the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act a success or failure?
- Should the U.S. withdraw from Afghanistan?