In response to the recent Inside Column "Gone before I get going," (Nov. 15), I believe politics are scum campaigns for a reason, the main one being that only scum ever want to get involved in the first place. The author's view that politics are simply too dirty for his hands is a common perception among other would-be politicians. The problem with this is that it maintains the negative connotation associated with campaigning because no one is willing to step up to try and change it.
People with positive intentions see the political arena how it is, not how it could be, and therefore never even attempt to try their hand at a campaign because they feel politics will just be too horrendous to even try. If anyone really cares about politics so much, why doesn't anyone even attempt to change them? I think if these people were willing enough to at least consider a career in politics, they should also be willing to work hard toward changing the process into something more respectable? I agree with the author, politics have become so muddled that morality may as well be a swear word. I, unlike the author, fully intend to dive headfirst into a profession most say has no ethics at all, and I will change the arena into something a bit more respectable. I can only do so much, however, and this column disappointed me, as it seems very few other "would be politicians" share my desire. So long as people with good ideals stay away from the area they so despise, politics will never change and the cycle will forever continue.
Adam Joines
freshman
Alumni Hall
Nov. 16
