Well, I suppose I should post about something other than music sometimes... let's try one of my least favorite subjects for a change - politics.

It's normal to worry about being ruled by corrupt, selfish and stupid scum; I worry more about being ruled by honest, noble and intelligent people. Sure, it's very unlikely, but when it does happen it can lead to the worst of disasters.

Admirable people in politics are so rare that to find them we turn to fictional characters. The one I am thinking of now is Lord Philip Ivywood, that appreciator of Post-Futurist painting. He is the main villain of G.K. Chesterton's The Flying Inn - yet unlike most villains he is a very admirable person who keeps his word to a couple of criminals even after one of them shoots him, and travels to London before recovering from his wound in order to fight for his political cause. He genuinely believes that what he does is good, especially for the poor. The worst things he does are not revealing some of his plans which he knows would cause controversy, and let a political opponent fall into a drunken sleep which prevents him from making a speech. This makes him far more dangerous than his black-hearted servant or even Dr. Meadows, the philosopher turned milk merchant whose beliefs are probably even more absurd, but whose criminal enterprise and less admirable persona limit him to imposing his ideals on a single village. Lord Ivywood, on the other hand, nearly ruins all of Britain - not because he is evil but only because he has modern beliefs and has the intelligence, character and charisma to achieve his agenda.

Here is a thirdhand quote from Greg Cochran about intelligent leaders:

What really matters in a leader is not being smart, but being right. Who was smarter? Warren G. Harding or V.I. Lenin? I'm sure Lenin could have beaten Harding in chess, but I definitely would rather have lived under Harding than Lenin. Harding was kind of a dumb bunny, but his prejudices and instincts were much more reasonable than Lenin's, who was wrong about everything.

It's perhaps a good thing that Lenin was murderous scum; if he were of more noble character, he might have done a whole lot more damage. He probably wouldn't have accomplished much evil at all if he were a lot less smart. As for Harding, he's still at the game of politics and speaking out on the issues that matter.