Out of Step by Frank Chodorov

Author:Frank Chodorov [Chodorov, Frank]
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Publisher: Ludwig von Mises Institute
Published: 2011-11-06T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER XIII

A Problem in Psychology

IN A PREVIOUS CHAPTER I made some mention of the mentality of the politician. Because this subject has always fascinated me, I beg leave to expand upon it, in a speculative way. I have never had the opportunity or the inclination to make an exhaustive study of the mind of the politician, but believe this to be a promising subject for some enterprising psychologist. It might throw some light on the mysteries of political science.

It is a gross exaggeration to say that all politicians are “crooked.” The percentage of dishonesty—the sense in which the derogatory word is used—is no greater among those who engage in politics than it is among merchants, doctors or farmers. I daresay that corporation officials are more likely to yield to the temptation of an easy dollar than are office holders, simply because only stockholders are affected and they are not likely to make a fuss over minor peculations if they are receiving their dividends regularly. On the other hand, if a newspaperman gets hold of the fact that the female relative of the public official accepted so much as a mink coat from a tax delinquent, the ensuing headlines give the impression that you cannot trust anybody in public life with a piggy bank. This is not true; you most assuredly can.

In an entirely different sense, the word “crooked” is applicable to all politicians, but it is a sense in which the word is never used. I mean that it is simply impossible for one immersed in the political game to think normally or “straight”—assuming that the non-political mind can be so described. If we accept as normal the thought processes of those who make a living in the market place—the stenographer, the banker or the editor—then the tergiversations of the political mind must be considered abnormal or “crooked.”

Coming to the point, the psychology of the politician is obviously quite different from that of the work-a-day producer, and it is this difference that should be explored if we are to understand politics. We Americans, who talk so much about public affairs, will never know what we are talking about until we take into consideration the phenomenon of political psychology.

To illustrate what I mean, and not to invoke invidious comparison, we must assume that there is a political psychology. We take it for granted that the habitual lawbreaker has a “twisted” mentality, assuming, of course, that we who are afraid to break the law are thoroughly sane. In like manner, we should assess the contradictions and inconsistencies of political thought as an occupational hazard. Until we do, or until psychology comes up with a clear-cut analysis of the political mind, we shall never be able to make sense out of the oddities of political action, and the political air in which we are compelled to live will continue to be cluttered up with confusion.

I believe that the psychological study suggested should start with the premise that the political mind is an acquired characteristic.

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