They say nothing good ever happens after midnight. Well, its 2:oo in the morning and I’m reading over current qualifying sheets and legal documents as I plan to donate my good name to the tainted game of politics, and make my first run for office… something I have been considering for quite some time. I have heard this question many times before, but even now I have to ask myself…. why politics? Why risk the integrity of your artwork to become a politician? Why not put your degree to good use and get a nice well paying job? Why sacrifice whatever reputation you have built for yourself to open up your views and ideals to public scrutiny?
Honestly, the deeper I get into this political underworld, the more I can’t understand why someone would want to be a politician. First of all, you would have to spend at least three times more money on a campaign than you would make in a year if you were to get elected, so its not because the job pays well. Plus very few, if any, elected officials ever get to implement any actual change in their communities. And once you take public office you then pretty much become the one whom everybody blames. So I figured either people need new ways of flaunting their money, so they pick a seat and put on the most elaborate campaign they can think of; or their own vanity has pushed them to the point where they need to see their name plastered big and bold all around their municipal district; or their insecurity has driven them to a desire for power that can only be acquired behind a voting curtain; or their own self interest sees how they can benefit from the legislation and decision making process by passing the laws that keep only them and their friends rich.
Well, I don’t have any money to flaunt, I have more creative ways to display my vanity, I know the actual limitations of power that a state representative possesses, and I don’t have any rich friends that can benefit from me taking office… although I’m sure I’ll make some. So of all of the ways that change can be made in this city, why would I decide to go the route of politics to make a difference…? Well… the desire to be heard. That, and the right amount of ignorance. Ignorance to the true intentions behind those in politics, and the knowledge that politics is just an expensive platform for people to be heard, too bad most have nothing to say.
Well, my plan is to use politics as my platform and to become a voice for all of us. I’m going to say what I’m going to do. I’m going to say how I’m going to do it. I’m going to do it. Then I’m going to tell them how I did it. I know as long as we keep talking and marching up and down the streets of this city we will be seen, we may even be heard, but we will never be listened to. But once we challenge their administration and begin to put our names on the ballot and run a race that draws a big enough crowd then we can begin to become the change that we want to see in the world. Like a rising tide, all you need is the smallest crack at the bottom of a door for water to seep through slowly, and by the time people inside have paid any attention it is already waste high, and too late. So yes, I have decided to put myself on the ballot and run for state representative of district 97, and hopefully be that first drop of water that slips through the crack. I will put up my money, risk my good name, and jeopardize the integrity of my art for the sake of politics… because this city is something that I believe in. If you believe in it too, I would appreciate you support, and thank you to those whose support I already have.
Nik Richard
The Voice of Reason
This entry was posted on Thursday, January 15th, 2009 at 5:04 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
January 19th, 2009 at 12:13 am
Nice to see a young man participating in the process, you have my faith and support.