Is ethical leadership in politics even possible?

There is the ideal, and then there is the reality. We all want ethical, reasonable, responsible leadership in politics.

If we the people want ethical leadership, why don’t we get it?

One problem is how we define what it means to be ethical in politics. Ethics is about what is good and what is bad.

And while most of us have a good sense of what makes a person as an individual ethical (honest, responsible, compassionate and just), we don’t necessarily agree on how to manifest those ethics in public policy.

I am a Humanist. Our ethical system is pretty simple. If it helps people, it is good. If it hurts people, it is bad. Our goal? Do the most good and the least harm.

Humanism is a progressive philosophy meaning we believe we have the ability and responsibility to try and make things better, not just for ourselves, but for everyone else too.

We think the best way to solve problems is to use reason, science, critical thinking and compassion to find solutions that will actually work and that will actually help people and communities thrive.

You won’t find a Humanist who doesn’t agree with this basic moral framework. And yet, we Humanists rarely agree on any actual policy.

We debate and argue about pretty much everything. For instance, economic policy. Both Hayek (pro-capitalist) and Marx (communist) were Humanists. While we agree on the goals of what a just society should look like, we rarely agree on the best way to get there.

I don’t know anyone who doesn’t firmly believe that their position, whatever it is, is totally reasonable and based in compassion and that everyone who doesn’t agree with them must be an idiot or worse, intentionally evil.

I realize that believing people who don’t agree with you are evil and/or insane is emotionally quite satisfying. But that is NOT actually a reasonable assumption to make. It’s a defense mechanism. It protects you from considering the possibility that you might be wrong. When someone disagrees with you, try to remember that they probably just think there is a better way to solve the problem, and that as hard as it is for you to believe, they may be right.

If we are going to successfully solve our problems as a society, we need to reasonably consider our alternatives and that means respecting your fellow Americans and your political opponents enough to learn from them.

If you want ethical reasonable politicians, then you, as a citizen, need to do a better job of being reasonable about politics. Stop demonizing your political opponents. Just. Stop. And for goodness sakes, don’t support politicians who demonize others.

This story was originally published September 30, 2016 at 5:09 PM with the headline "Is ethical leadership in politics even possible?."