Some pessimistic words about politicians from Taylor Caldwell

Taylor Caldwell's wise words on political matters appear in several articles, most recently in one that quotes what she said in Captains and the Kings: The Story of an American Dynasty about the sinister forces that operate behind the scenes.

There may not be much that is particularly original in what she has to say - it may often seem that she is just stating the obvious - but the way she expresses her ideas really brings the depressing messages home.

This proposition comes from the same book:

“A politician, as we know, who serves the people, really serves them out of conviction and idealism, is eventually despised by them as a naïve imbecile. But a scoundrel of color, who can invent a few deadly aphorisms of his own, and can laugh and twinkle and joke, gets their adoration, and even if he is later exposed for what he is—a thief, a time-server, a liar—the public becomes hysterical at the 'attacks' on him. In fact, the public will attack the outraged attackers of their darling.”

This makes me think of a few scoundrelly but colourful politicians, past and present, in the UK! Such people do indeed get away with a lot because of their charming and amusing personas.

Another edition of Taylor Caldwell's best-selling historical novel, which was first published in 1972:

More alarming words from Taylor Caldwell

Taylor Caldwell has been referenced in several articles, including a recent one that features some of her alarming words about wars.

Her works, not to mention her life, deserve a closer look, but the reader's dilemma of 'so many books, so little time' applies here. It is always possible to find some good extracts and produce a short article as a compromise however, and I have come across some more quotable material that is particularly relevant to what is happening in the US and the UK - and many other nations. 

This proposition is from The Story of Honoria, an article that was first published in a magazine in 1957:

“It is a stern fact of history that no nation that rushed to the abyss ever turned back. Not ever, in the long history of the world. We are now on the edge of the abyss. Can we, for the first time in history, turn back?”

I am not knowledgeable enough to be able to confirm that in the past no nation that rushed headlong towards disaster ever turned back, but it seems very likely. Perhaps the momentum just carried them along until it was too late to stop. 

I wonder what Taylor Caldwell would think of the current UK and US political situations. We could well be on the brink of an abyss right now.

This is an extract from Captains and the Kings, a historical novel that was first published in 1972:

“...who do you honestly believe rules any nation? The apparent rulers, or the real ones behind the scenes who manipulate a nation’s finances for their own benefit? Mr. Lincoln is as helpless as you and I. He can only, unfortunate man, give his people slogans, and slogans, it would appear, are what the people want. I have yet to hear of a nation that ever rejected a war.” 

Great  minds think alike. This is very similar to what Benjamin Disraeli said about the Hidden Hand. The big question here is, who are these secret rulers and puppet masters?

“There is no honour in politics”

A recent article features a statement from the Scottish writer George MacDonald to the effect that as no good person would go into politics, anyone who is elected to power will not be a decent human being. 

His words may be unwelcome and depressing, but there are many recent examples in both the UK and the US that support them.

Other people mentioned on here have said much the same thing.

This is from Benjamin Disraeli, who saw it all from the inside:

“There is no act of treachery or meanness of which a political party is not capable; for in politics there is no honour.“

Taylor Caldwell, who had something to say about the causes of major wars, also said this in her historical novel Captains and the Kings:

“...politics and moral ethics never mix. Politics and ethics are a contradiction in terms. An honest politician is either a hypocrite—or he is doomed.”

Although Captains and the Kings is set in the United States and the story starts in the 1850s, much of the material in this book has wider applications.