To Care or Not to Care

The other day, I had an email exchange with a rather cynical friend of mine. He reminded me that he predicted Obama would eventually disappoint, first and foremost because the expectation was so high at the beginning. In other words, he said that Obama did not know the importance of “managing expectations” - a phrase that is often used in corporate America, largely to mean under-promise and over-deliver, as that’s the recipe for staying in power.

I then pointed out that it was impossible for Obama to do that, as he had to get elected president by the people of this country, as opposed to getting appointed CEO of a company by a few board members. Under-promising is surely a suicidal approach when it comes to electoral politics. Perhaps it is the fallacy of the system of democracy.

After all, Winston Churchill said, “democracy is the worst form of government, except that all other forms have been tried and failed.” As for leaving the election of a country’s leader to the general public, he quipped, “The best argument against democracy is a five minute conversation with the average voter.”

My friend remarked that it was admirable for me to still care about politics despite how pointless it all is. Most people consider “caring” a selfless act, as we devote our mental and physical energies to impossible but fundamentally good causes.

Actually I beg to differ - “caring” for anything in itself is crucial to one’s well-being, without which life will feel like death. Therefore, if we care, we live a positive life. If we don’t care, we are just passing time. Of course, often times, we naturally and involuntarily care about a lot of things such as one’s family and friends. The more we care, and the more things we care about, the more we feel connected to the act of living and engaged in the current world.

To care is actually a self-serving act as well.