I don’t know if politicians are generally more
honest, well-meaning and good-intentioned than in the past. I’d guess, in some
ways, yes, in same ways, no. But as per the wisdom from C.S. Lewis that “Of all
tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the
most oppressive”, I suspect that it’s the so-called honest, well-meaning
politicians who want to do good on our behalf who frequently do the most harm
(especially indirectly).
It is with this in mind that I refer you to something I discovered called Celine's Third Law (based on a character in The Illuminatus Trilogy), which contends that an honest politician is more dangerous than a corrupt one, because a corrupt politician cares only about lining his own pockets, but an honest, idealistic one seeks to reshape the world - and that’s precisely why he might end up causing the most damage.
Celine contends that the proliferation of laws only breeds more criminals. Every new law chips away at personal liberty, and with the sheer volume of legislation being passed, no ordinary citizen can realistically navigate daily life without inadvertently breaking some rule. It is, paradoxically, the well-intentioned reformers - those earnest politicians seeking to improve society through legislation - who pave the way for true tyranny by overregulating every aspect of existence.
I believe that is true, but I think there is an even more compelling aspect of the same phenomenon - the honest politicians are even more dangerous because they are the ones who see the ever-increasing size of the state as the solution to most problems, and therefore they are the reason the size of government becomes so bloated that it can no longer afford to sustain itself. At this stage, which is what we’ve seen in recent times, performances suffer, politician live in denial, and we end up with crumbling public services.
I suppose all this is to say that the road to political hell is paved by visionaries with some good intentions, but who believe too deeply in their own righteousness and lack the humility to know their limits. Ignoble political con artists are dreadful, but you might like to consider that perhaps it is well-meaning dogma that allows the machinery of control to grow beyond all restraint.
