Beginning of Political Activity
attempted to impart to the general development of human culture, ethics, and morals.
This complete differentiation between the tasks of the program-maker and the politician is also the reason why the two are almost never found united in one person. It is true particularly of the so-called “successful” politician of no great stature, whose activity usually is in fact but “the art of the possible,” as Bismarck rather too modestly defined politics in general. The more such a “politician” keeps himself free of great ideas, the easier and usually the more obvious, but always the quicker, his successes will be. True, they have therefore but an earthly and fleeting life, and often do not survive the death of their begetters. Taken by and large, the work of this sort of politicians is of no importance to posterity, since its present successes depend solely on staving off all really great and crucial problems and ideas, which as such would have been valuable even for later generations.
The carrying-out of purposes which will have value and meaning for distant ages is usually unrewarding for their champions, and seldom finds favor with the great masses, who understand reductions in beer and milk prices better than far-seeing plans for the future, whose realization cannot but be slow, and whose profit will certainly be reserved for posterity.
For reasons of vanity (always a near relative of stupidity), therefore, the great majority of politicians will hold aloof from any really difficult schemes for the future, to avoid losing the momentary favor of the crowd. The success and importance of such a politician then lie entirely in the present, and, so far as posterity goes, do not exist. This usually troubles small brains but little; they are satisfied.
The program-maker is a different matter. His importance almost always lies solely in the future, since he is frequently what we call “unworldly.” For if the art of the politician be considered actually as the art of the possible, then the program-maker is one of those of whom it is said that they please the gods only when they demand the impossible. Almost always he will have to re-
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