"Politicians are like diapers, they need changing often".
This sign has been on a signboard for a business on Woodland Avenue in Duluth for sometime. I'm not sure if the sign belongs to the auto repair business or to a small office that seems to be attached to the auto repair building. Google street view is a bit blurry on the details.
I didn't double check, but many references attribute it to Mark Twain with the added phrase "and for the same reason."
We could also apply this slogan to CEOs. They get entrenched and get the board they selected to give them larger and larger compensation. Boy, talk about a stinky deal!
The problem with this slogan is that it assumes that a frequent turnover of politicians will ensure new ideas. It might on occasion, but like all serious jobs, being a politician requires a lot of effort and learning. If we had the turnover as the sign implies, then the politicians would be at the mercy of their staffs or lobbyists. The degree that they do depend on these two groups is bad enough, but a greater number of new politicians would make the situation even worse.
Besides, we do get to vote against politicians. We have a hard time voting against CEOs. And we want neither our politicians or CEOs to be like diapers.
An afterthought! A complaint about politicians is a bit of elitism. The people get to choose the politicians; the plutocrats get to choose the CEOs. This phrase then implies that the people are ignorant and not to be trusted with governance.
