It is not important to know about what a politician does in his personal life.
It may be difficult sometimes for a politician to escape scrutiny of his or her private life. The more popular a politician is the more people want to know how that politician behaves in private. Many people believe that paying such close attention to a politician’s personal life is justified. In my view, the public should not care a lot about how a politician behaves in private life.
For one thing, a politician’s private life does not necessarily reflect what he or she will do when entrusted with power. They think what happens in a politician’s private life has a significant impact on his or her approach to governing. In some cases people who govern us may demonstrate exemplary moral standards in their personal life. They may never have extramarital affairs or do anything that questions their integrity. However, how they use power has nothing to do with family life. Let us take, for instance, the Nazis. Some of them were trustworthy people who never cheated on their spouses. They cared for their families and loved their children but went to work every day to kill and torture those whom they considered inferior to Aryans. Thus, we should not exaggerate the importance of misdeeds somebody demonstrates in his or her personal life.
Second of all, a politician’s achievements may simply outweigh the inadequacies in his or her personal life. The positive impact that a politician has on society may be so immense that people will still like him or her and turn a blind eye to some personal acts that go beyond social norms. For instance, most Canadians praise Tommy Douglas, who set up the free health care system in Canada. Douglas’ popularity towers over all other well-known Canadians. Although I know nothing at all about his personal life, Douglas is a clear example of the extent to which political accomplishments may outshine indecent behavior in private life.
In conclusion, we should not be so judgmental when it comes to politicians. It is important to judge a politician by political achievements in public life rather than by personal shortcomings in private life.
