Take-home point of the summer: The problem with politics is…the politics.
On one hand, politics refers to what goes on in our political system: elected officials, public policies, the various parties that affect change in this country.
On the other hand, it also refers to the power struggles between people with conflicting (or even similar) interests. A doesn’t like B, so they can’t work together on a project. C and D have history, so they can work together to bring in E. F just doesn’t like email.
The second kind of politics is present in any situation where people are working together, i.e. any office. But does politics (definition 1) attract people who are particularly interested in creating politics (definition 2)? There are certainly many who see it as an exciting game of manipulation and strategy, to the point where progress becomes almost impossible. But then I’m beating a dead horse.
Fortunately, local politics seems to run more efficiently than the national level, at least in Boston. Working in DC last summer was exciting and frustrating at the same time: while I was comforted that there are many good people working on Capitol Hill, it operates like its own world. News travels differently, everyone is watching C-SPAN all day to follow the latest speech or motion, people in politics see the same people every day to talk politics until you run out of breath…while local politics may be more humble in what you accomplish, you have the potential to accomplish a lot more. (Except that there are still plenty of politics--definition 2.)
All in all, it was another great summer, and I can’t wait to share the results of some of my main New Media projects: a video about Boston’s capital projects and an upcoming YouTube video contest for high school students in Boston. Maybe I’ve found my niche!
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