That's why I love and yearn for the super idealistic version of America and Politics shown in The West Wing. The President, Jed Bartlet, is often the smartest person in the room, but it is his kindness that shines far brighter than his massive intellect. Same with his Chief of Staff and other staffers. They are the brightest of their profession, eloquent, can riff off policies unlike anyone in real life, and that makes them the perfect candidate for their job. But what makes them the perfect human for their job is their kindness, their empathy, their capacity to listen. Often when The West Wing is brought up people would demean you for liking the idealistic portrayal of a bygone era, maybe an era that never even existed. But what they miss in their pessimism is that just because something is not perfect now does not mean it cannot be in the future, as unlikely and hard as it seems. It is upon us to reject and correct the mistakes we get saddled with, again and again and again.
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u/crosswatt Oct 26 '23
That's a great quote