How common is it really for an outsider to get into politics in a meaningful way?There are some notable examples, like Trump becoming president, or AOC going from bartender to senator. Tim Walz was a teacher as well.But these seem to be exceptions, not the norm. And I'm not talking about being the mayor of my small town, I mean at a meaningful level.I am not a stupid man, despite what you might think from me asking this. I have a masters in engineering from one of the best schools in the country, and have held prominent positions at some companies you've heard of. However I don't have any law experience, and that is the common denominator for most politicians.But there are many things I would want to change about American society that often don't get talked about in a meaningful way (i.e. not immigration and abortion). Rather than be a teacher, doctor, or therapist or something I think the best way for me to truly make meaningful changes is at an organizational level. And I don't mean killing someone that will be replaced, like Luigi. I wouldn't be running for president either, I am fine starting much smaller, even if that means being mayor of my city or something like that. This is probably not at all the right place to ask this, but does anyone have any advice?
Its not that hard to get into it if you have the temperament. You have to be enormously social and low anxiety. Psychopathic or damn near it. Otherwise you would give up or fold just from the sheer exhaustion of it. Mind you, if you have this temperament and drive you can just like print money in pretty much any industry so most of your legit competition are just not in the game. >temperamentWhen the fuck did they add an extra "A" between the R and M. Im pretty sure a new mandela effect just dropped.
I work in politics for some very powerful people. Find a campaign to volunteer with. No life it hard for a couple months and impress a few people. Work your ass off. Someone will offer you a job eventually. Politicians are always looking for interns and they do talk to each other about who’s good and who sucks. That’s how I got started. It’s somewhat of a parallel economy compared to say the corporate world.
>>34850472Find shit you can be passionate about locally and become a regular at events. Network and mingle with your lowest tier of elected officials. I live in a big city but it wasn't particularly difficult for me to become familiar with my city council person and her team. See if there are any local advocacy organizations you can join. They'll do lobby days where they send their people into city halls or state legislatures to chat up electeds. Several times during shit like this I've had people ask me what I do or who I work for thinking my day job is somehow political but I actually work in healthcare and do this shit as a hobby. Are you charismatic?
>>34850500Forgot to mention, some well timed donations wouldn't hurt either, or if you can get a group of people to show up to events it'll signal that you actually have pull with your local community
>>34850498This probably isn't the case in politics, but coming from a tech background there is often discrimination against older applicants in hiring. I'm not THAT old (~30) but would I face problems like that? I've heard of engineering companies rejecting basically every applicant for an entry level position that isn't fresh out of school.
I’m sure this frogposter that thinks Fred Trump’s son was a political outsider has what it takes
>>34850500>>34850503Thanks, I'll try that.The main things I care the most about are mental health and internet safety.I never had much aspiration for this kind of thing, until my long term girlfriend killed herself at 26.Her biggest sources of unhappiness were social media and predatory companies that exploit your insecurities, and online communities that literally encouraged her to kill herself. I thought about making some kind of "safe social media app" but that never works and can't be monetized effectively. The fact of the matter is that people are exposed to constant psychological torture daily that points out your biggest insecurities. My girlfriend was not a crazy or bad person, she was just in a vulnerable time in life and these effects made it much worse.I could not save her. She would not accept my help at all. After a long period of grief I decided I would try to save those that I still can. That's why I mentioned being a therapist in the OP. But I realized I can do the most good in politics or maybe law if politics doesn't work out.
>>34850514>That's why I mentioned being a therapist in the OP.>But I realized I can do the most good in politics or maybe law if politics doesn't work out.I think you would do much more good as a therapist or a social worker.The state allows those social media platforms to exist for a reason. They’re like that by design.You have a worthy cause, but the beast will swallow you whole if you go in alone. You need supporters before you seriously begin to consider running for office.
>>34850514What state do you live in? There are several lawsuits across the country regarding finding social media companies liable for harms done to minors. I'm sure there are big groups supporting those lawsuits, maybe you could get involved with them. If you live in a big enough state like CA, if you help get a state law passed it would be enough to change how the company operates across the country. I despise social media so I'm pretty much with you on that shit. My main interests locally are shit like public transit, housing, and fiscal responsibility so I try to be involved with groups related to those topics. Been considering expanding my net and going to meetings of other groups just to meet more people and grow my network. I think it would be within the realm of reason for me to become elected to city council person and possibly mayor in the future in my city but I'd be giving up job security for the same or slightly less pay so I hesitate for now. Charisma is critically important in this shit though, being able to come across as friendly and approachable and not some local nut
I know three different people who are all pretty powerful politically. One is a federal appeals court judge pretty high up. One is a lobbyist who also wrote speeches for a former president and shit. One is the director of a depoartment of my state government. All three of them did not come from any kind of politically connected family. One came from a fairly wealthy family. One came from a poor family with a single mom. One came from a normal middle class family. Common denominator is they all have tremendous social skills. The lobbyist is the type of guy who could crash into your car drunk and on pills and within five minutes you would be the one apologizing to him. The other two have more "ceo energy" and just have an authority about them that seems innate. Very hard to just acquire these traits.
>>34850518You are probably right. This is something I care very deeply about though and I don't want anyone else to experience what she did or what I did. But that alone is not enough to get elected anywhere, and I'm sure there are lobbyists and other structures in place to prevent what I would want to do. Maybe I should consider healthcare or social work instead.>>34850519Massachusetts. Before being an engineer I was a stage and film actor, so I can at least pretend to have the charisma I need. I'll look into a class action lawsuit, there might be one in my state. Thank you.
>>34850505Early 30s is actually a fairly common age to start at, you’d be fine. Your first campaign will be unpaid grunt work. Lots of hard work to do. The right people will notice you though. Political people have their own social circle they hang out in. You have to ingratiate yourself with that community and eventually something will come up. Your tech background would make you valuable.
>>34850528Are you in a union by any chance? I've also recently offered to take part in my unions lobbying efforts to get to mingle more with the offices of local representatives. Personally I think you'd make more of an impact working as an engineer and making more money to use to support legislative change while also taking part in influencing that change yourself. I don't think it's that impossible to get shit changed on the state level if you are super persistent and you can make connections
>>34850528>But that alone is not enough to get elected anywhere, and I'm sure there are lobbyists and other structures in place to prevent what I would want to do.I think so, yeah. The changes you want are things many people want, but the state won’t be the organization that makes those changes happen. They will come from how we actually treat our neighbors and loved ones.>Maybe I should consider healthcare or social work instead.I think so. I don’t think that touching individual lives instead of having a wide-reaching platform will amount to you having not done enough.
>>34850522The social skills thing is a huge one. Even the “awkward” politicians I know are great public speakers and they all know how to communicate effectively. It’s something you get better at though. Working in politics WILL improve your social skills if you commit to it.
>>34850534Thanks, I guess if I let my age stop me then I'll never accomplish anything since I'm only getting older.>>34850538No engineer union or anything like that but I am SAG-AFTRA from some acting gigs in high school and college before I committed to being an engineer.>>34850539I guess you're right. Maybe this is something I'll just get over with time rather than needing to uproot my life. I didn't want this to become a blogpost thread but I'm getting very emotional and I feel so guilty that I couldn't help her.
>>34850472Any politician has at one time not been a politician. Here in the UK the most common path is to join a political party, and then gradually work your way up through the structure. Working as an MP's researcher is a common first step. T At some point you might try and get yourself selected as a candidate for a local council seat, and then later as an MP, then you start sucking up to the party leader to see if you can get selected as a minister or shadow minister, and so on. I'm less familiar with the political system in the US, but most presidents have previously been either a senator or a state governor; many senators have previously been a congressman; many congressmen have previously been a state senator; and so on. State governors have often previously been something like a State's Attorney or local mayor, and mayors have often previously been a city councillor, etc.
>>34850553Sorry for your loss anon. Reagan was an actor before becoming CA governor at age 55. 30 isn't old for this shit. I'm 28 and when I go to this type of local politics shit I'm always the youngest by a mile. Try some shit out before committing to a career change. Do some volunteering, join local groups, try your hand at local advocacy, see what you like and go from there
I came in here to make fun of you but after reading your posts now I'm angry and sad.Good luck anon.
>>34850472Doesn't matter how common it is, only matters how the uncommon did it so you can follow the formulaOr make your own
