Monday, Feb. 26, 2024 | 2 a.m.
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I was listening to a conversation recently about the declining quality of the passenger experience in air travel. One speaker commented, “But air travel isn’t supposed to be fun — it’s just supposed to get you from one place to another.”
I was momentarily taken aback that anyone could have such low expectations for a service that costs them hundreds or thousands of dollars and that formerly came with fairly high quality demands. Then I suddenly realized how much this new attitude reminded me of our declining expectations for political leaders.
It’s common now for discussions about politicians to conclude with the idea that elected leaders are generally corrupt and not to be trusted — that they care about themselves first, then their party, and their electorate not at all. With that attitude, is it any wonder that the people we elect fulfill these low expectations?
We have higher standards for toilet paper. It wasn’t so long ago that governors, senators and congressmen were held in fairly high esteem. If we want leaders with high moral and ethical values, we have to raise our expectations — to hold them to a higher standard.
Otherwise, our governments are headed exactly where air travel quality has been going — into the ground.
