That's true, but in my years of following US politics from high school onward and becoming more discouraged with the results, I relate political promises (without reading too far into the analogy) to a somewhat naive, enthusiastic developer overestimating their skills and time management.
Most of us have probably witnessed some developers (or have been that developer at one point) that thinks they can do anything and everything and then they start on the project and realize it's not as easy as they thought it would be and have to start (embarrassingly) wriggling out of some of those promises or end up working themselves to death. Some developers seem to also never get over this either from just being dishonest or simply having poor time management skills (resulting in angry clients and employers). Other times, there are developers that start out working for a company thinking they can change the entire culture and way of thinking, only to get burned out by the system.
Though at least in development one can always quit and find a better company or work for themselves. The alternative to contributing in a positive way to the political system in a government after leaving politics is less defined and more difficult. There's a lot of bad politicians and I am not one to commiserate with them for their shortcomings or lack of ethics (as it was their choice to run for office and should be held to a higher standard). I just imagine the political machine as being like any other established, complex system in life. In those sorts of systems, anyone with unrealistic expectations of fixing it quickly from the inside versus being a small part of a long-term change tends be in for a shock.
Most of us have probably witnessed some developers (or have been that developer at one point) that thinks they can do anything and everything and then they start on the project and realize it's not as easy as they thought it would be and have to start (embarrassingly) wriggling out of some of those promises or end up working themselves to death. Some developers seem to also never get over this either from just being dishonest or simply having poor time management skills (resulting in angry clients and employers). Other times, there are developers that start out working for a company thinking they can change the entire culture and way of thinking, only to get burned out by the system.
Though at least in development one can always quit and find a better company or work for themselves. The alternative to contributing in a positive way to the political system in a government after leaving politics is less defined and more difficult. There's a lot of bad politicians and I am not one to commiserate with them for their shortcomings or lack of ethics (as it was their choice to run for office and should be held to a higher standard). I just imagine the political machine as being like any other established, complex system in life. In those sorts of systems, anyone with unrealistic expectations of fixing it quickly from the inside versus being a small part of a long-term change tends be in for a shock.