In the living of life, everyone on the planet changes their mind. Sometimes it’s about mundane actions and decisions that don’t have very much bearing on those around them, and sometimes they are important and life-changing decisions. That being said, why is it so unacceptable for politicians and public figures to make the absolutely human action of making up their mind and then thinking twice about it?
The classic example of this from recent memory was during the 2004 presidential elections when Senator John Kerry was accused on several occasions of being a “flip-flopper” by his opponent, President George W. Bush. The decision in question was the senate vote regarding funding and supporting the then-impending war in Iraq. Senator Kerry voted first to give funding to the war effort, and then-while on the campaign trail-retracted that support, saying that if he had known how the war would turn out he never would have supported it in the first place. Since George W. Bush has surely never once in his life changed his mind on any issue, he criticized Kerry for not being a reliable person.
Are we supposed to see our political leaders as totally infallible, and unable to rethink important decisions? This sets up extremely unrealistic ideals, ideals that are laughably impossible on the international stage. We do not elect gods, we elect men, and as men not only are they fully capable of making mistakes and learning from them, they should be commended for doing so.
Senator Hillary Clinton has been confronted with her support of the war in Iraq in its early days, and has publicly stated that she was wrong in her initial support. As fellow human decision-makers, we should applaud her ability to see the error in her ways and turn the other direction. Unfortunately, in our modern political machine, she gets derided as being unpredictable. Sometimes politicians are scorned for changing their thinking merely for political gain-and I’m not saying that some do not-but not because they have actually had a real change of heart.
We need leaders who can really assess the many sides of every issue and make carefully weighed-out decisions based on every side. We need leaders who, even when it may not be politically popular, can publicly say that they were wrong, and explain to their constituents everything that went into their thoughts. We need leaders who are human, and therefore act as an imperfect person capable of change.
There are politicians who really should change their minds, and do so publicly. George W. Bush would actually increase international respect for him if he would simply say that he has been wrong in several key decisions. Imagine the press that would be generated worldwide if Bush were to admit that things in Iraq were going dismally, take responsibility, and then announce a real exit strategy. In expressing humanity and humility regarding the war-among many other deplorable decisions, he would become a real boy, and with becoming a real boy, be capable of taking responsibility for very real actions.
As a society, great importance is placed on a person’s strength of resolve, and being confident in their decisions. What we see in the media is a carefully crafted image, an image that has been achieved over time by carefully weighing out all of the options on the table. We aren’t shown all of the revisions that went into the final idea. What needs to be accepted and embraced is the struggle for the outcome. We need to know that we all change our minds, and that is precisely why great men and women work for years on a single concept. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and the greatest ideas in human history were hardly attained in one sitting.
The next time you are faced with a big decision, make up your mind as quickly as you can and really look at how satisfied you are with the outcome. Change your mind, and change it again. Backing down from a poor decision is far from a sign of weakness, but a sign of strength.