[codingslave]

I think about this alot. Modern elections have turned into political investigations where the goal is to get more dirt on the opponent than they can get on you. But in some ways this causes a self policing effect and hopefully stops rampant corruption at the highest levels of government.

[jacquesm]

> hopefully stops rampant corruption at the highest levels of government

I think we have a strong proof that that isn't the case.

[kevingadd]

If the most recent election cycles are any indication, rampant corruption is something many politicians are proud of

[big_chungus]

I used to figure I might run for public office some day; no longer. I haven't done anything that would merit a scandal or be counted as "dirt", but that doesn't change it. I don't want a bunch of busybodies poking into ever detail of my life, and more importantly, don't want that to happen to my family.

[ipython]

If modern politics is any guide, the takeaway is that you are able to run for office no matter what happened in your personal life. Your family, I can understand not putting them through that, but there's no reason why you should be ashamed of anything you've done.

[ianmcgowan]

Unfortunately the definition of "dirt" has drifted slowly to any moral lapse, which almost every person has at one time committed (at least, among my group of close friends who share that kind of thing, maybe things are more moral somewhere else). It's sort of a slippery slope though - unearthing information of Epstein/Moore type activities is more legitimately in the public interest than Trudeau blackface lapses (arguably). I think the millennial generation will be more forgiving of dumb things done in youth, simply because their dumb things are more thoroughly documented than the boomers/gen-x'ers.

[lupire]

This is the country whose government held that sex with a subordinate is a worse offense than starting a war for personal profit.