Neil Kinnock Interview: Conversations with History; Institute of International Studies, UC Berkeley
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If you were talking to a group of students about going into politics, given this agenda and you own experience, would you tell them that this is an exciting time to consider it, or do you have any warnings for them?
I'd never tell them to go into politics. There are people who regard politics as a career. I've met some them, they are some of the most boring people I've ever met in my life, because unless being engaged politically has something to do with inspiration and a purpose, whether you come from the democratic right or from the democratic left, a purpose of trying to make the world better -- if you haven't got that, then don't bother.
If you do get engaged, get engaged because you understand that whatever impulse you might have for trying to make things better, it is highly unlikely that you'll be able to do it alone. You therefore require to be organized with like-minded people, broadly like-minded people, because you don't want to enter a sect in order to try and get the show on the road, get things moving.
Thirdly, the virtue that will be most tested if you've got any guts in you at all is the virtue of patience. Look forward to a lifetime of frustration with occasional bouts of interest and satisfaction -- but that's life in general in any case. If people were only looking for perpetual satisfaction, nobody would ever get married, would they?
That's correct. Well, Mr. Kinnock, thank you very much for joining us in this conversation and sharing with us your views on the political life and what that life is like. And thank you very much for joining us for this Conversation on International Affairs.
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