"Making it" in the DC policy world is a lot like going to LA and trying to "make it" as an actor. The city is filled with talented people, but the industry can only sustain a few superstars. You're more likely to end up waiting tables and throwing scripts into producers' cars (i.e. working as an intern and sending your papers randomly hoping someone will publish them). After a while, some just sell out and just start doing commercials (i.e. going to work for a big defense contractor on some giant boondoggle project). Others are lucky enough to find steady work at think tanks or in government (i.e. sitcoms - good exposure, good pay, varying amounts of respect). Yet others settle into academia (i.e. teach at acting school). Those who really break out as movie stars (Cabinet members/National Security Advisors and the like) are few and far between. To do it, takes luck, connections, and of course a boatload of actual skill. You also need the energy and self-confidence to market your skill.
LA has the Boulevard of Broken Dreams, DC has the Black Buildings of Broken Dreams.
Think Tank unpaid internships = The DC equivalent of the LA pornographer's casting couch.
ReplyDeleteSo many bright eyed kids enter the meatgrinder only to leave broke and broken-hearted with souls that have expired like so much sour milk.