On Politics

Politics--some people like to keep out of it, but it is something highly important and necessary in any society.  It is to geography what physiology is to anatomy: geography and anatomy tell of where things are, but politics and physiology deal with how certain things function.  Politics deals with the managing of power structures, the structures themselves varying in nature, despite politics itself always being the application of philosophical ideas into the sphere of societal governance.

All people have worldviews (it is impossible for a conscious, rational being to not have a worldview), and this does not change for people who hold governmental or societal power.  The politics of a group is inevitably the manifestation of the worldview(s) of those in authority.  It follows, of course, that there are political ideologies that are in accordance with reality and those that are not.  Some political systems will reflect the way things are and some will deviate from reality.

Thus politics needs to be of interest to those who care about ethics, values, metaphysics, theology, and epistemology, since a ruler or politician will by necessity be translating some concept into at least part of a framework that he or she will use to influence or control others.  To govern in a way aligned with reality without doing so by accident one needs to be a serious, sound thinker.  To shy away from addressing politics as the inherently philosophical subject that it is means to leave politics in the hands of the ignorant, the fallacious, the unethical, and the unworthy.

With what politics is established, the next subjects of inquiry might be the following.  What different political structures are there?  And which of them, if any, is morally best?  Are any of them obligatory or evil?  Autocracy, monarchy, democracy, conservatism, liberalism, libertarianism, to name some?  These are not minor questions, for if politicians act in a way that is not just or rational, there will be consequences of some form, differing in severity along with the extent of the injustice or irrationality.

Ideas carry great consequences, whether immediate or latent.  All ideas are either true or false to some degree.  Some may see politics as a realm where morality and reality do not matter, only power, success, and popularity.  Yet any moral obligations do not cease to be obligations if one assumes political authority.  Reality does not cease to be reality just because one can hide from the common people behind a title or an office.