👋 Hey phi-lazy-phers
We could probably all agree politicians aren’t as interested in policies as they are in competition, theatrics, and power. It’s been that way for a while, but it’s becoming clearer and clearer the more we pay attention.
I mean, a global pandemic wasn’t even enough to build a bridge across the aisle here in the States, and in many other countries. If the antics of politicians (of all parties) didn’t directly cause the harm we see around us, it would actually be quite comical.
Unfortunately, this twisted comedy show has been going on for ages. So let’s see what we can learn about politics via philosophy.
Plutarch
An imbalance between rich and poor is the oldest and most fatal ailment of all republics.
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Hanna Arendt
For politics is not like the nursery; in politics obedience and support are the same.
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George Bernard Shaw
Patriotism is, fundamentally, a conviction that a particular country is the best in the world because you were born in it...
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Baruch Spinoza
The more a government strives to curtail freedom of speech, the more obstinately it is resisted; not indeed by the avaricious...but by those whom good education, sound morality, and virtue have rendered more free.
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Angela Y. Davis
The idea of freedom is inspiring. But what does it mean? If you are free in a political sense but have no food, what's that? The freedom to starve?
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Franz Kafka
One idiot is one idiot. Two idiots are two idiots. Ten thousand idiots are a political party.
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Malcolm X
You're not supposed to be so blind with patriotism that you can't face reality. Wrong is wrong, no matter who says it.
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Mary Wollstonecraft
There must be more equality established in society, or morality will never gain ground.
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Carl Jung
I am convinced that 99 percent of politics are mere symptoms and anything but a cure for social evils. We are on guard against contagious diseases of the body, but we are exasperatingly careless when it comes to the even more dangerous collective diseases of the mind.
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Yuval Noah Harari (on nationalism vs. globalism)
In previous centuries, national identities were forged because humans faced problems and opportunities that were far beyond the scope of local tribes and which only countrywide cooperation could hope to handle. In the twenty-first century, nations find themselves in the same situation as the old tribes: they are no longer the right framework to manage the most important challenges of the age.
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Plato
The price of apathy towards public affairs is to be ruled by evil men.
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Hannah Arendt
What makes it possible for a totalitarian or any other dictatorship to rule is that people are not informed; how can you have an opinion if you are not informed?
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Bertrand Russell
The problem of political theory is how to combine that degree of individual initiative which is necessary for progress, with the degree of social cohesion which is necessary for survival.
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Pierre-Joseph Proudhon
In philosophy, in politics, in theology, in history, negation is the preliminary requirement to affirmation. All progress begins by abolishing something; every reform rests upon denunciation of some abuse; each new idea is based upon the proved insuffciency of the old idea.
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Noam Chomsky
The smart way to keep people passive and obedient is to strictly limit the spectrum of acceptable opinion, but allow very lively debate within that spectrum.
There’s a lot to unpack there but honestly, I don’t have much to add. If, however, you have any interest in digging a tiny bit deeper, I’d suggest watching this 4:00 minute clip of Michael Sandel & Yuval Noah Harari discussing why politics is never about the truth. Their conversation is in regards to the climate change topic, but you could replace “climate change” with any social issue and find their points hold up.
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✌️ Until next week, happy philosophizing.
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