Category: Government

How the Left-Right Political Spectrum Decieves Us

9/16/2017

Observe most political debates and you'll see people arguing based on how far to the "left," or the "right," they are. This left-right spectrum is uncritically applied as a basis for classifying types of governments and political ideologies - it has become the only popular framework that we have for evaluating politics. Seems harmless enough, right?

Except that the left-right spectrum is really a false dichotomy that renders the positions of both "sides," contradictory, while helping to control public debate. There are serious problems with the left-right spectrum as framework for understanding politics. A critical look reveals that the spectrum is incomplete, incoherent, leads to unnecessary polarization, and reinforces belief in hierarchy.

We need to confront the fact that the positions of both "sides," are riddled with contradictions. On this extremely flawed basis, people attack the so-called other side as though politics were some kind of team sport. In order to end such narrow and destructive partisanism, let's start thinking about whether the left-right spectrum is accurate rather than just assuming it is. (Hint: it's not, as we will see).

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The Top 5 Reasons Political Independents Are Misunderstood

2/14/2017

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In this environment of political tension, being angry is de riguer. I have recently been criticized for not being morally outraged about some public policy issue. It got me thinking, in light of how complex human society is, why the rush to judgment? Why let anger over some abstract political issues get in the way of your relationships with others?

The give and take necessary for discussing controversial subjects in a reasonable way is a learned skill. I'm the first to admit that am not as good at it as I would like to be. My own failure of articulation aside though, I don't want to rush to judgement about complex issues without being able to research and think them over carefully first. The philosopher Jaques Ellul stresses caution in rendering our convictions:

The propagandist can mobilize man for action that is not in accord with his previous convictions. Modern psychologists are well aware that there is not necessarily any continuity between conviction and action, and no intrinsic rationality in opinions or acts. Into these gaps in continuity propaganda inserts its lever. It does not seek to create wise or reasonable men but proselytes and militants.[1]

I have written before that being quick to anger makes you vulnerable to propaganda, which is why you should try to be cautious with your thought process. But in doing so, you are likely to leave yourself open to being misunderstood. In fact, these 5 seemingly reasonable behaviors of political freethinkers and independents might really piss people off:

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Propaganda: A Soothing, Integrating Influence for Modern Man

12/31/2016

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Just in case you missed it, earlier this month I had a longer piece about integration propaganda published on Uisio.com. Here is an excerpt:

"The conditions of life in mass societies tend to multiply individual frustrations. They produce abstract fragmentary relations between people…totally devoid of intimacy…One can show how the feeling of insecurity or anxiety develops; trace the contradictions of our environment, the conflicts between socially accepted competition and the preaching of fraternal love, between the constant stimulation of our needs through advertising and our limited finances, between our legal rights and the shackles of reality. Propaganda responds psychologically to this situation."

If you have been following my recent series about the perneciousness of propaganda and media you will likely enjoy this too!

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Is Democracy a Utopian Ideal?

5/22/2016

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I have published a guest post on Uisio.com. The piece examines the Iron Law of Oligarchy and Baron Acton's famous maxim "Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely."

Those of you who liked my post Why Every Political and Economic System Eventually Fails, And What You Can Do About It will probably like this post too.

Enjoy!

Update 2022: Uisio is defunct, but I have republished this piece on my site here.

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Why Every Political and Economic System Eventually Fails, and What You Can Do About It

2/21/2014

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We may believe that some political parties, economics systems or types of government are inherently more moral or pragmatic than others. This essay will not be refuting that claim. Rather, I argue that regardless of the organic value of various economic and political systems, they are all eventually doomed to corruption, oligarchy and failure if the people involved in them are not ethical. In other words; ethics always come first.

According to Aristotle, the Nichomachian view is that we must look at virtue and character in politics. Governments, political parties, communities, and economic systems are extensions of us. They reflect our values and our behaviors. Ethics is the lynchpin on which everything in human society depends. If we are unethical personally, and if society is unethical in the aggregate, then of course we will never have a moral system, no matter how authoritarian or anti-authoritarian, capitalist or communist, left or right the system is inherently.

Changing the system as a whole won't solve the underlying problem until we get at the root of the specific causes; namely our own behavior. People who are unethical will continue to be unethical regardless of political party, after a revolution, change of government, or in an alternate economic paradigm. We must treat the disease itself, not just the symptoms. We are the source of the problem, and as such, we must change. Consider the following quote from The Matrix, "It is not the spoon that bends, but yourself."

The solution is to change yourself. Adopt and practice a balanced code of ethics, educate yourself and others, and act locally in your own community to effect positive change.

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