On Politics and Humane Ethics ~ by Peta-de-Aztlan
Good
Chairman Mao stated in his Quotations that 'politics is war without bloodshed'. Definitely we can say that politics has a combative nature to it, such as, when political candidates 'fight' political 'battles' in election campaigns for public office or in Congress when they are proposing any controversial legislation and they know they will face 'opposition' from 'the other side'. There are 'war chests' for campaign finances.
Bobby Seale, former Chairman of the now defunct Black Panther Party, use to talk about making politics 'for real' and that politics was relating to the basic survival needs of the people, which in itself can be deemed as controversial for some.
Nowadays, the very words 'politics' and 'politicians' are dirty words that turn people off in an automatic reaction without any cognitive reasoning going on in their heads. Someone may be a concerned citizen and a decent humane being, but the mere mention of 'politics' turns them off, scares them away or makes them shrink back in horror!
When I was growing up my Father and I use to clash a lot. When we had a family get together I was warned by my Mom, along with him, not to discuss 'politics' or religion because it would routinely degenerate into a family argument, leaving my Mother in a quandary as to which side to choose: her husband or her oldest son. Usually we would be drinking booze so that would add fire into the mix. My Father has evolved as lot since those early days and I have become more analytical, reasonable and thoughtful in my communications in general. Plus, as a rule I no longer in indulge in alcohol and my father and I have cordial if distant dialogues.
The Online Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines 'politics' as so:
Main Entry: pol•i•tics Listen to the pronunciation of politics
Pronunciation:\?pä-l?-?tiks\
Function:noun plural but singular or plural in construction
Etymology:Greek politika, from neuter plural of politikos political
Date:circa 1529
1 a: the art or science of government b: the art or science concerned with guiding or influencing governmental policy c: the art or science concerned with winning and holding control over a government 2: political actions, practices, or policies 3 a: political affairs or business ; especially : competition between competing interest groups or individuals for power and leadership (as in a government) b: political life especially as a principal activity or profession c: political activities characterized by artful and often dishonest practices 4: the political opinions or sympathies of a person5 a: the total complex of relations between people living in society b: relations or conduct in a particular area of experience especially as seen or dealt with from a political point of view
Connected reality, which encompasses all objective and subjective realities independently of the mind (which often gets us into trouble with its 'stinkin' thinkin'), connects all of us on the cosmic level. In fact, no one individual exists in-and-of himself independent from any external objective reality.
In a traditional understanding of politics it is often linked with the word 'corruption' and politicians in general are usually seen a 'dirty politicians'. Many times politicians are seen as being on the take, that is, taking money in the form of bribes that may be disguised as lobbying by Special Interests' in order to sway their votes on a given issue or piece of legislation. What is seen as political expediency may be seen as a compromise but the politician easily walks onto shaky ground when a given compromise may involve him or her compromising basic humane ethics.
Life is not all black-and-white and often more complex than a simple YES or NO. Sometimes certain compromises may have to be made in terms of tactics, schedules and priorities, but we enter an area of slimy darkness when we start compromising our own basic humane ethics, our true understanding of what is right versus what is wrong, our gut feelings that often tell us whether a certain matter embraces justice or not.
The truth is we are all impacted by politics and the decisions made by politicians who are elected officials, so no one can play the innocent virgin. Politics today has real deep and far-reaching influences on us that we may not even be aware of yet help shape the way we live our lives. Who knows that new laws came into effect on January 1st of 2009? Imagine a law that if broken can end up with you committing a crime that maybe you did not even know was a law to be broken!!! Remember the saying that ignorance is no excuse for breaking the law?
Thus, people need to be aware and stay aware of what is going on in the realm of politics and not play the flightless dodo bird with their heads in the sand thinking they are invisible so nobody sees them. All of us need to adopt a basic set of humane ethics and core values in relation to what we consider to be right, fair, just and morally correct, not necessarily what is politically correct. Political correctness can easily betray our own basic principles. In essence, we should stick to our guns, in this context, stick to our basic humane principles and let us hope that our principles are indeed ethical and humane.
In life we must often define our terms because many misunderstandings and breakdowns in communications happen because people use the same words yet can have way different personal definitions of those words. What is ethical and what is humane? We need basic ground rules for our general analyzes, social dialogues and personal conversations.
For starters, let us agree on the basics of the Ten Commandments of the Holy Bible (now don't run off and jump to conclusions), especially the ones about 'You Shall Not Kill' and 'You Shall Not Steal'. Right there we can run into trouble because we will give a man of Medal of Honor for his killing in one situation and sentence him to the Death Penalty in another killing situation. Let us utilize that often rarely used notion of common sense and take a leap of faith in order to behold the existence of the 'average reasoning person'.
To strive to keep it simple and not complicate the simple, let us begin with the basic principle that life is sacred and that the taking of a life without valid reason is profane, is wrong, is unjust. Thus, there is such a thing as a justifiable homicide in an extreme situation. We will go further and state that all those ways that support life, that protect life, that enrich life and that better life for all of us are good humane ways. A humane being has care, concern and compassion for all living beings. Let us hope and pray that our politicians have a core set of humane values, of humane ethics and humane principles that govern their souls, their minds and their decisions in ways that are of real benefit to all peoples. In the cosmic analysis, we must not compromise our humane ethics in the arena of politics where wars are fought daily.
Democracy as a political system of government only works well when it is a true participatory democracy, not merely a representative democracy. All citizens of a land should have the basic right to vote, including the condemned prisoner. If democracy is rule by the majority its core essence should be to treasure the humane rights of the individual and thereby the humane rights of all of us.
Once again, we must redefine politics as the means through which we come together, work out our basic differences, govern a society often on the verge of mass mayhem with humane ethics and a body of principles that truly exemplify 'life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness' for all of us. When the rights of anyone are violated by an unjust power this should be seen as a violation against all of us and such violations should be strongly condemned by any means mandatory.
Blessings for A Truly Good Friday! ~ Peta-de-
Sacramento
Email: peter.lopez51@yahoo.com
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