In some previous blog post, I wrote that politics is like in the expression “office politics”. It’s bad stuff. It’s people being petty, struggling to be right, struggling to make others wrong, struggling to beat others, win, and avoid losing. It’s people trying hard to dominate others and have their ideas dominate others’ ideas. It’s people trying hard not to be dominated by others, or their ideas. It’s bad stuff.
And we know that. We expect it. Maybe I’m avoiding it. If so, then it’s true and I don’t want to deal with it. Maybe I’m trying to fix it. That means it’s true and needs to be fixed. Maybe I’m hoping it doesn’t have to be that way. So I believe that’s the way it is, but I’m hoping we can do better. Maybe I’m resigned to it. That’s the way it is and there’s nothing I can do. All of these are built on it being true.
These are the way it is for our culture. I didn’t make this stuff up. I got it from others. I’ve certainly heard it over and over again from people with whom I’ve spoken about PeopleCount.org. This IS politics to us.
But it’s not true. It’s a human concept, along with myriad thoughts about it. And feelings. And memories. And memories of thoughts and feelings.
In the next article, we’ll see this way of looking at it gives us a choice.
But it’s not true. It’s a human concept, along with myriad thoughts about it. And feelings. And memories. And memories of thoughts and feelings.
We forget: To err is human. Most people think that means we sometimes make errors. Another meaning is that to be correct, to have our thoughts be accurate one must distill real life into concepts. Because thoughts are about concepts. But real life can’t be distilled into concepts- not really.
Mathematically, it would be called mapping reality onto concepts, or representing reality with concepts. This is by definition an approximate endeavor. It’s rough. It’s error prone. It’s not only not exact, it’s not accurate, except in a view.
And we have a choice about what view we look through, if we can be so conscious as to realize it’s a choice, and choose.
The poet Edna St. Vincent Millay said: “It is not true that life is one damn thing after another. It’s the same damn thing over and over.” It’s the bad kind of politics over and over because we refuse to see it’s a choice. So we keep choosing it. And then we say, “That’s life.”
What if we become aware that it’s a choice. And that we can make another choice? What if we invest a little bit of time, effort and even money into another choice, a new choice in which people count?
What if we build a structure that supports people counting in politics? We design the roles and responsibilities and rewards so it supports us continually creating a future where politics is simply how we work together to guide government and hold it accountable? We’ll give it an organization and rules that help it persist. We can make it empower citizens, elected officials and even candidates running for office?
It’s really just a choice.
You’re either part of the solution, or part of the problem. Choose.