The Political.
What makes these actions so difficult is that we are living in a society that most people take for granted. That it couldn't be any other way. That you grow up, go to school, go to work, die. That's how it is, for the vast majority of people. What you can gain within that is what it's about. Politics is not for you.
Aristotle has a long discussion about the political, and he has a different idea than we do now. Now, we think of politics as seperate from the private sphere. That most of us live just privately, content with our little world, trying to carve what we can out of it. A rare few step out into the public sphere. They are ministers, political secretaries, members of parliament, etc. It's a sharp divide between the face on the TV screen and you, you watching it.
But is that how it is? Not being political is a political choice. Do you understand what I mean? When you choose to ignore someone in a line who is bothering you, you're still playing on the same terms. When you choose to ignore an insult, you're in the same court as the one who ignored you. When you say "No, no, politics is not for me. I am content with the life I am leading." then you are making a political choice. If you don't speak up, you assent. You do, really. Because they - whoever they are - they will make the choices they please if you don't speak up.
Politics is everything you do that involves a mass of people. Something you say in a lecture, somewhere you go on a break, something you read because you want to be enlightened. Politics is, as Aristotle meant it, the entire life we live with other people. It cannot be seperate from it. But you can choose to ignore it, and leave it to others. But what will you be, then? Who are you, really? A leaf, in the wind? Or a person? Living, breathing, thinking, acting.
Aristotle has a long discussion about the political, and he has a different idea than we do now. Now, we think of politics as seperate from the private sphere. That most of us live just privately, content with our little world, trying to carve what we can out of it. A rare few step out into the public sphere. They are ministers, political secretaries, members of parliament, etc. It's a sharp divide between the face on the TV screen and you, you watching it.
But is that how it is? Not being political is a political choice. Do you understand what I mean? When you choose to ignore someone in a line who is bothering you, you're still playing on the same terms. When you choose to ignore an insult, you're in the same court as the one who ignored you. When you say "No, no, politics is not for me. I am content with the life I am leading." then you are making a political choice. If you don't speak up, you assent. You do, really. Because they - whoever they are - they will make the choices they please if you don't speak up.
Politics is everything you do that involves a mass of people. Something you say in a lecture, somewhere you go on a break, something you read because you want to be enlightened. Politics is, as Aristotle meant it, the entire life we live with other people. It cannot be seperate from it. But you can choose to ignore it, and leave it to others. But what will you be, then? Who are you, really? A leaf, in the wind? Or a person? Living, breathing, thinking, acting.
posted by Björn at 9:34 PM
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