Previously, we discussed the Purpose of Politics. Let’s now look at the attraction of politics.
The Purpose
In the post The Purpose of Politics, we saw that the functional result (and hence, the purpose) of politics:
“The purpose of politics is to separate man from himself. The purpose of politics, and all human-invented pursuits, is to disconnect a person from the complete reality in which they live. For a person separated and thereby diminished is a person who is more easily manipulated, more easily hood-winked and accepting of untruths, more easily distorted, and more easily exploited.”
So, if politics results in people not being fully connected to the reality of the world around them, then, why is politics so attractive?
Magnetism?
Politics seems to fulfill some major human needs. To ask “Do people really need and want politics?” is another way of asking “Do people really need and want to be disconnected from the real world?” The short answer is, unfortunately, Yes.
Politics provides excitement, enthusiasm, community, a common goal… all as long as one is in the “right” group. It also provides an enemy to rally against. All of these make it terribly attractive. It is an entertainment that engages to the extreme. It also individuates a person from the full manifestation of the real world around them.
Looking at the human race, it seems that many people want to be disconnected from themselves and the real world around them because they want structure, an authority to tell them what to do and not to do, and how to think. This is the essence of an Escape from Freedom. The uncertainty of freedom, the insecurity of having no one to tell one how to think and how to be is so unnerving and disorienting that it becomes unbearable for the masses of people.
Although through history people rebel from authority and restriction, the ultimate result is usually a different manifestation of authority and restriction. Humans seem to desire a security that comes from authority and restriction.
Sad But True
It is infinitely difficult in this world to live without the pressures of culture, politics, nationalism, divisiveness, religion, and all other strictures and structures invented by man to attempt to bring order to the mind. How difficult it is to forge one’s own path. And how easy it is to follow others and let them guide the individual, and thereby rule over him. Most people take the easier path, and justify it with whatever platitudes are in vogue at the moment. And how difficult it is for an individual to even see how constrained they are from within the comfort of their delusion.
And you? What’s your take on the attraction of politics? Let me know here.
The illustration of the White Headed Eagle is from Volume 1 of “Natural History of Carolina, Florida, and the Bahama Islands: containing the figures of birds, beasts, fishes, serpents, insects, and plants: particulary the forest-trees, shrubs, and other plants, not hitherto described, or very incorrectly figured by authors. Together with their descriptions in English and French. To which are added, observations on the air, soil, and waters: with remarks upon agriculture, grain, pulse, roots, &c.”, by Mark Catesby and George Edwards, in 1754. Courtesy Biodiversity Heritage Library at The Smithsonian Institution.
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