Everything in our human world has at least two purposes: first, the ostensible purpose for which it was invented, but second and more importantly, the functioning result of it. Another way is to ask ‘What function does something perform in our world?’
This discussion is not about the natural world. Apples are said to fall down to the ground and not up into the sky because of the attraction of gravity. But things invented by humans are not “natural,” and therefore are imbued not only with their stated reason to exist, but also have a human-based motivation.
We could ask the same question about anything humans invented. In addition to What is the Purpose of Politics, we can ask What is the Purpose of Religion, What is the Purpose of Government, What is the Purpose of Philosophy, What is the Purpose of Culture, What is the Purpose of any branch of human-originated activity. I would exclude those arenas of science invested with investigating the natural world, however unfortunately in many cases human opinions have shaped and colored those inquiries as well.
So Ask Again
Let’s return to the original question. What is the purpose of politics? As an initial possibility, we can posit that politics provides a grouping of the like-minded to accomplish some goal or goals. This may be true on the face of it, but its primary role seems to be to provide a grouping so that it can exclude others. Excluding some people from a political grouping seems a stronger motivation than the inclusion of the like-minded.
And There is More
Once a political grouping exists, it seems its primary thrust is to parcel out rewards to its core members, and seek to deprive the excluded. Deprivation can take many forms; it could be to impoverish, to disenfranchise, to diminish, to enslave, or even to exterminate.
That description falls under the first part of the purpose as described in the first paragraph above, namely, the ostensible purpose for which it was invented. But what then is the functioning result of it?
The Result
It seems the functioning result of politics has two layers. First, it is to provide a lens through which to perceive. Seeing through this lens inculcates and reinforces its viewpoint among its adherents; it provides the conditioning to bolster itself. This is similar to advertising. While advertising exists firstly to convince or cajole people into purchasing some idea or product, the other half of advertising is to prevent remorse and regret from those who already are committed to the product or idea.
But the second and more foundational and substantive layer of the functionality of politics is built upon the first. By seeing through the particular lens or viewpoint, one is separated from seeing reality as it is, one becomes encumbered by the particular conditioning provided by the political stance. We live in a world saturated with ideas and viewpoints, which all, in one form or another, in concert or individually, obstruct a complete perception of reality.
The Answer
Therefore, we come to the answer to which we seek. The functional purpose of politics is to obstruct our view of reality. This is the same purpose as any pursuit formed by human thinking. But all this purpose has a singular specific result: it separates each individual human from themself.
By inserting one or more barriers between a person and the reality in which they exist, a person is left in a state of perpetual tension, a constant discomfort. Those individuals who subscribe to a political movement identify with the aims, goals, and presuppositions of that movement. Any effort to relieve this tension or discomfort is bound to fail, for each person is usually unwilling to confront the failings of that viewpoint, for in identifying with it, they would see any failings within the political movement as their own failings. As a result, blame is ascribed to those outside the grouping. The more blame that is ascribed to the other, the angrier, more hostile, and violent this “in group” becomes.
Where We Are
Now we have come to the actual solution to the initial question. 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.
What’s your take on this? Let me know here.
Skeleton soldiers, a horse with the head of a man, and other monsters advance in the growing darkness, by Kawanabe Kyōsai (1831–1889), aka ‘The Demon of Painting’, from an 1890 book of woodblock illustrations entitled “Night Parade of One Hundred Demons.” His career began during the Edo period, when Japan was still a feudal country, and ended in the midst of the Meiji period, when the country was transforming into a modern state. Courtesy The Metropolitan Musem of Art, New York City.
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