Showing posts with label redefining politics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label redefining politics. Show all posts

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Day 35 – The Politics of the Self




Fellow politicians of planet earth – we have been sorely remiss in our duties and responsibilities to be good stewards to the resources of our planet and good caretakers of the well being and dignity of our fellow living beings – of which the animal and plant kingdoms are equally considered.

To avoid any miscommunication or room for misinterpretation – in this blog when I say “politicians” or “fellow politicians” I do not speak of people elected into governmental offces or people who have career or institutional positions in the various manifestations of “government” in our world. When I say “politicians” and “fellow politicians” I refer to YOU, who are reading this document and I refer as well to myself who is currently composing this document. 

There are many “truths” in our world that are not easy to take in or accept – and here it is necessary for one particular truth to be made abundantly clear if the purpose and intent of this blog are to be practically understood: 

We, the human beings of planet earth are fully responsible not only for the conduct of our governments and our world systems – but of our very own thoughts and our accepted natures. We are at all times responsible for the degree to which we participate in our own living and our own thinking – and in innumerable moments throughout our days we are in fact making decisions that will have a consequence for not only our own lives, but the lives of all around us. 

We, the human beings of planet earth are fully capable and equipped to make of this planet a place of honor and dignity and expression for all life – if we would but dare to consider that there is more to life and living than our personal desires and preferences. We do not stop or allow ourselves the courage to really consider where our personal desires and preferences are coming from and whether or not they actually serve our best interest or reflect our greatest potential if we continue to profess that we want a better world and that we want what is best for all when our actual personal words, thoughts, and deeds paint a picture that is contradictory and often in direct conflict with what we profess to “want” in our world. 

It is remarkably easy to profess and “support” the idea of a better world – a world of unity – a world of peace – a world in which we can truly walk as equals and all have their most important human needs attended to not out of obligation but out of common sense and genuine consideration. It is remarkably easy to say that this is the world we want to live in and this is the world we are willing to fight for and stand up for – that we are apparently “ready” for such a world to come into being just as soon as the government realizes how abusive it is, or just as soon as our global financial systems have a “change of heart” and start valuing things based on actual human values instead of exotic equations meant to seek only profit at all costs, or just as soon as every major corporation begins to take responsibility for the social, psychological, and environmental impact of their businesses – so long as we do not have to take the first step or have to hold ourselves accountable or have to be the very example of what we want in this world – then yes we are prepared to “support” and “be ready for” and “agree with” everything that everyone ELSE should do in order to make our world the place we profess it should be.

It is time to get clear with our starting point and face the actual responsibility that we, the human beings of planet earth have in this particular moment in time and to realize that our fears are not felt alone – that we are in fact equal in our responsibility and equal in our absence thus far.
It is time for us to develop AGREEMENTS with the understanding that who we are and what we have allowed through our own personal interests has lead us to a world of consequences – and that we must find within ourselves the courage to not judge or hold ourselves back due to fear of our own past or fear of what others may think or fear of what may happen if the actual truth of ourselves ever becomes exposed – and in this we must, within our agreement as fellow politicians of planet earth – to never sit in judgment or separation from one another – that we have had as much spitefulness and self interest as anyone else and that if we truly seek to restore our integrity, we must recognize that the same right within all others – to forgive as we would like to be forgiven.

The hard truth of this world is not as simple as a single group of elites who mastermind the world to their own benefit – but that a great and vast majority has allowed this to happen because we have not stood up for each other as equals, but sought only after our personal survival and our personal interest at the expense of all others – which is the ‘mark’ that one can begin to see in all aspects of our world – from our personal relationships, our communities, our corporations, our governments, and the behaviors of our nations.

We as the politicians of planet earth – we human beings – have trapped each other in self-interest and competition as we hold each other to our judgments and our past and in this we divide each other instead of being one united house, one united family that understands that we have had issues and personal conflicts but that such things do not have to define who we are and that through agreements we can actually learn how to give and support each other – that our desires and wants do not have to be fought for through competition when we AGREE that we are better standing together than standing apart – and that we are better stewards and guardians of this world and it’s various forms of life when we face ourselves without judgment, forgive ourselves of that which does not serve us or our ability to stand as a house united, and we SHOW by example that we can take responsibility for ourselves completely and insist that others in our world do the same – and stand here in unconditional support as a reminder that we can let go of our past and our fears and our separation – and whatever ugliness and darkness we must face and expose, we do not allow it to be personal – we do not allow it to anymore define who we are or who we now decide to be – and this we do in honor and integrity one by one starting with ourselves. 

This is the REAL politics of the world and in every waking second our decisions are being ‘counted’ whether we decide to be aware or not. Do NOT allow your actions and decisions to be made for you by self interests that corrupt your political integrity. The world is in danger – and the real politicians of the world are the only ones with the power and leverage to change it. Thus I invite you humbly to walk and investigate the Politics of Self and get to know yourself as your own political body – to assess what decisions and what policies you are making and whether that is making you an effective global politician and an example of life, or whether you have special interests that have lobbied your political interests against your principles – and to ensure that the face you see in the mirror reflects a political body that can be trusted and counted on to do not what is popular or feels good – but what is in fact best for all.


Friday, May 17, 2013

Day 25 - Political Language: Sorry, I Don't Speak "Politician"





"Political language... is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind." - George Orwell







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Day 25 - Political Language: Sorry, I Don't Speak "Politician"

In the current system, we see many politicians using the same sweeping remarks and professing to have the same values and principles, and yet when you place those same politicians in a room together and have them clearly define and explain what they mean when they say they value "freedom" and "democracy" and "equality" - they will not have the same answer, if they are even able to answer at all - which should reveal to us that any prescribed "solution" or "plan" to achieve/implement/or enforce concepts such as "freedom" and "democracy" and "equality" is not based on an equally agreed upon definition or principle, but instead is based on inconsistent political language that is accepted as fact - upon which policy is written and in turn "sold" to the public.

Politics has become a profession that employs specific political languages. One language is the technical language used by the professional career politicians amongst each other. The other language is used for the public with the intent and purpose of influencing and convincing the public in order to support a particular politician or policy, or to serve as "damage control" when unpopular decisions are made or when the government has made mistakes or betrayed public trust. 

A politician who delivers a speech to the public must employ this kind of specialized language for many reasons due to the nature of what the politician must face if he/she wishes to remain in office - a career politician in the current system CANNOT speak the actual truth or actually allow themselves to be vulnerable and accountable and intimate with the public - because such actions would be taken apart and used maliciously by the politician's political opponents, who will ensure that whatever can be exploited or "spun" in such a way that damages or discredits a politician who employs the "wrong" language will not go to waste.

Another reason for this kind of specialized language is due to the fact that the majority of the public are NOT politically inclined - and have NOT been given an equal education so that they can be spoken to as political equals. A politician who clearly states exactly where they stand on an issue and why will more likely LOSE support because they will in effect be alienating potential voters who would have continued to keep voting and supporting this politician because they assumed that their political goals were the same - and people have an interest in voting for politicians who they can relate to - politicians who they feel best represents them - because people have not realized the responsibility of representing themselves and becoming equal and active participants in the political dialogue of their country, and in general have NO access to having political conversations with policy makers (unless they come with substantial campaign funding) 

All of this lends to the problem of there being a WHOLE OTHER LANGUAGE developed by politicians to speak amongst each other as well as speak TO the public, instead of speak WITH the public, which is made even worse when the public - unfamiliar with political structures and technical language - resort to trusting their "feelings" and "impressions" when deciding on whether they accept or support a particular politician or political decision and WANTING to trust political leaders to make decisions FOR the public while the public is busy working and surviving in a system that is starved of actual REAL political leadership that would see a politically and socially inactive and inarticulate public as a major cause for concern - because when a deciding majority loses touch with their own decision making and does not understand the nature and function of emotions and feelings - those who DO understand such concepts wield a disproportionate and dangerous amount of influence and power. (Suggested reading - "Coercion and it's Fallout" at Psychologist's Journey to Life Blog)




When a politician speaks to a crowd and uses sweeping statements about "Democracy" and "freedom" and "justice" - they must be able to clearly and consistently share what the actual definition of those terms are and how they will practically approach whether to implement and/or enforce those concepts - and they must be able to do so without fear of political repercussion from other "politicians" who intend to misconstrue and deliberately take out of context this kind of clear and specific speech.

Here, the public must be equal in knowing exactly what the politician actually means when using political terminology, and must be able to respond with clarity and political awareness so that they are not simply "spoken to" and "assured" through vague or overly technical language and showmanship to continue supporting politicians and policies that are not publicly accountable.

To this end, the next several blogs will be dedicated to having a look at "political philosophy" and the use of political language. 

In the series to follow we will begin with defining and expanding on the concept of "justice" and the role of the government and politicians in relation to these concepts, as well as the responsibility of the public to be EQUAL, Real Politicians that can not only understand the importance of clear political language, but can SPEAK for themselves in an equal conversation instead of being "spoken to" by their representatives.