[extropy-chat] Re: A view of what politics is

[Samantha Atkins]

On Oct 16, 2005, at 12:50 AM, Jack Parkinson wrote:

>   On 10/15/05, Jack Parkinson <isthatyoujack at icqmail.com> wrote:
>
>
>>>>  I posted this before - I still think the best definition of  
>>>> politics
>>>>
> is: The
>
>>>>  relationships between groups! At any level - from office  
>>>> factions to
>>>> negotiations between superpowers. Politics is only incidentally  
>>>> social
>>>> decision making. It is wholly about interacting communities.
>>>>
>
>
>>>  ### Is buying T-shirts from China a form of politics?
>>> No! Unless you are doing this as an expression of group values
>>> concerning Chinese group values...
>>>
>> ### Now it is getting more complicated - so politics is not merely
>> "relationships between >groups" but rather "relationships between  
>> groups
>> expressing group values". And what >are "group values"? It's getting
>> positively baroque.
>>
>
> We are discussing the meaning of politics - not the meaning of  
> groups. A
> group has some points of congruence and some disconnectedness.  
> Politics is
> how these opposing points develop.
>
>

You used "groups" in your purported meaning so you have to say what  
you mean by the term.


> ---------------------------------------
>
>
>>>> Is imprisoning an individual dissenter not a form of politics?
>>>>
>>> Yes! The group expresses it's disapproval of dissent - by sanctions
>>>
> against representatives of groups that oppose it...
>
>
>> ### Oh, our dissenter has not joined a group. Is he a group all by  
>> himself?
>>
>
> Lone dissenters are NEVER 'political' - they are rugged  
> individualists,
> deviants, and/or eccentrics until such time as they represent a  
> group. If

Oh my.  So you reject individualism, individual rights, natural  
rights and so on in a single blow.  Disagree with the group and be  
labeled a deviant!  <rude noise>

> they are really unlucky they are criminals to boot! But they are not
> politicians until they can claim to represent a constituency...
>

So politics is only what politicians do?  How do you connect politics  
to ethics if you do away with the relevance of individuals?

- samantha