The question we should be focusing on!
7 months ago
6 Comments
Have you ever looked around you in our modern world, with all it's technological wonders & noticed that some things are far from the way they should be by now, Have you ever thought about whats really in the way of progress' or at least why progress is so slow?
Bellow are some of the reasons i believe most responsible and the explanations of how i came to believe this..
Impotent Politics from leaders who seek Power & Glory above the needs of Society's they're perceived to represent
Corruption & Blanket Capitalism
Whats really in the way of progress?
Why progress towards improving the quality of life for the less fortunate is so slow?
Are our politicians actually qualified to do the job?
Or are they getting away with behaving like witch doctors' practicing without really understanding in depth?
What do you think?
Your job demands that you have relevant qualifications. Would you be surprised to learn that most politicians have no qualifications in an area that they need them most? The Social science's Development Studies, Deontological Ethics, Sociology..
SOCIOCULTURAL EVOLUTION; One of the most important changes that could take place in the 21st century, would be to see it been made a mandatory requirement, that politicians have to study human and social interactions. Therefore gaining the fundamental qualifications that are most relevant to their vocation, before standing in a major election; for example a qualification in the understanding of social conflict, or at least the study of one or more of the social sciences would be a step in the right direction. Its a shame that a doctor has to study for 7years before becoming qualified, if he makes a mistake killing someone in his carer, he's in big trouble!... Yet a politician who can mess up society, inflame racial hatred' start wars displacing hundreds of thousands of people, needs no qualification in the field of understanding people. He can even be elected upon charismatic ability alone. All too often with little accountability for the scale his mistakes...
What are the consequences? Inadequacies in our very ability to manage the 21st century world we live in! By now the world should be a much better place for everyone to live in. Sadly this is not the case.. Politicians are quick to affiliate themselves with religion, but slow to actually adopt it's universal moral & ethical practices. Is it any wonder they are often resented, lacking the trust & respect needed to be truly great leaders.
The early Social thinkers gave us the foundations for the positive benefits of democracy. But i'm sure they would turn in their graves if they knew about today's slow moving system, where change is restricted/limited due to a system that is self governed by unqualified politician's, where the valuable ideas of social thinkers are rarely even heard. Beneficial input, that would socially advance the world we live in, seems to be currently in stalemate.. Just think about the changes that would be possible!!! "A democratic system that would have enough universal respect for other countries to believe in"What a different world we could live in, if a politician with power could have the courage & strength to help break the mould, making social science an education requirement in his own profession & therefore starting the ball of progress rolling again for humanity...Changes to the very foundation of modern politics are needed' but these are unlikely to come from politicians themselves, due to their unwillingness to upset their colleagues. For this to happen would require intervention from a force more powerful, such as the media... but will anyone take the gauntlet??
Things don't have too be this way. To have efficient change our Politicians need to be smarter' & better qualified in understanding people. This is a key factor that is not given due attention, with today's Global Issue's!
Examples of studies that may help politicians, do a better job for all of us...
Sociology; the study of society and human social action. It generally concerns itself with the social rules and processes that bind and separate people not only as individuals, but as, groups and communities
Development studies; a multidisciplinary branch of social science which addresses issues of concern to developing countries. It has historically placed a particular focus on issues related to social and economic development, and its relevance may therefore extend to communities and regions outside of the developing world. Development studies is offered as a specialised Master's degree in a number of universities, and, less commonly, as an undergraduate degree
Cultural anthropology; is one of four fields of anthropology (the holistic study of humanity) as it developed in the United States. It is the branch of anthropology that has developed and promoted "culture" as a meaningful scientific concept, studied cultural variation among humans, and examined the impact of global economic and political processes on local cultural realities..
Deontological ethics; or deontology meaning 'obligation' or 'duty') is an approach to ethics that focuses on the rightness or wrongness of actions themselves, as opposed to the rightness or wrongness of the consequences of those actions.
Epistemology; theory of knowledge is a branch of philosophy concerned with the nature and scope of knowledge. Much of the debate in this field has focused on analyzing the nature of knowledge and how it relates to similar notions such as truth, belief, and justification. It also deals with the means of production of knowledge, as well as scepticism about different knowledge claims. In other words, epistemology primarily addresses the following questions: "What is knowledge?", "How is knowledge acquired?", and "What do people know?"
Political science; theory and practice of politics and the description and analysis of political systems and political behaviour..
Examples of some of those who have made similar points before!!
Confucius The Chinese philosopher Confucius(551-471 BCE) was one of the first thinkers to adopt a distinct approach to political philosophy. His philosophy was "rooted in his belief that a ruler should learn self-discipline, should govern his subjects by his own example, and should treat them with love and concern. His political beliefs were strongly linked to personal ethics and morality...
Plato The Greek philosopher Plato(428-328 BC), in his book The Republic, argued that all conventional political systems (democracy, monarchy, oligarchy and timarchy) were inherently corrupt, and that the state ought to be governed by an elite class of educated philosopher-rulers, who would be trained from birth and selected on the basis of aptitude: "those who have the greatest skill in watching over the community..
Aristotle In his book Politics, the Greek philosopher Aristotle(384–322BC) asserted that man is, by nature, a political animal. He argued that ethics and politics should go hand in hand..
John Stuart Mill In the 19th century, John Stuart Mill pioneered the liberal conception of politics. He saw democracy as the major political development of his era
and, in his book On Liberty, advocated stronger protection for individual rights against government and the rule of the majority
Karl Marx A man in my view often criticised for what he got wrong; & not praised enough for what he got right.. He expressed his staunch rejection of capitalism & was especially criticised for this, as in his day he couldn't see how some components of capitalism might also bring manageable benefits for all.
None the less Karl Marx was among the most influential political philosophers of history. His theories, collectively termed Marxism were mostly associated with the Soviet Union for obvious reasons, However many but not all of Marx's ideas such as universal health care, open border and the free movement of people, and less economic inequality may also be seen in the European Union. Marx also proposed that over time, there would be no need for the state or borders, therefore individuals would be free to move from nation to nation without prosecution. This latter idea of internationalism is the direct opposition to the Nazi utopia of the pure race and national socialism. Many subsequent political movements have based themselves on Marx's thought, offering widely differing interpretations of communism; these include Marxism-Leninism, Maoism, and libertarian Marxism. Possibly the most influential interpreter of Marxist theory was Lenin, founder of the Soviet Union, who created a revolutionary theory founded on Marxist thinking.
However, libertarian Marxist thinkers have challenged Lenin's interpretation of Marx ; Cornelius Castoriadis, for instance, described the Soviet Union's system as a form of "bureaucratic capitalism" rather than true communism..
It's my own belief that democracy is obviously the best system. But we should not exclude improving things by importing the clever ideas/political structures from other systems that have benefits to offer..
For example; a good idea from Socialism, Capitalism, Liberalism, Communism, etc should not be excluded, especially not due to fear of the Label' or concept as some perceive it!
After all political systems like religious systems, have all evolved by borrowing from one an other throughout history . It's due to the negative sides of group dynamics, that Labels have been the excuse for much conflict & bloodshed...
If you need the people on your side. Trust & Respect & can be more powerful than Bombs or Bullets or a mountain of Legislation...
Copy & paste this Link
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=uPEYvDb21QE
Tags: blanket capitalism, corruption, grupthink, impotent politics, life, news, wish
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Topic Details
This topic was started by Eraneo on May 7th, 2008. 13 grupies have voted on one or more of the 2 answers.
Tags: blanket capitalism, corruption, grupthink, impotent politics, life, news, wish
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What's the question?
Sorry if I've been unclear Topic has now been updated thanks to your response..
Thank you for the feedback all help to improve further welcome..
@eraneo: thanks for revising your topic to be so clear and concise.
... and long.
I never read anything on Grupthink longer than a paragraph.
i believe this is where we're supposed to summon tldr.