Politics is a Mind-Killer (2007)

lesswrong.com

38 points·arikr··5 comments

Author says “politics is war by other means”. This is often cited as a good thing; the very intense/ brutal nature of politics is in some ways an outlet for a society instead of war.

Also America is a weird nation. Other countries have an academic domain called “American Studies” that is full of fascinating insights about ourselves. One is that historically the US has been a very bipolar nation. Incredibly fearful of being weak / thinking itself weak, certain the decline of American empire is on the way, and at other moments filled with religious fervor, manifest destiny, and build a Navy larger than every other single Navy in the world combined.

https://www.google.com/search?q=tonnage+of+largest+navies&ie...

We study that domain in the US, too. I'd actually imagine most of the scholars are American.

This is very much not something restricted to the US. The French, Germans, British, Chinese, Russians, etc have their own cycles very much related to their self-image.

Politics is just the process of mind killing. Its unlimited democracy and people's habit to collectively decide about everything possible. When everyone gets vote on everything, manipulating others (and yourself) can result in real gain.

I would say: politics is not a mind killer, political parties are.

(2007)

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