People and Politics

 

People and Politics

Peter Schultz

 

People want answers and that’s what politicians and politics promise to provide. Regarding abortion, e.g., pro-life and pro-choice provide answers, clear, concise, easily defensible answers. 

Try an alternative: pro-love. Doesn’t provide answers but rather raises questions. And the answers to these questions aren’t clear, concise, or easily defensible. Hence, this alternative will never be viable politically.  

Questions make almost all people discontent. Almost all people want answers, clear, concise, easily defensible answers, answers they would die and even kill for. Ambivalence, however appropriate it is, is not a political or a moral virtue. Ambivalence implies that asking the right questions is more important than clear, concise, and easily defensible answers. 

[Academic postscript: This has helped me understand Aristotle’s Politics, which has the appearance of a mishmash, of parts obscure in themselves and that don’t seem to fit together. Maybe that is part of Aristotle’s teaching about politics: clear, concise, and easily defensible political answers are available, but those answers don’t reflect the character of the political, an arena where ambivalence is not only appropriate but beneficial. You may know the truth, but it won’t set you free. That’s the deal.]