Writings @ Ankur Mutreja by Ankur Mutreja - HTML preview

Chapter 4.6.10: Defining Politics

To me, politics is intrinsically linked with power. Politics is inevitable whenever an individual interact with others or even otherwise. Power is the ability to act. Every individual has vested interest in acting. At the most basic level, a body needs to be active to survive, which also needs the power of limbs. Newborn children and infirms are dependent on others for even this basic an exercise of power. This dependency on others leads to the need for politics for two reasons: first, to be able to act without resistance, and, secondly, to be able to seek help to surmount resistance, if any; the more the power the lesser the resistance. The more difficult it is to overcome resistance, the more important is the role the “politicians” play in the society. A society without resistance wouldn’t need “politicians”, therefore the “politicians” have vested interest in maintaining resistance, and, therefore, they are the most despicable. So politics per se is not bad, it’s the “politicians” who make it bad. They make it bad by misusing power. So, the goodness or the badness of politics is intrinsically linked to the goodness or the badness of the use of power possessed by the individuals in a particular society. © 2011-2015 Ankur Mutreja