Politics, Political & Politicians

Politics - When 2 or more people gather to discuss the best course of action for the majority

Political - An issue or topic requiring 2 or more people to come together & discuss what is the best course of action for the majority

Too Political - When the group you're in is discussing the best course of action for the majority but it results in the group not letting you get your way but allows the majority to decide.

When ever someone says "Oh it all got political" I grin because if 2 people chat, its already political, by the very nature of humans having an opinion of their own, albeit swayed and influenced by others.

The downside for me is if a society is very politically disengaged things can go bump in the electoral night. In the case of Trump its being dissected flat strap in a political autopsy that could run for decades but everyone's trying to find reasons. Most of the people looking got the prediction wrong so I hope they're learning as they travel along. I can't help feel that voluntary voting has a bit to do with it.

It is after all a numbers game. You get the most numbers you win. Did Trump plug into the receptors of "real America", or the disenchanted, the disillusioned, the whoever dislikes Hillary or the establishment? Yes probably but the Hillary camp, way to late realised every vote would count and told people to go out and vote. A lot of people don't and how many people voted this time who don't usually I don't know but it was the most polarising election I've seen.

Most nasty and to be honest it had 2 candidates that might be quite good in their own way, but they couldn't be the best the country has to offer surely to goodness. Is it just a matter of the best of the ruthless and cunning get to the top of their respective pre-selections, or the richest? Who knows, some of these things but we've seen past candidates lose who were better than both of these candidates.

Australia has a different measure at play in that voting is compulsory. Or rather attendance is. There's more than a few people who have never registered to vote and therefore never have but for the most part, most people of the required age do vote. Unconfirmed but I was told its compulsory attendance for registered voters, not compulsory voting for everyone. It seems that way, you only have to attend a poling booth, get your name ticked off and put your ballot paper in the box... you can draw pictures on it or leave it blank if you want to.

At one polling station at the 2016 Federal Election I saw a man walk in, get ticked off the roll, take his voting slips straight to the ballot box, bypassing the booth and put them straight in the box. His hand never touched a pencil. A definite invalid vote. He didn't break the law. A lot of very stupid things aren't illegal of course and unsure as to what he was hoping to achieve.

In a perfect world, everyone in society would join a political party and have a part in the processes of politics, even if its attending one meeting a year or 3 years but generally people join parties out of a sense of duty or a perceived call to arms so to speak.

Where people get churned up and spat out is when its never explained to them that the greatest rigour and "argy-bargy" of a politic sense is not in Parliament House, nr the Senate, or the party room or cabinet.

Its within the political party's organisation. It gets very political and factionalised or very narcissistic and self serving at time. If this was explained to people perhaps many wouldn't walk away thinking its stacked, packed or factionally tilted. It is politics working and it's difficult for all of us to reconcile that 90% of a party's stances are aligned with our view but one or two things are patently wrong in our mind yet we have to go with the flow & support the majority.

Indeed it gets worse for politicians who may have a deep moral conviction on an issue but they have to sell and opposing view which is the party position. Its not uncommon for party hack MPs to tell independent MPs that they're sorry they can't support them & they would if they could. That sort of secret confessional admission more common than you think. I often wonder what would happen if all MPs hit a Yes, No or Abstain button and no one can see which way they're voting.

Thing is, there's always the duty to the electorate so at some point we still do need to see how a member voted. Or do we?

I think the reason people like to see religion and politics as taboo subjects socially is they could force us to think and confront our own prejudices. It could cause us to see if we're wrong and make a concession to others views that are actually right. for some, its very confronting to have a view questioned, more so when its pre-suppositional and has no research or thought behind it, just knee jerk bias. It forces us to confront ourselves when confronting others.

Why is that so challenging. reminded how some people are so focused on their worldview, which they don't understand but prefer to another more dominant one they understand even less.

That's fine with sports teams, but religion and politics don't need blind followers or blind objectors who object to rational discussion. That sort of politics should be heralded as higher thinking but it can go missing in the front bar and the party room.

It is what it is...but it shouldn't be feared and if its process oriented it can always be improved, never perfected mind you but improved. If its not being improved its being manipulated so the more sulight you shine on it, the safer we'll all be.

Seems to me more people, if they really care, should join a party and those who don't shouldn't complain too loudly without proper rational reasoning. Politics is ok it seems, but its never perfect.