Hopewit

  Politics . You can tell how people relate to this word by the way they use it. “I’m not much interested in politics,” for instance, equates it with the day-to-day news about our current government, elections, party dynamics, etc. A narrow definition.                By whatever word we use, it’s clear that the setting and enforcing of the principles under which we form community—and function as community—existed before the word was coined. In families, in schools, in workplaces, on the roads, in the economy, the making and respecting of agreed-to behavioural expectations in a community is the necessary defense against chaos.                How behavioural expectations come to be, how they are altered, how they are enforced … and most importantly by whose authority … is fundamental. The “benevolent dictator” model has a long history: give...

  Some days, I think life for us would be better if we could all cooperate with our neighbours, if we would be of one mind about the important stuff. On other days, I remember that when a nation can get a preponderance of its citizens to “be of one mind,” a Nazi fascism or a Maoist China can take hold … and gratifying as it may be to experience thousands and thousands of “my people” marching in unison, we know what mass indoctrination of the population leads to. At the very least, it leads to penalties for dissenters: the “kulaks” must be imprisoned or killed, the Jews and communists must be annihilated, the capitalists are fit only for slavery in work camps. Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely. We could learn much about how nations take their unique shapes from the history, for instance, of Nazi Germany, Mussolini’s fascism, Maoist reign of terror by being schooled well in our histories. But if we can’t work up a reasonable indignation over book banning in Flor...