The Primacy of Politics Purposes Revisted
At the start of 2024, I want to review the purposes of ‘The Primacy of Politics.’
They are as follows:
1. Demonstrate why politics matters. Per Professor Harold Lasswell’s classic definition, “politics is who gets what, when, how.”
2. Demonstrate what happens when people think politics doesn’t matter.
3. Explain complicated political stories and concepts, following Occam’s Razor when possible.
4. Point out ways for you to get involved in politics either at the local, state or federal level.
5. Provide commentary on matters ancillary to politics in fields such as pop culture, education or finance.
6. Express my artistic side which may not intersect with political, cultural, educational or other similar matters.
I know that I have not always fulfilled these purposes.
Sometimes, I waited too long to make a post and the moment for commentary passes. Other times, I was unable to ‘break it down’ as one of my high school teachers liked to say. I have had a tendency become too theoretical and miss the practical aspects of politics, which help make us effective citizens rather than political encyclopedias.
It’s been almost 8 years since I started blogging. That’s hard to believe. Now that I have a decent bit of experience, I want to hit the above purposes as much as possible.
The anniversary of the January 6th insurrection instilled a greater urgency in me. For too long the United States has taken its political systems for granted.
As President Ronald Reagan said:
“Freedom is never more than one generation from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children what it was once like in the United States when men were free.”
Reagan used freedom specifically, but I believe the quote holds up if we substitute a variety of concepts such as domestic stability, representation, law and order, etc.
These concepts are often the rarest of species.
In my own small way, I will work to prevent their extinction.
I hope you’re with me.