Aristotle, one of the founding fathers of modern philosophy has written many works regarding politics and his interpretation of such. In the book, Nicomachaean Ethics, Aristotle’s foundations for his political projects were based on the presumption that ethics and politics were closely related. In a sense of reverse thinking, he says that the main purpose of politics is to empower or entice citizens to become honest and empower them to do or perform noble actions. This has been greatly contested by many Western civilizations of today who see politics as a sort of undertaking based on greed and self-interest which might be true no only for these areas but anywhere else in the world.

He also defines the aim of politics in the creation of a society with high regards for moral standing. Modern politics is defined as a governance which protects us from each end every body else outside the system with the use of military and policing forces. This has normal people on one side who abide by the rules set by the political leaders and all who are against the said order to be outcasts to be protected from. Much of Aristotle’s ideals are lost in the modern world of politics with very little so-called honorable constituents going into the system to truly represent society as a whole. Some even do it for mainly personal reasons making politics a bridge to personal gain. Today’s modern society sees the kind of molding as counter productive seeing it as a form of making people think out of their own accord. Much is to be learned from the fathers of modern philosophy whose ideals and studies has given rise to all current political systems though not much is left of the ethical part of the ideals.

This saying has had a profound influence on me and the way I look at the world. We humans have a funny way of defining our goals and the measure by which we reach those goals. Some People measure their success by the amount of monetary funds that have been gathered, some by the amount of assets they have. For most of us, well we go on living day by day in utter stupor without really knowing what we want till we get there. That is human nature and human nature makes us humans dissatisfied with mostly everything making it imperative to improve anything we see.

May it be technology, wealth, assets and many other forms of measure that we tend to gauge the productivity of our daily lives. Why not try, how many people have I helped today? How many hungry mouths have I helped feed? Or even, how many old people have I helped across the road? These are the values of yesterday that must still be behind each and every one. In our search for a reason to live we must always keep in mind that we are all brothers on this earth and the\is very earth is the only planet we can call our own. Pollution as a result of development has become a critical issue for us as we cannot go anywhere else once we ruin this earth of ours.

The preservation of life on this earth is the single most important reason for our existence and all should have that in mind whatever the race, skin color, or religion. All faith’s are based on the fundamental fact that we all share this earth with each and everyone of us and that what you do today can have influence on the future of your fellow man. The trash you throw today can be the environmental disaster of tomorrow so be responsible in your daily life. In our quest to find and understand human nature and the way we think the saying might be right for we never know the results of daily life till it has passed and that life as we live it is filled with uncertainty for all of us.

As we have seen in the past posts, more and more philosophy students are finding work in the most unlikely places like manufacturing and design. Their analytic mind that questions every detail is proving to be invaluable in and out of the workplace further establishing their place. The move of industry and commerce to more philosophical approaches allows them better customer satisfaction for they look into the possible questions that are to be asked and formulate the solutions and answers into the products as they are designed minimizing the need for support and follow-up processes lowering costs. Products that speak for themselves are the best weapons of industry simplifying the support structures needed for their product base allowing development of better and more human friendly gizmo’s and gadgets. We will surely see more and more industry leaders adopting the philosophical approach to their business for unstable markets that can have the power to make or break an institution needs innovative ways to promote and make products better while lowering overhead costs considerably. The products we see today on the market are product of intensive research and developments in their functionality and lifetime which has suffered greatly in times past due to industry shaking events on the global scale that are forcing more and more business hung out to dry and close shop. Hopefully the adoption of better philosophy in their approach and outlook for the future will have an impact on their futures which applies to all scales of businesses from the smallest home based units to the biggest multi-national firms that are tackling diverse markets as they enter new market areas.

The victims of extremism ate many and widespread; orphans, widows and many more who have lost loved ones as a result of their beliefs and actions. The IRA of Britain has claimed many a lives in their quest for independence from British rule in a bid to proclaim themselves a legitimate governing body to administer their own people. The Islamic fundamentalists who are now center stage in world politics for their bold and daring attacks on people killing themselves and others of their own faith considering them as collateral damage and as acceptable casualties. They have repeatedly attacked governments in Algeria, Iraq, and elsewhere in the world just to prove their point. The influence they have on their people is so great that they have convinced them to take their own lives for the sake of belief and the promise that their sacrifice is for the common good.

Since time immemorial, there are people who have fought to maintain their sovereignty from conquering parties may they be people or governments that they have twisted and turned the definitions of their religion into one that is solely directed to killing and many other atrocities. A quick glance at news headlines from around the world would give you an idea of how great the problem is and that there may be no easy solution to such incidents. Many have demands that are considered unacceptable, or simply impossible that they go on a never ending cycle of killing and maiming innocent people. One of the most recognized extremist Adolf Hitler, used the political might of German society as a way of expressing his view of a world ruled and owned by the Aryan Race. This has resulted in the death’s of millions of people not only Jews as they waged their war against other not belonging to their race that it sparked the second world war.

Many such groups and political arms have and are still in the ranks of society that they are considered threats to not only to national security by many countries, but to world wide security as well. Fear of a new Nuclear Holocaust looms in the air as many of the world’s nuclear arsenal go missing as Soviet Russia fell and many of it’s former member cities declaring their sovereignty from the main Socialist republic founded by Joseph Stain. The threat of a so-called contaminating bombs that do not aim to result in a huge nuclear blast but to rather spread nuclear material causing massive deaths due complications of exposure to radiation from the material dispersed by the said device. This has been on the priority of governments around the world that was heightened by the attacks on America of the infamous 9/11 when many died as a result of extremist activities.

Extremism is defined by many as a form of strict adherence to laws or beliefs that takes one a step further from the rest of society. Some are considered to be conservative extremists, or those who use the fundamental bodies of study in their belief as justifications for their actions towards other people, society, government or race. They are also labeled as patriots for their aim is to uphold the basic values to which their society is founded on and uses that foundation as their motivation. There are also those who are called Political Extremists like the Extremist Islamic Network, or those who rage a war between a society based on race, color, or other factors that differentiates them from others in society. Many of these people live outside the normal behavior that most observe and turn to more violent forms of showing their adherence to their laws.

Many of these so-called Extremists have foundation in peaceful society but due to influences from people like for example in the Middle East where religion plays a central part of daily life clerics form the basis for their formation and upbringing. Many have interpreted and infused the holy books of all the religions from around the world to incite violence that many find unacceptable hence they are labeled as radicals or those who do not think normally. Many who commit these crimes to society are indiscriminate, killing not only their intended targets but many innocent civilians in the process just to prove the point that they are capable of doing so. More on this on the next post as we take a closer look at some of the most extreme actions taken by people against others in society.

Many have tried and many have failed at this endeavour. Philosophy has been defined by many and many have attempted to become the masters of philosophy. But is there a finite and true one definition of philosophy. Philosophy seems to contradict itself due to the fact that man began contepmlating about it since recorded history can recall or has records of. One philosopher says according to his extensive study into the field that this is the rational analysis of the world around us in a way that is obscure to most people on this planet.

Who else can give us a true definition of philosophy then? Academics, economists, scientists, physicists…….. you can call all forms and shapes of experts from all fields of science and they will each have a definition that they see as the absolute definition of philosophy. But when you ponder on the foundations laid thousands of years ago by the world’s earliest philosophers there is no one true definition. Even after dedicating their whole lives to the study of philosophy you would still have a different view of what it is. This is why it is so difficult to define, ask a fool on what it means and he might say, ” I do not know”, but that statement is in a way an application of the fundamental theories of philosophy. Information is knowledge, knowledge and power and people in power are fools for they think they become something above everything else void of the shortcomings and failures that makes us human. Thinking that having all the knowledge in the world under your belt gives you the knowledge and thus power to say that others are wrong in their perception of philosophy is a true fallacy indeed for all of us who are part of the human race is what philosophy is all about. The science of trying to understand an individual who is different from everybody else around him thus indefinable.

So Philosophy has no one true meaning, and that any definition can be either true or false. Maybe that’s why the father’s of philosophy were treated as fools and ridiculed as such. For asking questions that only fools did and tried to make sense of the world. Maybe that’s the true meaning of philosophy, strip yourself of all the things that makes you, yourself and you might, you might just be able to define it definitely. But after that, nobody would be interested in what you say for you are now a nobody and nobody listens to nobody’s.

Ponder that……

Being the man in charge of the most powerful nation on earth is not an easy feat indeed, it entails endless hours debating and pondering the lives and future of millions of people. Sleepless nights and making decisions, tough decisions that can make or break the country for the player it is on the global scene. Many US presidents have been criticized and scorned for their foreign and national policies but it all falls into history and who hasn’t been. Almost all politicians have somebody who hates their ways and that goes to say for most American Presidents of past. America being a melting pot of several cultures has had to politically deal with such critical issues as racism and other very volatile situations. The running of Obama for the presidency was seen by many as a step into the unknown but he began as a “likable” enough character that the American public stopped and listened.
Scandals with his church, policy and many bent words have put him under fire from the left and right but his overall indifference to the war in Iraq and other issues has begun to sway many supporters to take a second look at him and his overall policy making abilities. His opponents see him as an inexperienced lawmaker with policy suggestions that border on the insane (like his words of getting to sit down and negotiate with IRAN and other countries past presidents have considered to be terrorist supporters or just plain and simple enemies). Many do question his ability if ever he wins the elections (which would be a first as the first black president of the proud American Nation) both politically and personally to lead. He started with remarks of ending the war in Iraq which has taxed heavy on the American economy and the many lives that have been lost.
His abilities remain to be seen but he started out as a breath of fresh air but down the line has become just one of the guys, after the presidency as a political leader. Nobody knows what the elections would bring but one things for sure, the public is in need of a fresh face and a strong figure at the helm to lead them in the coming years as America reels form the effects of the troubled global economy.

That is a tough one for only you can answer that question which has been seen with much confusion. He truly is a breath of fresh air yet the stance he takes or the words he uses is riddled with more questions than answers he has managed to provide. Hillary concedes and he takes the helm for the party but many are still undecided at whether he can indeed make a difference in today’s troubled economic times. The process of electing a leader for a country has never been so complicated as with the most powerful nation on earth. The US has become the one and only remaining Superpower in the arena of military and financial might (though that’s fast diminishing) but many within the country are beginning to take a step back and are asking the same questions to themselves, are Americans ready for Obama?
Not being racial, but he is black and the US has never had a black president which has a reason. We all know of discrimination and while it may be a thing of the past, many Americans still face the question that would they want to have a black president representing them in the global political scene in a country that has had deep traditions in politics and economics that mostly if not always favors whites? Getting racial, the question is riddled with truth and reality for no black candidate or even political opponent has managed to survive the campaign trail as much as Obama has. He has made mistakes yet who hasn’t, he’s said words he wishes he hasn’t said but who hasn’t.
Politics is the one front which is very deeply rooted in tradition, history and other socioeconomic factors that it fails to grasp definition. Experts say this and then that but they still cannot say for sure if all Americans want change and if the change is to come with Obama? It may be a good time for change yet not too good? That question would be answered when the ballots are tallied and the proclamation is made but tomorrow is a new day and hopefully it comes as a better one that the one today is shaping up to be.
“Today I’m thinking about yesterday, By tomorrow, I’ll be ready for today!!”

Somebody is always a victim and somebody is always the perpetrator and that is what the world has become after all the time we have evolved and developed. All the knowledge in the world cannot bring about total peace for the world is made up of individuals who is as unique as all the particles that makes up the universe. Then why bother at explaining the truth and the false if it all comes down to ineffective sciences and bodies of knowledge? Reason and existence is one of the main ideas that keeps us all alive and well in this world of disarray and indifference.
While most of us never bother with the nuances and details, life as we know it is based on bodies of thought that have been passed on from generation to generation and from people to people. Some people like dogs as pets while some see them as a means of passage into manhood. Some see guns as the only solution while the rest of us see it as merely the problem. everybody has his or her own view of what the world should be and is to be and that is what makes the total definition and explanation of peace so vague and impossible to fathom. Some like birth control while some hate it as it is against the teachings of the Church. In an economic standpoint, it is a solution for it allows the most amount of resources for less people who wold otherwise be impoverished and claiming benefits form their governments who are now straining to maintain control. Some like Obama while some like McCain, the differences go on and on and on and so does the need for explanation.
Humans have a knack for complaining yet we have survived for millions of years with or without these socioeconomic conditions that we so rely on. We survive whatever the calamity or global conditions and that is what I like about us, all the differences and yet we still manage to find some reason for existence however different it may be. That’s humanity at work and hopefully it’ll continue on workin’ for sometime to come (if we don’t kill ourselves that is).

Ever since the dastardly act of people who wanted to become famous and give credence for their cause (who were responsible for 9-11 among some), Islam has received a ton of accusations as being the promoter of violence and death all over the world. Throw into the mix a little of the Communist ideals and you have a world that is in turmoil that could end at the press of a button somebody else made and designed for some utterly futile purpose (the end of all life on earth). Is this hatred well founded on fact, of is it another mere manifestation of the problems the US and the rest of the developed world has been suffering as their respective societies have become so confused about their national identity?
In the US, discrimination has been in existence ever since people started to flock there as the land of opportunity and promise. Where certain individuals foster hatred towards others who are not like them, them being physically and ideologically different from themselves. If that is the case, then discrimination has never left the land of the Free and the Brave as many incidents of racial discrimination has shown. China, another of the remaining Cold War super powers has been maintaining their control over their people to some extent whilst their gusto of the cash that flows from the West. Suppressing and controlling all and everything they choose as they have since they became a Communist state.
Iran has defied the world which is represented by their total defiance at efforts to bring their nuclear technology to standards and disclosure that is at par with widely accepted standards. With them acknowledging the fact that they have the ability to use their weapons should they be threatened or attacked fuels speculation that they have been working under the radar of world monitoring agencies with regards to their nuclear program.
Islam and Molsems are merely victims of a world in constant turmoil that makes itself visible as one under control. In truth, there is no single governing body that has control over anything and everyone that can say it has everything under control. So why do we claim and say that everything’s fine and normal? to give each other a sense of order and peace that is the arena which philosophy tends to fill in. The body of thought gives life a purpose and a reason to exist hence the need to study humanity and the ways by which it has survived past times. Its a very vague yet necessary task, to give the rest of us a sense of control and meaning that defies all other explanations, explaining the unexplained and unexplainable. Why does the rest of humanity hate something they do not understand? That’s the question and not the answer so start pondering.