Ever wondered about the area about politics that makes it so ideal and pristine, Ethics. As it turns out, the very first philosopher to ever suggest the relationship between politics and ethics was the famous Chinese philosopher Confucius who emphasized personal and governmental morality. As we all know, most governments are founded on a set of rules or laws that have been refined and revised throughout that specific country’s history. The great civilizations of the ancient times such as the Egyptians and the Maya’s have their forms of governance patterned after nature and that in nature there is a supreme being that makes all things happen. This supreme being (which is embodied by a king or other form of ruler) can and has the right to revise and formulate laws as they see fit based on either personal preferences and historical facts (which is the written or oral history of the race or tribe which states or defines the role of the leader) however long the said culture might have existed. These cultures may have come and gone but their influence and views on how the world, life and self-governance happens is history. The English, French and other major civilizations of Medieval times went through several upheavals in government because of corruption and other related matters. The Greeks began the study of philosophy as part of their quest in understanding the why, what, where and who’s of life. Why did the sun set at night, why do the flowers bloom during spring and many other questions people might ponder about were thought of an explanation collectively by scholars and philosophers of the day.

Confucius is recognized worldwide as a philosopher whose works and theories have shaped the lives and governments of many Asian civilizations. His work in linking ethics (which is the study of how one should behave in relation to others) and Politics (which is the institution of governance) and how these two should begin at the personal level. The Romans have recognized the principle and was said to be one of the reasons why people got to the Senate. To be a good responsible citizen who is part of society, one must become part of the senate to show he has nothing to hide. This is true but man has a way of twisting and turning history and faith using it for personal benefit which can be seen as far back as recorded history can remember. Much of the works of the great philosophical fathers such as Socrates is known only through the writings of his student Plato who is also a philosopher who might have changed a few thoughts as he reviews and records them in writing. History is written memory of people and cultures that have long gone and much of our lives today will become the history of tomorrow. As the great Confucius would have put it, how have you lived today and what have you contributed to society. The good of the many, greatly outweighs the good of the one.

There have been many wars that the US has engaged in during the short span since the second world war. Vietnam, the liberation of Kuwait, invasion of Iraq and many more. Many of their enemies such as these terrorists whom they blame for the crashing of planes and subsequent demise of the twin towers, the World Trade Center (which was already targeted once from which they same was done by the same people so you would think they would have learned) and the deaths of many. These terrorists have capitalized on one thing that has led to many defeats such as the Black Hawk Down Incident in Somalia when they conducted a so-called flash raid to capture several key rebel leaders which ended in one of their most humiliating defeats since Vietnam, the leave no man behind policy.

This may have to do more of the moral implications and the opinions of their constituents when their fallen are left in the battlefield to be humiliated again and again by the enemy (and very much publicized by the ever present media who go where no media people have gone before capitalizing on the desecration and humiliation of dead people who should have otherwise been left alone out of respect and should be seen only by authorities and not the general public due to their graphic nature) Media has become an ever present entity on the battlefield which has given us front row seats in the bombing of the Iraqi capital in the “Shock and Awe Campaign”  (which also showed the first images of the smart-bombs or should we call them not-so-smart bombs that hit some unwanted targets causing some collateral damage(which could also have been the result of the Iraqi army lobbing shells at their own people making it look as if the smart-bombs missed). The morality being missed as they clamor to be the first to get there and break the news, in their never ending quest to bring the news(good or bad) straight to your TV as you are sitting down to eat dinner after a long hard day’s work The Military have had a policy of getting all their personnel out dead or alive as soon as possible to avoid a turning of tides at home where families can start complaining to the government that their son’s and daughter’s who went to war were not returned to them for a formal and decent burial which can have disastrous effects on their morale and the government’s political opponents agenda to use against it.

These are totally unrelated areas of study in philosophy yet they are somewhat similar due to their aim, the study of force. Politics is the study of how political force in relation to the general public and Legal Law is the study of how to best laws can be used to achieve social and political aims. The two are often mixed and used in conjunction with each other because of this simple truth. Legal Philosophy determines or studies, which laws are better, and whether this one or that is better for all or that if this law should even be followed at all due to underlying circumstances that might substantiate invalidity. It tries to explain the relationship of social factors and human nature in a balanced outcome deciding that the outcome would be best for all. Political philosophy on the other hand is defined by the development of a government as it evolves into its current state. Meaning the development of the political structure of a country is highly dependent on which political system it has been based upon and how it’s people have reacted to those systems deciding which is best to apply. True to this, many governments and political figures muddle and try to erase the fine line in order to justify their acts. Those acts then elicit response from the public and the legalities of such actions are questioned further muddling the distinctions. Politics should always follow a certain limit and so does the legal system so instead of focusing on these personal political agenda that they try to substantiate by using the law. Politics and religion for example should always be separated due to a never-ending battle that would ensue. Governments are formed and maintained by the legal system and they should share a common goal which is to represent the society for which they represent in their best interests and not their own.

The Genome project has been an ongoing research program that has many critics due tot he possible implications such research may bring about. True to this, the identification of certain genes that may give a person more chances of being violent and others are raising the possibility of a genetic testing that may bring about discrimination. Other issues such as the area of stem cell research which could bring about cloning of humans (which in my opinion is already underway) making the movie 6th Day a reality with more than one version of yourself around to do your work.
Many ethical issues are rising form the research that have stemmed from the study of the human genome, and some philosophers have seen this as the move by man to become GOD. Manipulating genes to make better crops and animals, making them more productive and hardier to disease and other natural problems may have us dealing with artificial life that was created in a test tube or Petri dish in a few years time. Many have benefited from genetic engineering of rice that has resulted in higher yielding crops that are hardier to disease and better to withstand the wrath of nature. Mother Nature has been running the show till man decided he could get one good trait from one plant and give that to another plant with another great gene to make a totally new variety of plant that is better than both parents. This process normally happens naturally but man is meddling with matters that may become his end. The concerns about GMO’s are rising and people are not quite sure what they’re eating.
Medical experts say it’s bad to eat GMO’s but how do we feed the world which is growing by the millions each year. The rice shortage of the past few months highlights the need for more productive crops in order to feed the population of this earth. Domesticated animals thrive only with human care and medicine that boosts their immunity allowing them to ward of disease and other pests. The balance between need and the real world is a very thin line and the world of biogenetics has managed to keep up till man himself became alarmed at the implications of the things that he has invented. We are truly in a dilemma today regarding what side to choose, natural or manipulated and there may be too little we can do in the case for the law is supply and demand. What people wants, people get and at whatever cost.

That is a question each and every parent asks every time their kids go to school, or do they. The gun related incidents in several US schools and elsewhere around the world, have prompted legislation that makes gun ownership a bit tad harder but there are always loopholes as the incidents themselves have shown. Guns have been in the blood of all Americans since the Constitution includes a phrase that states, each and every American had the right to bear arms and it was interpreted literally as is. Gun control which has been in place ever since crooks started to tote guns and so law enforcers had to catch up and started to carry their own (for protection). Does the world need guns? Ask yourself, and you’ll say no but get involved or have somebody you know involved in gun related incidents and you’ll suddenly have a change of heart (most probably).
All of us have been exposed to a society that has been made and shaped by weapons of all shapes and sizes and all of them were invented for self-preservation from other humans. Guns is a way of saying don’t mess with me or I’ll mess with you and it’s not a very comforting idea to see one in public for it always raises your blood pressure at mere sight. The US has had a long and hard history of gun related violence and so has the rest of the world but the basic and main idea of bearing arms has been lost in translation so to speak in all the violence and crime that has been related to and blamed on these weapons of choice. They are small, deadly and easy to carry so what else could you ask for in a personal protection measure, others carrying the same weapons! Paranoia is the game and if society cannot deal with the problem, then should we allow society to take care of itself by allowing everybody to carry guns? You be the Judge!

 Inequality in this world is present in all levels such as is Africa and other third world countries that have to meet requirements and specifications set by more developed countries to consider them getting into a healthy economic relationship. Many countries suffer from such differences and none is more evident in the dark continent where most of the inhabitants fight daily battles to survive. Governments along with NGO’s work hand in hand to bring aid to these countries in hopes of alleviating the human suffering, but the question remains if we should even be meddling in the affairs of others. Some say we should and some say we shouldn’t which is debated in the political circles of this day and age. Governments spend billions in aid only to have them used for political and financial gain preventing those who need them from getting the help they deserve. The argument continues such as the recent article or series of articles done by a BBC investigative team regarding democracy and the implications it has on the next generation of constituent’s say of CHINA who have always lived under the communist form of government. Many countries have huge military arsenals yet their constituents continue to suffer without food and proper housing. India and Pakistan have military might but a quick trip to the slums shows the huge need for development on the humanitarian side of things. Many other nations still exist under monarchial rule without much focus on their ability to govern and enforce the mandate given by their respective governments. World society has defined tyranny or self rule by an individual to be counter-productive yet it still exists (maybe because they are some of the most prosperous and richest nations in the world). Taking the call or doing something to help others in built into all human beings but the question is in the what, how and where one can make a difference effectively. Others who have done so have simply given up due to the ineffectiveness of their actions, yet others continue even after disappointment. This is the true human spirit of helping others in our quest for an explanation for our existence on this earth. Sit back and ask yourself what you have been able to do for your fellow man in your life and then you can see what you have to do for tomorrow. It might not be much help but the many volunteers do make a difference. Doctors, nurses and others donate time and skills to make a difference in places where even the basic care do not exist. So the conclusion is that inaction is the enemy but caution and drive is what truly defines the true human in the true human spirit of things. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all.

Education is the key and this applies not only to the US, but for all people around the world who are only now beginning to get a taste of how good democracy and freedom is. China’s older generation is void of such concepts but the events of the past five or six years where the government has accepted more liberal ideas allowing free trade fueling it’s breakneck economic boom placing it before the laws that are widely accepted around the world. Many see China as the biggest market on the earth which has credence for they have 1.3 Billion citizens and it is just about opening up to the world of trade and products from the country is beginning to flood world markets. Here too, the rapid economic growth of the several economic regions in China has spurred unlikely problems like their habit of cutting corners in order to increase profits to the use of sub-standard materials in the manufacture of products for export abroad. Recalls of various products which have been found to contain dangerous amounts of poisonous chemicals contained within paints and other finishing products (even toothpaste that is laced with trace amounts of anti-freeze chemicals) have led to many arrests and rapid changes to the government’s governance regarding products standards. These manufacturers are simply not used to following rules and do whatever it takes to deliver finished products which have resulted in deaths and health problems mainly in children who have used such products.

China faces many hurdles to become a more open and transparent state but being a socialist state may be one of it’s main obstacles. The government hopes to increase profits in terms of economic growth but another aspect of that society that has ruled the country which is human rights has repeatedly failed world standards. The education system of China has also been forced to adopt more open curricula such as the teaching of democracy which is a word banned from the verbal repertoire of many generations of Chinese in times past. The population might be finding it hard to adopt a more open world but this might be the only way for China to continue its growth and evolution into one of the world’s greatest economic powers. The next ten years will be the determining period if the growth in its economy will continue or the drive will simply crumble and fail into oblivion.

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.