What is the Political?

The neological word I often use for describing aggregated political forces.

November 30, 2003

1990s: As Golden Age?: I'm trying to find the great economy everybody was talking about in the 1990s...

Clean Gene is Dead: Some passing memories on the death of Euegene McCarthy.

Clinton in Coxscakie: Hillary came to town to ralley Democrats around Gillibrand.

Cuomo on the Mohawk: The man from Guy Park Place has yet to decide to run.

Dick Cheney: Shotgun Bandit: What Cheney's shotgun accident means to all Americans, gun owning or not.

Getting Health Insurance: How many desire to get low-cost insurance changed my plans.

Governing with Accountablity: Andrew has two visions on what accountablity is really about.

It's Time to Honor America: Beyond politics, there is a lot to like about America.

NO to Impeachment: Impeaching the President is a waste of time.

Ohio: Updating Neil Yong's lyrics for contemporary events.

On Car Insurance and Autobody Shops: The system that keeps you paying without getting anything in return.

On National ID Cards: Discussing the evil national ID cards.

Our Cowboy President: You don't have to like the President's policies to respect his sense of moral responsiblity.

Poem: Bureaucratic Memorandum: Trying to make sense of the memorandum and corporate decision making process.

Poem: It's 2006: The future seems not to come for man.

Respect President Bush: Not agreeing with the President doesn't make him evil.

Senator Paul Wellstone is Dead: Andrew is still shocked at the news of the death of man who was becoming one of the great Senators of the '00s.

The Blackout Blame Game: In continuing my series on blaming the right people, I try to look beyond the hype and mistakes of the media in covering the blackout.

Those Extra Twenty Hours: Brought to you by the same people who denied you national health care.

Undocumented Immigrants and Farms: Why the real solution to the illegal immigration is changing how we subsidize our farmers and not criminalizing or legalizing guest workers.

Why Modern Politics are Ill: Commentary on the ills of politics, and the need for activism.

Why the Democratic Stimulus Package Works: The proposed tax cuts by Republicans fail to provide adquate stimulus for sectors of the economy that need it the most.

What is the Political?

It has come to my attention that people are often annoyed by my use of the word 'political' as a definitive object. I see often see politics as more then just something that happens in Albany or Washington DC, a force that exists to control our lives and decide how we want to run them.

You can't escape politics as they effect all relations that involve jockeying for position, coercion, and ultimately power. Humans are naturally political, and everything from the classroom to farming is subject to politics.

The net effect of all this politics is the political. You can argue that such diverse institutions and their political practices ought not to be grouped together, but that ignores the fact that power and coercion exists through such organizations.

Maybe I should avoid using such neo-logic terms in the future. People unfamiliar with Carl Schmidt's work would have never heard the term, and would think my reference is kind of strange. We need a way to look at all political forces as an aggregate.