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Chapter One  Nouveau Political Science

Suppose political science was defined as the study of politics, reduced to its fundamental or elemental particles, and compounds, and finally the forces that control the interactions between them. The elemental particles would be citizens, lawyers, lobbyists, legislators, executives, judges, administrators, and civil servants. The compounds would be the bodies politic, such as legislatures, the executive branch with its vast array of administrative machines, the courts with citizen juries, and political parties of all sorts. The forces are laws.

Next suppose that in the discipline of political science we were able to factor out all the prejudice, preferences, perceptions and misperceptions, political bias, and the irrational influences of political parties. Excised would be the misconceptions caused by media misinformation, educational mythology, and the distortion of political rhetoric. Suppose reason could be substituted for the prejudgments we have held since youth. The psychological inertia of long held convictions about this party or that, and the unquestioned economic “verities” we long held as truths could be exposed as mere half-truths of little use. They would simply fall away from consideration. By exercise of reason, we would have nothing but pure political science.

Political Science would now become the cold reasoned dispassionate study of the forces that control these “elements” and “compounds”. This study, properly done would simply be a study of fundamental truths or principles upon which all citizens, regardless of political party, can agree.

For example, Aristotle, in his book titled Politics, made three memorable statements, upon which all can agree. He told us:


 * 1)  The proper “business” of government is to create justice for its citizens
 * 2)  That a government that does not create justice shall not long stand
 * 3)  That justice is a specie of equality: equal rights for equal citizens

Because governments are judged by its citizens on its ability to create an environment for prosperity for those who care to make meaningful efforts towards productivity, let us look closely at the activities of those in charge of our governments; federal, state, and local. We find today our governance has become simply the creation, enforcement, and sale of economic privileges to any person or organization that cares to bid for them. Allowing our politicos to sell privileges creates problems.

The first problem with grants of economic privileges is that they act to destroy our national prosperity. Here is how. There exists a privilege/opportunity equilibrium: each privilege government creates diminishes, ever so slightly, the liberties and opportunities of all the remaining citizens of that society. When these privileges are economic privileges the consequences of these grants over time become enormous. Economic opportunities end up in the hands of a few successful bidders, usually the corporate “citizens”. The consequence of grants of economic privilege is that we have allowed our politicos to destroy our middle class. Notice the decline in jobs and paychecks. Look at the dreadful erosion of pensions and savings. Look at the paucity of jobs for our children, and the paltry pay packets in their future. By this means we are destroying our national prosperity. These United States, used to be known around the world as the land of opportunity. Today we are merely the land of bought and sold privilege, and we lead the world in campaign contributions.

The second problem with grants of economic privileges is that makes dispensing equality an impossible job for our courts. Citizens come demanding their rights, and corporations come demanding their expensive privileges be honored. How can equality be made of this? It is irreconcilable.

The third problem with grants of economic privilege is that the act to divide, distract, frustrate, and exasperate our citizens. Invariably this leads to inequality, resentment, hostility, none of which is in the general welfare. Is it then surprising that we get the “occupy” movements, and the home grown terrorist with mass killings? Fixated with creation and sale of economic favors, our politicos have entirely forgotten the notion of civility and civics. The activities of our politicos, creating economic privileges are directly opposed to the civility our society needs to be functional. All men were create equal, and it is not for politicians to create aristocracies of politics, education, and wealth by granting privileges.