Sold Out by Our Pols
By accident of its inclusion in a new edition of the anthology which I was using this past spring for my political philosophy course, I happened for the first time on the classic essay by Max Weber, founder of modern sociology, Politics as Vocation:
http://www.ne.jp/asahi/moriyuki/abukuma/weber/lecture/politics_vocation.html
In it Weber contrasts the civil service traditions of various countries dedicated to the public interest with the sellouts by their elected politicians bent on getting themselves reelected and thereby holding on to their incomes/power.
Weber's essay was published shortly before his death in 1920 and anticipated sadly the horrors that would follow with the rise of the Axis powers and the global devastation rent by WW2.
One watches, then, with disgust our British/American pols' folly in granting full speed ahead sanctions for Israel's assault on Lebanon -- and the price that will be paid for it with the loss of the possibility for us to negotiate in good faith peace in the troubled Middle East. Our pols are doing Israel no favor. It is all too apparent that their focus is upon getting themselves reelected down the line rather than working for a peaceful resolution of the conflict. How hollow and pitiful are their hypocritical verbal ejaculations.
Needless to say the Israelis, Lebanese, and Palestinians, as well as their neighboring states, deserve far better from us. This draft dodging baby boomer generation leaves me sick to my stomach as I recollect the sacrifices that so many made during WW2 in hopes of establishing a truly new world order in which peace, prosperity, human rights and the rule of law would shape our common futures. Shame on our elected representatives for their cheap words and cowardly behavior.
--
"A war is just if there is no alternative, and the resort to arms is legitimate if they represent your last hope." (Livy cited by Machiavelli)
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Ed Kent 718-951-5324 (voice mail only) [blind copies]
http://BlogByEdKent.blogspot.com/
http://www.bloggernews.net
http://www.ne.jp/asahi/moriyuki/abukuma/weber/lecture/politics_vocation.html
In it Weber contrasts the civil service traditions of various countries dedicated to the public interest with the sellouts by their elected politicians bent on getting themselves reelected and thereby holding on to their incomes/power.
Weber's essay was published shortly before his death in 1920 and anticipated sadly the horrors that would follow with the rise of the Axis powers and the global devastation rent by WW2.
One watches, then, with disgust our British/American pols' folly in granting full speed ahead sanctions for Israel's assault on Lebanon -- and the price that will be paid for it with the loss of the possibility for us to negotiate in good faith peace in the troubled Middle East. Our pols are doing Israel no favor. It is all too apparent that their focus is upon getting themselves reelected down the line rather than working for a peaceful resolution of the conflict. How hollow and pitiful are their hypocritical verbal ejaculations.
Needless to say the Israelis, Lebanese, and Palestinians, as well as their neighboring states, deserve far better from us. This draft dodging baby boomer generation leaves me sick to my stomach as I recollect the sacrifices that so many made during WW2 in hopes of establishing a truly new world order in which peace, prosperity, human rights and the rule of law would shape our common futures. Shame on our elected representatives for their cheap words and cowardly behavior.
--
"A war is just if there is no alternative, and the resort to arms is legitimate if they represent your last hope." (Livy cited by Machiavelli)
--
Ed Kent 718-951-5324 (voice mail only) [blind copies]
http://BlogByEdKent.blogspot.com/
http://www.bloggernews.net
posted by Ed Kent at 4:52 PM
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