Perception of Politics in the United States

Perception of Politics in the United StatesAre you happy with the United States political environment right now? PewResearch says that 77% of Americans are not. Aristotle was a great Greek philosopherand he thought of politics as The center for human debate and theory. Do the citizensof the United States value politics in the same way Aristotle envisioned? As humans ofthe world, politics should be a safe place where tough decisions are made by thepeople. Political issues should be discussed in the open, with ethics at the forefront. Atthe end of reading this, you will translate why politics should be focuse on ethics,and the issues should be good dilemmas that we can all allot need to be fixed.The modern word political is derived from the Greek word politikos. The Greeksbelieved that politics, religion, and culture were intertwined. Greekcitystates, likecapital of Greece and Sparta, architected their infrastructure after this idea. Creating townepicenters where political debate c ould take place as theatre, and fond events couldbe held to discuss honest issues. Aristotle believed that politics should be used as apractical science, enriching all citizens lives in a transparent way. Aristotles ideasabout politics formed the foundation of todays Political Scientists. Political Science is astudy of the tasks a politician must undertake. Put yourself in the shoes of a politicalscientist How hard are the problems that politicians are responsible for today? Howwould you intimate them to function those problems? These critical questions must be asked by the citizens of the United States in order to empathize with politicians, and ultimately progress as a country.To help myself understand what the current perception of politics in America, Iasked members of my family two questions 1) What is your perception of politics in theUnited States? 2) Regardless of that perception, what things would you change aboutpolitics in the United States? My case of the family is very right wing, republican, and protrump. My wifes side is very left wing, democrat, and pro Obama. The range of answersI received was wide, but they broadly speaking had a common theme America is doing just fine, but we hope fair treatment and inclusion for all citizens.Lets start with the first question. Right side responses were mostly positive,stating that the country is trending upwards and things actually getting done bypoliticians. Left side responses were positive as well, stating that government has agood system of checks and balances in place, but that it is being tested. Both sideshave an overall positive view of our country. I did have outlier responses however. One family member who identifies as a republican utter their current perception of politics iscorruption and intolerance. They would like to see transparency and accountability foractions taken by government officials. Another family member who identifies asdemocrat noted that their current perception of po litics has not changed almost theirentire life, no matter the president. They advocated for the importance of localgovernment and the affect it has on our lives.The responses to the flake question were much farther from each other on theright and left. Right side responses mainly focused on term limits for all politicians. Theywant a constant cycle of politicians so that we dont have career politicians, and so thatwe can have a steady turnover and broad representation. Left side responses variedfrom each other. One member saying they wouldnt change anything because we haveadequate checks and balances in place to handle problems. Another memberadvocating for citizens proactivity in politics, wanting to make it a holiday on electiondays, and encourage people to get involved in local government.These responses to my inquiries are interesting. During their interviews, mostfamily members stated that they want the division between our country fixed. Itsinteresting that the overall theme of their responses was similar. Maybe if we all took anapproach similar to what Aristotle suggests, making politics the center of our culturallives, we would be able to understand each other better, and put aside socialdifferences to focus on ethical issues. Social Issues divide the country ethical issues merge us all.Ethics is defined as moral principles that govern a persons behavior or theconducting of an activity. Political issues usually come in two distinct types Ethical, orSocial. Social issues are things like Should we give more funding to inner cityschools? or Would incentivizing diverse business hires improve our economy?.Whereas ethical issues are things like Do we need to act on climate change? orShould women be allowed to choose when they receive an abortion?. The differenceis just now this Ethical issues deal with what is right, Social issues deal with improving aspecific part of society. Are you starting to understand why Aristotle says that Ethicsshould be the ne rve centre of politics?Aristotle wanted politics to be used for the happiness of man, he says Thescience that studies the supreme good for man, is politics (Living Ethics, 92). TheSupreme Good is often referred to as ethics in todays culture. Aristotle believed thatethical issues should be the center of politics. I believe if we focus on ethics andcombine cultural aspects into local political discussion, the social issues can be solvedby the people, while ethical issues could be solved by the government. Ethical issuesare usually the most debated problems. Some examples of ethical issues today arePoverty, Education, Immigration, Sentencing, Environment, and Climate Change. Bothleft and right politics have strong views on how these ethical dilemmas should behandled, but both sides agree that they are in fact problems that need to be addressed.What do you want from government? As a citizen of the United States, I wantgovernment to solve ethical problems while taking input from citizen representatives. Asa member of society, I would like to see more social outreach and involvement fromeveryone so that we whitethorn come together to solve social issues. As humans of the world,politics should be a safe place where tough decisions are made by the people. Politicalissues should be discussed in the open, with ethics at the forefront. Aristotle believed inthis, and so do the citizens of the United States today.