Political Ideology vs. Post-political Reality: LIMITS to POLITICS

Political systems, as man-made structures, have their intrinsic limitations, as does the political mindset. Modern Government, by its nature is a both a legal mechanism and a political ecosystem, subject to a multiplicity of inputs and externalities. In broader perspective, governments are usually reflective of their respective national cultures in fairly large measure unless externally imposed or otherwise influenced under critical, chaotic or catastrophic conditions. (1) Consequently, they are limited by the range of their fluid cultural assumptions (forms) and have a finite lifespan, as concrete civilization (substance) ultimately progresses according to said assumptions to their end points. (2)

Further consideration leads to precursors of a transition state to new cultural forms for the 21st Century and beyond. (3)

At present, most modern governments (across the entire democratic –to- totalitarian spectrum) take a more or less tripartite constitutional republican form of executive, legislative and judicial branches, with various levels of a de facto regulatory “fourth branch” bureaucracy nominally under the executive branch, exhibiting increasing autarky in direct proportion to regulatory technicality. Post-modern levels of scale, complexity, intensity and depth clearly indicate that not all problems are directly politically solvable within the theoretical limitations of the 3-D state-system, given their fundamental multi-dimensionality. Furthermore, not all problems are predominantly legal or political in nature. In reality, other factors and dimensions, per force, assume equal if not greater importance and bearing (i.e.: Economics, Science and Communications) in a surrounding atmosphere of Culture – the latter, itself ungovernable.

Culture, in a given society is also described and influenced by its component subcultures in various degrees of conflict or co-existence. This, in turn yields a net measure of its polarity, stability and sustainability. (3) In special interest dominated political systems, the underlying truth is all too often obscured by political ideology and its attendant mass communication, based predominantly on control theory instead of inspiration and resonance. Ideology as a pre-conceived worldview to be imposed upon a given body politic – as distinct from an essential idea, adopted on its own universal merit. Ideology solidified as (civilizational) dogma is inherently antithetical to and should not be confused with fluid Ideals as insight and inspiration in their (cultural) incipience.

The United States of America was founded upon a greater practical economic necessity that in turn was supported by preexisting germs of the idea of individual freedom in the face of abuse of autocratic monarchical power in the twilight of a preindustrial, largely agrarian, semi-feudal mercantile age; progressively exhausted by the limitations of its colonial cultural assumptions. The socio-economic situation virtually demanded a new paradigm of individual Liberty in the face of State Power. Consequently, the new keys to a higher level of knowledge (consciousness) were defined in the theoretical / practical framework of the Declaration of Independence, and various state constitutions.

Accordingly, the US Constitution, as the political culmination of the Age of Enlightenment was the paradigm for modern government over dynastic monarchal/parliamentary systems just as the paradigm of Newtonian Physics supplanted Aristotelian Physics. Naturally, there are limitations inherent in drawing reductionistic analogies of physics to highly emergent social systems and caution is in order. However, the general principle of paradigm shifts applies to political systems, as it does to scientific systems. (4) Ergo, there can be no fundamental institutional power shift without a prior paradigm shift. (5)

The founding of the United States was in essence, a political paradigm shift in the context of a newly emergent national culture of individual liberty, based upon insurgent visionary ideals. Political ideology emerged later as the Republic reached a subsequent stage of development after the battles were won. Bear in mind that the current ruling Democratic and Republican parties historically had nothing to do with birth of the American nation-state, as they did not exist at the time of the American Revolution, nor did political parties exist formally in the late Colonial Period. (6) In fact, George Washington served two terms as our first President, unaffiliated with any political party and he warned the nation of the potential for mischief if partisan politics was to get out of hand. The ruling Democratic and Republican parties emerged in the mid 19th Century, supplanting the Whigs and the Federalists (who reached the limits of their politico-cultural assumptions). Thus, the evolutionary cycle is set.

As previously stated, the conventional political approach is a mono-dimensional attempt at governing multi-dimensional reality as most problems are not solely political and legal in nature. Post-modern society is also governed by complex interactive extra-governmental economic, scientific, technological, environmental and cultural factors. Just as technology accelerates significantly beyond the wisdom to use it, government administration and legislation lag behind science and business by decades. This implies a form of what can legitimately be termed as “metagovernment”. (7)

Fast forward to the present levels of massive government, skyrocketing national debt, abuse of state power, official corruption and ineptitude, economic stagnation and increasing international tensions in atmosphere of pseudo-elite special interest domination of the public sector at public expense; and the stage is set for a new paradigm, based on reality, instead of ideology. Increasing numbers of people sense that politics as usual is increasingly less relevant to their daily lives, hence, there is a need for a more post-political paradigm.

1. Reassertion of popular sovereignty over special interest groups in governmental affairs in the greater public interest.
2. Establishment of a more rational and sustainable economic, scientific and ethically based approach to problem solving and government administration.
3. Elimination of excessive and counter-productive bureaucratic apparatus through procedural simplification.
4. Diffusion of power.

While the cultural assumptions of strictly legal/political formal governmental systems have been nearly exhausted, the wisdom of individual liberty in the face of state power endures. It is ultimately up to the People to reassert it in the next step of cultural evolution that replaces the politics of fear, greed, polarization, disinformation, dominance and exclusion with a more open, innovative, and cooperative solutions-oriented system based on constructive development of human potential.

NOTES:

(1) In cases when government reaches sufficient mass and intensity it posits or imposes a form of dogmatic (ideologically-driven) state culture (an inherent contradiction in terms), usually with disastrous results in proportion to its degree of totalitarianism. The situation is complicated by personality cults. According to Friederich Nietzsche, states that are politically strong are usually culturally weak nations, while nations that are politically weak are culturally strong. This raises questions on manifestations of excessive statism as symptomatic of social decay.

(2) Moise Naim, in his recent book, Limits to Power, elaborates on the political state’s increasing ineffectiveness in dealing with major problems associated with non-state actors such as terrorists, pirates, drug smugglers, human traffickers, etc., despite massive government expansion.

(3) For a detailed discussion of culture in relation to civilization, see: Oswald Spengler: Decline of the West. [Untergang des Abendlandes]. We can a consider a “Second Law of Cultural Thermodynamics” [NvB]

(4) Thomas Kuhn elaborates on the conceptual/theoretical advancement of science through discovery of paradigms as keys to new fundamental knowledge instead of strictly incremental linear progress in The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. The Modern (quantum – relativistic) and Post-quantum (Super String Theory) paradigms have subsequently succeeded Newtonian Physics.

(5) National cultures form elements of greater regional transnational cultures (Eastern, Western, etc.,) according to various classification systems.

(6) There were distinct and divergent politico-philosophical affinity groups, extant prior to the American Revolution. Specifically in Delaware, they were known as the “Cosmopolitans” in New Castle and northern Kent Counties and the “Localists” in southern Kent and Sussex Counties in a sort of North/South (commercial/agrarian) economic divide that continues to the present day.

(7) W. Baumgart: Metagovernment (1976), Essay. While the term was coined originally in the context of analysis of latter 20th Century regional government organization, it does not necessarily mean larger government. Major external factors have become critical considerations that require constitutional incorporation as checks and balances in government administration to prevent abuse of power.

- by Wolf von Baumgart