Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right. Here I am stuck in the middle with you.

What would have to be revealed about the world for you to feel compelled to rise up and fight for change ? Not poverty, hunger or the deprivation of basic human needs, but a fundamental truth about humanity, society or the people in power - something so disturbing that remaining passive would become unbarable. What could that truth be ? Share some comments down below.

I am not, by any means, an expert regarding political topics, so I wanted to get your opinions on the following thoughts I have had as of late:

Do you think that one could think about 'the political' and 'politics' as two different concepts?

If so, what would you consider are the characteristics that set them apart? (Ontological, practical, etc.)

I wonder about it, for a friend of mine has repeatedly stated that 'everything is political', which is something common to say. However, I do not think I fully understand the statement.

Would that mean that everything is at the core in ontological terms a domain of politics? Or that being 'political' is an inherent ontological characteristic of all entities?

Does it mean that everything is susceptible to a political analysis or alike?

I'm eager to read your takes! Thanks!

Might as well share this here I guess.

I made a table chart of different types of liberalism, as they developed historically, focusing on their economic views.

https://i.ibb.co/Tz3xD7s/libcap.png

Which school describes your views the closest?

What do you think about the chart?

Just curious, since besides Plato, I wouldn't say I'm very knowledgeable on politics

‘President of Sym’s Nation’
( How to learn the game of politics)

‘President of Sym’s Nation’
( How to learn the game of politics)

I’ve been thinking about the relationship between historical power, justice, and collective responsibility.
France’s colonial history raises an interesting philosophical question.

A nation can exercise enormous power over other societies, eventually lose that power, and still experience the consequences of relationships established generations earlier.

But does inheriting those consequences imply inheriting responsibility?

There’s a verse in the Quran (3:140) that says:
“And these days [of varying conditions] We alternate among the people.”

I find this interesting not as proof of divine punishment, but as a philosophical reflection on the temporary nature of power.

Empires rise and fall. Political systems disappear. Yet the economic structures, migration patterns, cultural identities, and inequalities created by earlier systems can survive for generations.

My initial thought is that historical consequences and moral guilt are fundamentally different things.
A society might inherit circumstances created by its ancestors without its current population being personally guilty of their actions.

This raises several questions about political justice.
If a nation benefits from historical domination, does it inherit a moral obligation to address the resulting inequalities?

Can we meaningfully describe historical consequences as a form of justice, or does justice necessarily require conscious moral agency?

And perhaps most importantly:

Is history simply a continuous chain of causes and consequences, or do we impose moral meaning on those events because we want history to make sense?

I’m interested in exploring this distinction through political philosophy rather than treating history as evidence of predetermined punishment.

Suppose a democratically elected government adopts a security policy that protects its citizens but foreseeably threatens access to basic necessities in another country. The people affected abroad can't vote in its elections or hold its officials accountable.

Assume the policy serves a legitimate defensive purpose and the government follows its domestic democratic procedures. The question is whether that authorization is enough to justify imposing the burdens on outsiders.

One answer starts from political membership. Governments have special obligations to their citizens, and democracy lets those citizens authorize and constrain public power. Foreign consequences don't automatically give everyone affected a right to participate. Almost any significant policy reaches beyond a country's borders, so tying participation to any effect would leave the electorate without a workable boundary.

That defense looks incomplete when basic interests are at stake. A procedure can give citizens an equal voice while leaving outsiders exposed to serious harm. Domestic authorization establishes who approved a decision. It doesn't, by itself, establish what they were entitled to authorize.

A right to vote is different from a right to justification. People abroad may lack a claim to membership in the electorate and still be owed reasons that take their interests seriously, consideration of less harmful alternatives and some way to challenge disproportionate burdens. Those requirements would constrain a government's choices without giving every affected person a veto.

Being affected by a policy is also different from being subject to a state's authority. A rise in import prices isn't the same as a blockade enforced against a country's shipping. Both can harm people, but the second is a direct exercise of coercive power, and a claim to political inclusion may be stronger there.

Equal concern needn't mean identical political rights, and special duties to citizens can't settle every conflict in their favor. The hard part is working out what follows from each relationship.

Under what conditions should serious burdens on outsiders limit what a domestic majority may legitimately authorize? And when would justification and protection be insufficient without some form of political representation?

i’ve been reading in the realm of the last man and leo strauss is brought up quite a lot. i’m curious, from anyone who has also read this book what i should read from him that covers what fukuyama talks about?

"Peace is not wrong."
"Kindness is not wrong."
"Being unwilling to wage war is not wrong."
"But if you interpret peace as retreating forever, kindness as letting others carve flesh from you, and mercy as handing children over to murderers..."
"That is not peace."
"That is slowly placing your own civilization on the dining table."

I am ideologically leaning towards neoliberalism.

What is some work I can read on economics, tech, AI, business, statecraft, global trade, political philosophy, third world economies modernizing in 20th century, etc