The Importance of Politics

     Nowadays more than ever, it is imperative that people finally understand the huge repercussions that politics has on society. Although one might think that many are aware of the importance of politics, such awareness is not shown in society. People often remark that they do not care about politics and that it is all lies. What they appear to fail to understand is that politics determines their lives and the course of the world. Of course they can change it and contribute in some way as has been demonstrated time and time again by history when otherwise obscure individuals gained power and changed the world forever. Thus it is not a valid excuse to not pay attention to what is happening, as it always impacts their lives, direct or indirect. Even scientists dismiss politics as a false science, calling political scientists fakes. But doing so achieves nothing and is extremely narcissistic. What they do not seem to realize is that a large chunk of funding comes from the very function of politics and government. Instead of criticizing the field, they can instead offer more systematically sound models and actually care about what is going on in the world of the average person. By acting superior to others, scientists perpetuate the image that they believe themselves better than others and that they are highly conceited, disconnected from the plight of the common individual. Although it is almost indisputable that politics and government plot the course for the rest of the world, scientists instead seem to choose to follow the model of secluding themselves from the world while instead focusing on trying to measure empirical data. It is true that such actions are noble and help humanity in theory, but things such as climate change or population change cannot be communicated to the people by some distant numbers and calculations. After all, it is because of the people that any real change happens and not because of the scientists. Likewise, the general public needs to understand that it has a responsibility to understand what is going on in the world, a task that the government most likely has to play an active role in in order to ascertain any real change. Politics should not be seen as a thing to be joked about by either citizens or scientists, and should instead be embraced so that society can come together to achieve great things as a historical first.

The Urgent Need for Reform in Government Policy-Making

     Clearly, government policy-making is a complicated and critical aspect of a resident's lives, obvious in every facet of day-to-day activities. As such, it is strange that many people today have no sufficient idea of the intricate workings of the very institutions that so profoundly affect them. Despite a required course in government for most, it is an undeniable and widespread understanding that the majority of the populace knows virtually nothing about how the system works. Every year, dozens of bills are proposed, often going into the thousands of pages detailing extremely technical stipulations and rules. Not even considering the common man, the very representatives whose job it is to read the bills often do not bother reading such frequent and extensive documents. The initial failure of Obamacare is likely the result of such overly complex and and monotonous wording, confounding the constituency and directing criticism to the Obama administration's bureaucratic breakdown. In fact, it appears that the president himself does not completely understand his own namesake bill, thus explaining the number of erroneous statements made. When the leader of a country and the entire staff of the functioning government so resolutely fail, the event speaks volumes to the current state in policy-making. Such a monumental failure cannot be allocated to just one individual, Republican or Democrat. Speaker John Boehner has been likewise derelict in his duties, not even considering a strongly needed Immigrant reform bill, almost certainly due to its similar incredible length. Rather, the government as a whole should work to reform current procedures in writing laws so that, the general public notwithstanding, at least the representatives can understand the legislation being proposed. In this unilateral effort, both parties will benefit and the people will at least be able to get an accurate explanation from their elected representatives, thereby partially solving the incredibly bureaucratic web that pervades all political parties.

The Determination of Government Institutions and Their Resulting Repercussions

     In times of war, bureaucracies are often reorganized to more quickly and effectively meet the tremendous demand of action required. Many new, often permanent, agencies are formed that exponentially expand the power and reach of government. Once wars subside and general peace is re-instigated, many new agencies suffer reductions in abilities relative to their war-time states, and some are even removed entirely. Regardless of the exact extant of how much each war affects government policy, it is undeniable that they are critical factors in the determination of how the world in the present is formed. It is strange that such aspects are not more thoroughly explored in traditional class settings, as it appears that emotion often dictates the political climate today. It is true that the theoretical aspects of policy-making are a keystone of government function, but just giving one a generalized syllabus of how a government should function is impractical when one tries to utilize what is learned later on. Instead of truly understanding the wildly fluctuating utilities of which change can be more precisely ascertained, the general citizenry is taught a highly idealistic way to influence government that is disingenuous to the subtlety to the alternating times. Later on, many chastise the public for being ignorant of government functions. When government is a required class for the general public, it clearly is more a problem of the curriculum being taught. After all, it is the duty of government to make sure its constituency is up-to-date on political matters. It is imperative that a democratic government take care of its citizenry as it is where its power and ultimate future is derived from. When events like wars happen, their significance should be plainly articulated to the masses. If an institution from said event is allowed to grow without the informed oversight of the public, as is often the case in modern times, the effects can be disastrous to the viability of an administration. Basically, it is important to institute a more realistic overtone to what is expressed, so that both the government and the people benefit from a collaborative effort that is best for the long-term stability of a democratic state.