New Politics (in progress)

It cannot be denied that for most of us, if not all of us, a sort of default political orientation is created at a very early age. Something like "The French Revolution was good (or bad)". At an early age we imagine ourselves on one side or other of some imagined historical barricade. Not so much imagined, perhaps, as we fall or slither into one pool of many possible repositories of human experience, find ourself there by some forced and childlish narrative choice. Then we never leave. And we can never make meaningful contact with the others who have fallen into different pools. It is very non-productive. The fact that I think it was a good idea for Cromwell to execute Charles II, say, and some other person thinks it was an abomination, may be a source of interesting cocktail party chat, but it has nothing to do with the collective problems that this person and I (along with millions of others) have to address. It is a pity that we have to struggle with this handicap.