POLITICS is interpretation. Scripture says that from the fullness of the heart the mouth speaks. For those who are not into religious truths, the matter may be reworded this way: the quality of our arguments depends on our way of thinking. Thinking, however, is not merely the construction of thoughts. More so is it not the mere formulation of sentences. It has a source and its source may not be thinking itself.
Thinking isn’t just an active mental process. It also involves reception, of listening. Thinking is not always about giving. It also requires receiving. One does not genuinely think if one is always the giver of thoughts. Genuine thinking occurs in receiving not only the thought of others but also “thought” itself.
Martin Heidegger once described this generation as “thought poor.” The philosopher did not have in mind scientific inventions or the lack of it. He also didn’t refer to the impoverished educational system of our era. We can be sophisticated, scientific, and in fact be most precise in our technological applications. However, our lack of reflexivity is the very source of impoverished thinking.
Interpretation is rooted in thinking. There is interpretation only because one thinks. Thus the quality of our interpretations speak much about our thoughts. But what about misinterpretations? And what about deliberately fabricated or twisted interpretations? Misinterpretation especially when intentionally done is the death of thought. Thinking is murdered by he who insists to misinterpret things. To live for the truth is also to die for it. Precisely, closing the eyes to the truth is a serious assault against thinking itself.
It is easy to spot a murderer of thoughts. He who does not listen – he who does not receive thoughts is guilty of assaulting the very life of thought itself. He who believes that his thoughts are without limits is the worst enemy of humanity. In a much broader sense therefore, the beginning of all murders, the starting point of all crimes is not in the handling of a gun nor in the shooting of an innocent person. It starts when the receptiveness to the thought of others was killed, and thus in not having thought, of failing to think at the onset. Murder starts with a thought, as an interpretation. And so do violence, corruption, and deceit.
Dictators and tyrants are not only cruel or brutal enemies of humanity. They are not only disrespectful to children, women, and their bodies. They are not only economic and political oppressors. Prior to all of these, the dictator or tyrant has shut his mind to understanding. He did not and will not think. He does not entertain the thought of others. He believes he has understood all things. He is convinced that there is nothing to understand. In reality though he does not understand anything. As Hans-Georg Gadamer would say: “we cannot understand without wanting to understand...understanding does not occur when we try to intercept what someone wants to say to us by claiming we already know it.”
The connection between politics and thought is important. The “political” is an interpretation and always subject to all forms of interpretation. It matters therefore if politics is simply performed as an act or a drama or a genuine expression of thinking.
Sadly, the decline of correct thinking is getting fast. People are now convinced that politics should be won based on the quantity of propaganda. Social media no less is the typical arena where one would witness the contestation between correct thinking and stupidity.
Indeed it is so sad that there are those who believe that a meme speaks volumes of truth. Thinking is dead. Rotten politics is its grave.