 ラッセル関係電子書籍一覧 |
There are some among philosophers and statesmen who think that the State can have an excellence of its own, and not merely as a means to the welfare of the citizens. I cannot see any reason to agree with this view. 'The State' is an abstraction; it does not feel pleasure or pain, it has no hopes or fears, and what we think of as its purposes are really the purposes of individuals who direct it.
Source: Bertrand Russell: Authority and the Individual, 1949, chap.6
More info.: https://russell-j.com/beginner/KOKKA.HTM
a brief comment
Yesterday, I watched Apprentice on Amazon Prime Video.
In this film, Donald Trump is depicted as a rather timid young man who gradually comes to behave in an overbearing and arrogant manner. It deals with a period when he had not yet thought of becoming a politician.
https://amzn.to/41OPQIm
Since it is a feature film, not a documentary, there is surely some exaggeration. Still, it offers a glimpse into the process by which he came to think only of himself, and thus provides valuable material for understanding the Trump we see today.
In recent years, we often hear terms such as "business right-wingers," "business patriots," or even "business left-wingers." In reality, however, there are also quite a few "business politicians" who treat politics itself as a business. Takashi Tachibana, who has now stepped back from the front line, can be counted among them.
As long as politics is treated as a business, the positions one takes may change from time to time. Or perhaps it would be too simple to put it that way. Politicians not only seek profit in the form of money, but also take pleasure in seizing great power and exercising it. Once they become powerful politicians, they can acquire not only power but also honors bestowed by the state and the glory of social prestige.
Seen in this light, politics as a profession can indeed be a lifelong vocation for certain individuals. For second- and third-generation hereditary politicians as well, the struggle to gain power is no real burden, and passing themselves off as patriots is second nature. Many faces of politicians come to mind -- but who is the first that you think of?
ラッセル関係電子書籍一覧
#Bertrand_Russell