 Bertrand Russell Quotes 366 |
There are very few who are the happier for what is wrong with the world. Among those few, it is true, there are some who have great power; but they have power largely because men are blind. It is intelligence, accepting our passions as unalterable, which has brought the world into its present perilous condition. But our passions are not unalterable. Less skill is required to alter them than has been expended on the transmutation of elements. I cannot bring myself to believe that the human race, which has in some directions shown such extraordinary skill, is in other directions so unalterably stupid as to insist upon its own torment and destruction.
Source： Human Society in Ethics and Politics, 1954, part II: The Conflict of Passions, chapter 1: From Ethcs to Politics, n.5
More info.: https://russell-j.com/cool/47T-2_0105.htm
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Your vote cannot unseat a powerful person (e.g. a politician) you do not like. However, a Member of Parliament who is elected with one million votes is also the result of one million votes coming together. If major scandals come to light, they can quickly lose their power, eventually lose their election and become no more than ‘mere mortals’.
By the way, it is now known that there are a very large number of Abe faction members who are backbenchers, and many of them were supported by the Unification Church. It is hard to believe that Abe faction members are terrible, but only Shinzo Abe, who was the head of the Abe faction, was clean and innocent. And so it was finally revealed that, after all, Prime Minister Abe (at the time) had the support of the Unification Church. Some media outlets have reported various rumours about the relationship between then Prime Minister Abe and the Unification Church, but due to the power of the Abe Kantei (i.e. then Prime Minister Abe and Chief Cabinet Secretary Suga), NHK and other media outlets have failed to investigate and have refrained from reporting until now.
There are people with power in the business, academic, religious and many other worlds. And so, similar things happen from time to time in various circles, as politicians lose their reputations and lose their jobs.
It would be better to get out of the habit of thinking by inertia and get into the habit of constantly rethinking things.
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