> "Politics...to benefit the deserving"? That is a very curious
> phrase. Who
> determines 'the deserving'? Who decides if politic's provisions are
> actually a 'benefit'. Perhaps I am mis-understanding your meaning.
You're confusing politics with ideology. In government, we elect
people to determine the 'deserving' and work to pass (or defeat) laws
which will benefit one segment of society and not others. In Code
committee work groups of like-minded people work together to direct
the committee's attention to work aimed at achieving some beneficial
objective. Not everyone agrees completely on the actual objective or
who should benefit from the committee's work. The political structure
within the committee is a means of compromising so that the Committee
does the most good. A project team is another highly political group,
and you ignore political considerations at your peril.
>
>
> I see our Republic is an experiment in self-governance. Politics is
> only to protect the public. Protecting the. Federally, protection
> from foreign invaders. Locally, protection from those who are more
> powerful, numerous, etc.
You missed the point. Politics isn't just a trait of government. If
you've ever set out to influence client opinion or get some money for
a pet project or make some improvement by working with other
employees, you're engaged in politics. It happens at home and in
churches or any place where people band together and work to achieve
some goal. Although not to the point, I do think your example of
'protecting [those] with no other way to protect themselves' is a
perfect example of benefitting the deserving.
> Is this and Christopher's remark very much based on the concept:
> 'from each according to
> their abundance, to each according to their need' (I'm guessing I
> slaughtered that quote.) The author was Karl Marx.
We all know who Karl Marx is even though you did butcher the quote
badly. It's 'from each according to his ability, to each according to
his need.' But you're seeing Communists under the rug. And you're
twisting my words, which were very much based on nothing of the sort.
This point I was trying to make is that politics is a fact of everyday
life in all segments of society, including Code Committees
> Let's not import self-serving mistakes from politicians into the
> Engineering profession.
Let's not narrow our thinking and by interpreting everything with
laissez-faire ideology. You're sounding as doctrinaire as those
earnest little political science sophomores obsessed over Ayn Rand.'
Christopher Wright P.E. |"They couldn't hit an elephant at
chrisw@skypoint.com | this distance" (last words of Gen.
.......................................| John Sedgwick, Spotsylvania
1864)
http://www.skypoint.com/~chrisw/
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