
Politics is a Mind-Killer (2007) - arikr
http://lesswrong.com/lw/gw/politics_is_the_mindkiller/
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Bucephalus355
Author says “politics is war by other means”. This is often cited as a good
thing; the very intense/ brutal nature of politics is in some ways an outlet
for a society instead of war.

Also America is a weird nation. Other countries have an academic domain called
“American Studies” that is full of fascinating insights about ourselves. One
is that historically the US has been a very bipolar nation. Incredibly fearful
of being weak / thinking itself weak, certain the decline of American empire
is on the way, and at other moments filled with religious fervor, manifest
destiny, and build a Navy larger than every other single Navy in the world
combined.

[https://www.google.com/search?q=tonnage+of+largest+navies&ie...](https://www.google.com/search?q=tonnage+of+largest+navies&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en-
us&client=safari)

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aaron-lebo
We study that domain in the US, too. I'd actually imagine most of the scholars
are American.

This is very much not something restricted to the US. The French, Germans,
British, Chinese, Russians, etc have their own cycles very much related to
their self-image.

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wtfstatists
Politics is just the process of mind killing. Its unlimited democracy and
people's habit to collectively decide about everything possible. When everyone
gets vote on everything, manipulating others (and yourself) can result in real
gain.

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galfarragem
I would say: politics is not a mind killer, political parties are.

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schoen
(2007)

