Dear Friends,
It seems to me, single-party rule must result in destruction. This is the case no matter what party has total unlimited power. Even if saints were given such power, in their attempts to bring heaven to Earth they would raise Hell itself. This is because no human being is omniscient. We are all limited. When we gather into a like-minded group this tendency magnifies. A group must accommodate all members so the acceptable ideas are winnowed down to the lowest common denominator. A party or faction then that has unchecked power is self-limiting in ideas, vision, and options. It’s like putting a blind man in charge of a dangerous jungle hike. In both cases, it’s not going to end well. This is because every political party is like an eye, arm, and hand, one alone is limited.
They say listen to your enemies, they give you the best advice. In other words, your enemies are likely to say things about you that your friends are unwilling, and you are probably blind to. That kind of information is precious. The most productive sources of personal growth always come from places we were once blind to. This applies to people and political parties. A political party is always adamant that its ideas are right and everyone else’s ideas are by definition wrong. The more binary the party’s perception, the more likely it is to become despotic. Such a mindset, that of arrogance lacking humility, is often born from a lack of empathy. In such a case, that party lacking empathy would benefit the most from the input of a rival, but it’s also the least likely to accept it.
A political party and those people that man it can be inclusive or exclusive. What they call themselves is irrelevant, how they act is paramount. An inclusive party would allow that there is merit in all arguments. They include the ideas of others. An exclusive party believes other parties are evil and should be eliminated for the benefit of all. They exclude the ideas of others and often ostracize foes as well. Such people and parties will claim, merely engaging in debate legitimizes those parties and ideas they cannot allow. This is like stabbing yourself in the ears so you can be alone in your thoughts. True, it does allow one to be alone in one’s ideas, but it excludes any possibility of new ideas from the outside. In this case, the nation is run purely a priori, or put another way… pure conjecture.
Many philosophers have called governments, corpus politicum, the body politic. That body needs eyes, ears, a nose, and so forth. In a single-party state, it has but one eye, so it is myopic and has no depth perception. It has only one arm, so it is limited in what it can lift and carry. Moreover with one leg it is unable to travel distances. These are the smaller issues, because a single-party state is limited in the ability to think. It can only think allowable thoughts. Those that comport with the lowest common denominator. That corpus politic is effectively mentally retarded. With only one party in charge of government, it’s half brained. How can a half brained government be in any way intelligent? It can’t. A single-party state then is handicapped in every conceivable way.
In the state of nature the weak, stupid, and slow are eliminated. This applies to animals, humans, and national governments. That’s why every single-party state is doomed. It’s hobbled in the most wicked of ways. It stupidly assumes way too much responsibility, then fails. Since it has only one hand, it fumbles constantly. Then there’s the lack of mobility that keeps it from exploring. It has put out its own ears so as not to hear anything politically incorrect. Therefore, it operates by pure conjecture. The most dangerous part is that such a state takes criticism in the same way it hands it out, caustically. So they are unable to learn and grow from it. A single-party state is by definition exclusive, limiting thought to the lowest common denominator. So in a state of nature, they must end in disaster.
Sincerely,
John Pepin
