Disabuse and Disillusion

The most dangerous political illusion of our time? The belief that political victory is synonymous with legitimate success. We are encouraged to vote, to protest, to get charged up, and to align ourselves with parties that promise change. History demonstrates that even the most well-intentioned actions can lead to ruin, out of alignment with the actual truth.

Consider the rise and fall of empires: they were often built on political power but destroyed by cultural decay, community disintegration, and organisational failure. The same pattern plays out today: when leaders focus solely on winning elections while ignoring the deeper forces that sustain society, the result is inevitable collapse. We can forestall this, must.

To avoid this fate, we must abandon the false idol of political victory and instead seek a more enduring form of power, which only comes from empowering others. This requires us to ask not only who should lead but how they should be allowed to lead, how they are held accountable to these goals, and whether their vision is rooted in the values of our culture, the strength of community, and the discipline in spirit.

In this light, politics shmolitics is secondary not because it is unimportant but because it is insufficient, short-sighted, and without structure. If a structure is not provided, then the vacuum of cultural power at the heart of civilisation will be filled with something, likely from the bottomline set. Politics is a means to an end, not the end in itself, the end is good and purpose stability in that good. The real battle is not for power over others but for the power to shape the world toward genuine good in ways that endure beyond the lifespan of any of us.