"Party is the madness of many, for the gain of the
few."
Jonathan Swift (1667-1745)
Swift wrote this in 1727, long before the incarnation of
modern political parties.
No surprise—it doesn’t seem like parties have changed much
since Swift took a dislike to them.
Personally, I recently abandoned a lifelong willingness to
identify with a particular party (Republican when I was younger, more recently the
Democratic variety), and declared myself “Unenrolled” in the stuffy language of
my political bailiwick.
I’ve never pulled the party lever on election day, or
anything like that, I’ve voted for folks from both parties….
I just couldn’t see myself anymore as a “loyal” member of a
party that doesn’t stand potently for a lot of the things I believe.
I didn’t change my political stripe. I clarified my position
and my commitment.
I’m not a Democrat any more. I’m a progressive liberal, in
search of a future that’s better than the
present.
I’m opposed to the “madness of many.”
Note: Alexander Pope (1688-1744) expressed the same
sentiment in a 1714 letter: “…hoping a total end of all the unhappy divisions
of mankind by party-spirit, which at best is but the madness of many for the
gain of a few.”
Copyright © Richard Carl Subber 2015
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