Root and Branch

After some thought and discussion, EC and I have decided to stop writing posts about politics and public policy.

The writer of this blog, which I read regularly, happened to notice The (humble and meek) Wild Olive, and offered to have us listed on his site's blog roll. Given the new office I am working in and, frankly, the general area in which EC and I work (politics, government, policy), we've decided to pull all political and policy-related topics from The Wild Olive, in the interest of safeguarding ourselves and our workplaces from any unwanted attention. And incidentally, we had to turn down the good man's offer for increased blog readership.

Instead, we will focus primarily on issues of religion and culture, especially as they relate to our own lives. If society (or a country, state or city) is like a tree, politics and policy are a bit like the branches. Religion is the root, and culture the trunk. If someone wants to improve a tree's health, they can do all the pruning of branches and leaves they want. But if the trunk, or worse yet, the root, is rotten or diseased, any pruning is largely in vain. If anything, the pruning is delaying the inevitable death of the tree. By focusing on religion and culture, at a personal level, I think we are addressing a more fundamental level of life than politics and public policy. As Christians, we know this to be true.

This is a difficult thing in an election year. But nonetheless we will avoid the low-hanging fruit of Presidential politics on this blog.

The first 1/3 of Plato's Republic consists of a debate over the definition of justice. Much of the heated discussion is couched in terms of the local politics of the day in Athens, including the politics following the Peloponnesian War that eviscerated Greek civilization.

After going several rounds of defining precisely what justice is not, Plato's character Socrates turns the discussion in a completely different direction: In order to discover the nature of justice, he says, we should build a city in our minds (or "with our words."). Only by seeing the ideal community in practice will we apprehend this slippery virtue, justice. Joining with a couple worthy students, Socrates verbally creates what he considers an ideal city from scratch.

I propose something similar. Every time I am tempted to discuss politics or policy on this blog, I'll try to see if the issue transfers to the more fundamental level of the family. For example, I had a blog post in mind for the next few days on education policy. Instead of public education policy, I will instead focus on what might be called family education policy. How should we educate our child(ren)? In order to prepare them for the challenges of the 21st century, what will they need to know, and what skills do they need to acquire? What would the ideal education of our children consist of?

Family policy over public policy. Of course we all know the former is more important than the latter. But at some level, it takes more work to discern the former.

If anyone wants to ask a direct question or start a direct discussion on politics, government or public policy, shoot EC and I an e-mail or drop us a line on Facebook. I know the change will annoy some (including me at times), but it's all for the greater good.

See you on the front lines,

BC