Politics

Where to begin with an article about politics?  Politics can be defined as:

• Social relations involving authority or power,
• The study of government of states and other political units,
• The profession devoted to governing and to political affairs,
• The science and methods of government. Derived from the Greek word "Polis" which means community.
• Competition for power and leadership between competing interests or groups. May be characterized by artful and sometimes dishonest practices.

But of course, it is more complicated than any of these definitions.  It wouldn't be a far stretch to say that politics is simply human life or rather, the conduct of human life.   Children, when asked about politics will often say that it's a building with men in suits who argue about the country…  As children we may see it as an institution, a group of people within the institution but as we grow up we start to understand that the concept is an abstract one, a similar to the one of "law" or "arts"; it is many things all at once.

Politics is a main topic of news, the government is, of course, a body that rules a given country, grouping different political parties within it that represent certain views such as republican, conservative or democratic. Naturally, media is always fascinated with politics as both institutions rely and exist because of the society's need for information and for governing legislatures. 

People are passionate about politics and as we all saw in the recent U.S. elections, this passion is a fiery one, literally, a matter of life or death for some (such as U.S. and Iraqi soldiers).  The recent turn out at the U.S. voting tables was a surprise to everyone – the estimated percentage of votes in the elections was just under 60 percent of eligible voters, this was the highest percentage turnout since 1968.

Prior to the votes we all witnessed the intense elections campaign with some of the most unusual suspects – celebrities -- urging America to make a presidential choice.  The hip-hop artists got political, the movie makers got political, it seemed the whole nation was obsessed and it was really refreshing to see such interest and passion despite the results of the election.

There's little point to this article, other than showing how politics really affects all of us and it should never be ignored, it is important to be educated, aware and not apathetic.  Our political concern should be the gist of life.