A poetic rendition of political theory.
To be honest, It is an immature, vague and sketchy attempt at poetry. The poem traces the evolution of the discipline of political science in a manner intended to be humorous. I would request you all to go about it without any expectation to learn something of true import. In fact, just keep the expectations to a bare minimum. My apologies are advanced at the beginning, if it turns out to be a sheer waste of time. Happy reading :)
The pilgrimage began at Greece, with focus on real knowledge by Socrates
It is said that Socrates was a figment of imagination, while plato stressed upon ethics, morality and justice in his recommendation
A philosopher king was sought, the idea only a few bought
Aristotle, who studied 158 constitutions, gave law as reason without any passions
It was only with Machiavelli in Italy, politics without ethics became a reality
Soon we entered England, life was solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short, Hobbes suggested leviathan as last resort
Man gained reason; Peace, goodwill and mutual assistance were in season
Capitalists started gaining ground, property was the source of pound. Locke pronounced it as an inalienable right, his treatise till date shines bright.
It was with Rousseau, reason took a dip; romanticism was the idea getting a fillip.
He stressed on general will, an idea too quixotic even still
Animal spirits of men turned to savagery, pushpin became as good as poetry
Bentham stressed upon pleasure and pain, common men now had all the materials to gain
Critiqued as pig’s philosophy, for the rescue of Bentham came Mill’s liberty
He may be a peter who denied his master, eventually though saved liberty from the imminent disaster
Nation states, democracy and liberalism became the flavour of the day, while bourgeoisie in Europe made hay
The time was ripe, for Karl Marx to arrive on the stage; as proletariats across the world were subject to shackles and cage
A grandiose theory was propounded, claiming all earlier ones as lies, this one was presented as science
Material interpretation of history was carried out, class struggle was the resulting bout
Workers of the world were asked to unite, a bullet only a few would bite.
Marx was criticised for crude economic reductionism, but left a legacy of perpetual radical criticism
Gramsci started looking for the predicted graves of the capitalist, but to his bewilderment, they never ceased to persist
Reason for same was attributed to hegemony, subaltern class was asked to counter without muscle or money
Gramsci wrote his works in Italy’s prisons, Gandhi applied the same in Indian conditions
The scourge of fascism reared it’s ugly head, Jews under hitler were bleeding red
Then came the woman philosopher, Hannah Arendt
She stressed on civil republicanism and people acting in concert, a potent panacea to save liberty from getting hurt
Hitler and Nazis were considered devil, but for Hannah it was just banality of evil.
Philosophers interpreted the world in various ways, but point however was to mobilise common men’s craze
Thus came to fore ideologies, which everyone presented without apologies
Though philosophies were complex in nature, ideologies were their simple yet obscure creature
Ideologies are the plethora of ‘isms’, a complex contrasting conflicting schism
Idealism was an old concept, with Plato, Hegel and Kant it promised a bet, it was appropriated to foster the fascist idea, ideology in a way gave shape to a modern dystopia
Liberalism was in vogue, at times it went rogue.
Adam smith called for laissez faire, T H Green demanded welfare.
Thatcher and Reagan rolled back the state, took away poor man’s pie of cake.
The troubles were far too many, inequalities were way too uncanny. Amartya Sen came on the block, neo liberalism got a socialist shock.
After Marx, even socialism was to take shape, but criticism of state as instrument of bourgeoisie would never escape
Evolutionary socialists were labelled utopian, praxis is what they couldn’t envision.
Gramsci and Lenin revised Marxism, one focused on superstructure the other on vanguard of proletariat to reach communism
Though October revolution did have a marxist sway, the state unfortunately never withered away
Mao Zedong was another Marxist child, communist party of China still hangs tight
Frankfurt school favoured emancipation; while structural school continued with inherent trait of radical criticism
Fascism was a tool, for demagogues to rule,
it was the ideology in hodgepodge, which unfortunately the Italians and Germans couldn’t dodge
Last to arrive in the political circus, were the women hitherto confined to domestic ruckus
Sex turned into gender, patriarchal stereotypes were to engender. Personal became political, differential citizenship’s argument was critical.
Existence is prior to essence, feminists of the that time were sensible enough to sense
Ideologies in modern Europe were soon to lose imagination, post modernists started gaining recognition
Derrida emphasised on deconstruction, while Foucault gave knowledge power connection
Every understanding could be a misunderstanding it was told, theories are discourses, the idea was sold.
and I hope this idea of poem was bold ?
I have written the succeeding parts too. Kindly revert to me in the comments section below if you are willing to read those parts.
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