For so many of our generation, the word “politics” is an immediate turnoff, with implications of sensationalism, favoritism, and corruption.  Politics implies, to many of us, MSBC sensationalism and Fox News rants, incivility, scandal and stupidity.  Why would we talk about politics?

The truth is, politics, rather than being a distant and obnoxious business, is something each of us happens to engage in daily.

Fact: to be social is, truly, to be political. For instance, when we refer to office politics, we are not making an analogy to the power-plays that go on in Congress, but are accurately describing something that is political.

Artistotle said it best when he stated that, “Man is by nature a political animal.”  Politics is quite simply people interacting with people in nature… in society… in the office… in the home.  Politics affects our day-to-day life profoundly – we all interact with other people, so we all practice politics.

A major objective of the Delibero is to reclaim the word “politics” for what it truly means.  To explore what is political from a perspective that transcends political parties and takes a broader view of what is good.  Politics practiced well is essential, and it requires people – us – to come together and make real, and difficult, decisions.

Politics practiced well requires wisdom, it requires eloquence, it requires creativity, it requires patience, and it requires the bravery to take a stand for those principles and ideologies that will serve our communities best.

Above all, politics practiced well requires deliberation, the “careful discussion and examination of the reasons for and against a measure.” Deliberation is an path to collective wisdom in politics.

Mainstream media does not engage in deliberation.  Congress, often, does not engage in deliberation.  And yet, if we as voting citizens do not demand it of ourselves, of the media, of our representatives, and of each other, we cannot expect other than a lack of constructive political discourse.  The reclamation of politics must begin with us.

Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. stated that, “What we need is a rebirth of satire, of dissent, of irreverence, of an uncompromising insistence that phoniness is phony and platitudes are platitudinous.”  At the Delibero, we engage young professionals in the mission

to deliberate with our peers…

to take a stand and defend it well…

to seek the good and take action on its behalf…

and to reclaim “politics,” collectively, for us all.