The word “politic” is derived from the Greek polis, literally, “city” and, more broadly, “people.”
In my view and understanding, politics, at its heart (and soul), is less the act of exercising power to persuade or to manipulate (despite our customary experience!) and more the art of people relating to one another.
Politics, therefore, is the bedrock of democracy (from the Greek, dēmokratia, rule of the people).
Democracy, being one way for people to relate, involves this paradox: The people, together, acting freely, labor to ensure the individual liberty and equality of all.
Would that we, in America, find our way back from the edge (if not also the abyss) of our current chaos to this heart of (to restart our) democracy.
© 2023 PRA
occasional observations of mind and heart, soul and spirit 