MAX WEBER'S PASSAGE ASSIGNMENT

MAX WEBER'S PASSAGE

 

"Whoever wants to engage in politics at all, and especially in politics as a vocation, has to realize these ethical paradoxes. He must know that he is responsible for what he may become of himself under the impact of these paradoxes. I repeat, he lets himself in for the diabolic forces lurking in all violence. The great virtuosi of acosmic love of humanity and goodness whether stemming from Nazareth or Assisi or from Indian royal castles, have not operated with the political means of violence. Their kingdom was ‘not of this world’ and yet they worked and still work in this world. The figures of Platon Karatajev and the saints of Dostoievski still remain their most adequate reconstructions. He who seeks the salvation of the soul of his own and of others, should not seek it along the avenue of politics, for the quite different tasks of politics can only be solved by violence [italics added]. The genius or demon of politics lives in an inner tension with the god of love, as well as with the Christian God as expressed by the church. This tension can at any time lead to an irreconcilable conflict." (pp. 125-26)

 Interpretation: This quotation implies that politics is a game with two sides to it. And whoever wants to engage in it should be ready to face whatever it brings. It should understand that he/she has open him/herself to a life under the radar of the public eye open for praise, gain or attacks even sometimes violence.  In essence to be a martyr involves losing your life to save others or using violence to get your point across or demand recognition or obedience.

Politics can turn to a dirty game sometimes because it involves contention between two opposing views competing for the machinery of governance, for nationalistic means, and/or civil liberty. It’s not going to be a bread and butter issue but several oppositions and hindrances to be surmounted which could open a person to various kinds of attacks, economically, emotionally, and otherwise.

For instance, when Obama decided to run presidential race in 2009, his records were checked, his personal life, his family background even his birth certificate was contended as fake. Several insults were rained on him plus verbal attacks and counter attacks both from the left wings and his party. In fact, some African Americans did not give him their mandate at the initial stage. For example, the Harlem caucus was not fully in support. 

Also, his name was ridiculed to Osama bin laden; his African paternity was scrutinized and trivialized in a bid to demoralize him. He was literally open to different kinds of attacks. I think that is why most politicians sought the service of private security agents to protect them from violence they are exposed to as a result of seeking public office.  The murder of John F. Kennedy, the then youngest president of USA is an eye opener, or a good example of what politics could become a game of violence.

 

I chose this passage because Max Weber shows himself as a great sociologist to have recognized the evil, gains, dirty, and the inner wheel that propels politics in practical sense. And this draws my attention or a flash back of how Hitler turned the Nazi party to a machinery use to massacre his opponents.