And I say: love the policy-makers!

I get paid to think about the broader political economy of developed European nations. I work in direct co-operation with the civil service and the political parties. In this sense, I'm not exactly countercultural.

I feel isolated in a sea of radical christian literature that just wants to "resist the evil system". Evil or not, I'm involved in managing that system in the best, most compassionate way. I've got the ear of quite a few officials, except that I'm not sure what to tell them.

I really wish I could find an accountability partner not so much on my personal ethics, but on the direct advocacy which I provide to people in power: So how are we going to run this country in the present socio-economic conditions? What are we going to offer the electorate at the next election? Failing that, I just imagine an accountability partner in my head, someone who, knowing my aims, would be proud of the work I'm doing.

Why are christian thinkers so rubbish when it comes to thinking about democracy? They all supposedly operate under the rule of the spirit. Well fine, me too, as it happens! But hell, I've had enough of people understanding this to mean that God rules their personal ethics, like whether they recycle, or give a few coins to a guy on the street or buy ethical coffee.

Sometimes I feel like even Jesus did not care about the business of running countries, and in any case He did not bother to say a word against the institutions of slavery, torture or the death penalty; although you may say that this flows quite logically from the injunction to love our neighbour and to treat the least brothers of His in the way we would treat Him*.

In any case, I deeply admire people who engage in politics and who manage to bring about great policy changes, just like the Quakers (who as you know never remove their hats) deeply admired Thomas Clarkson, and they did remove their hats at his funeral. I'd like to remove some hat today.

Let's think politically at the scale of our country: what would the spirit want there? And don't even get me started on the idiotic argument that all political power is necessarily satanic because by essence it takes upon itself a power that should lie with God. Politics is stewardship too: what does our country want to achieve in the world? Please people, let's reclaim politics! Please let's do politics again.

*I find the thought strangely vindicating: policy makers (and policy advocates) can make great policies for the most vulnerable! See if we don't.



Picture: Thomas Clarkson, the (unofficial) patron of policy-makers, academic political scientists and of this blog.