It has been said that politics will be the last to change because politicians will not move ahead with ideas before the electorate changes. In Beyond Civilization there was a look at how homelessness could be managed through changing how people think, and My Ishmael talked about education and wealth in general.Could you see a situation in which people change their minds about one specific area, say homelessness, enough so that politics will change the policy in that area or do you instead feel that the change will happen all at once?Further, although you think politics will be the last to change, do you feel that there is any hope for people interested in politics to enact changes in the short term? • Ishmael.org, the work & philosophy of Daniel Quinn

It has been said that politics will be the last to change because politicians will not move ahead with ideas before the electorate changes. In Beyond Civilization there was a look at how homelessness could be managed through changing how people think, and My Ishmael talked about education and wealth in general.

Could you see a situation in which people change their minds about one specific area, say homelessness, enough so that politics will change the policy in that area or do you instead feel that the change will happen all at once?

Further, although you think politics will be the last to change, do you feel that there is any hope for people interested in politics to enact changes in the short term?

Local issues (like homelessness) will always be more amenable to control by local voters than national issues. The political climate of Portland, Oregon is very different from cities in more conservative states, for example, and there one can imagine a more enlightened policy toward homelessness to be enacted.

There is hope for people interested in ANY field to effect changes in the short term; people with changed minds are needed (and can be influential) in politics, industry, education, and everywhere else.

ID: 634
posted:
updated: 14 Jul 2003

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