Some
who wish for a better world don't have the power to be able
to choose the leaders who make important decisions about their
lives and the future of our world. Many who have that power
don't use it.
Election
Day, observed on the 1st Tuesday after the 1st Monday in November
in the Untied States is one opportunity to help choose leaders
who can help create a better world.
Politics
is all about power. We normally think about politics in relation
to governments, but the word can be used when a question of
authority or power comes up for any group. Politics is about
how an individual or group attains and maintains power.
A government is the body that has the authority to make and
enforce the rules that govern a city, state or nation. Over
two thousand years ago, the philosopher Plato classified governments
as: a monarchy, where one individual rules; an oligarchy, where
one group rules; and a democracy, where all the people rule.
In modern times, governments are much more complicated and many
forms of government have a mix of these three basic types.
Today
many talk about left-wing and right-wing political views. Although
the definitions may vary greatly at different times in history
and in different countries, generally what is meant is that
the right is often associated with social equity -- moral and
social conservatism and religion, while the left is often linked
with social equality -- redistribution of wealth and resources
to all citizens and secularism.
Those
who have power in a society can make decisions that affect all
who live in that society. For this reason, politics plays an
important role in helping to create a better world. It is important
to help to elect leaders who will make decisions that are in
the best interest of all their citizens, while taking into account
what is best for the well-being of the planet as well. It's
also important to continue to remind leaders in power about
our shared priority to create a better world based on more peaceful,
just and sustainable communities.
