Thought of the day

Consumer choice is freedom, and we are the freest people in the world.

If we couldn't get fresh grapes in January, we'd be no better than the Soviets.

Recently I have wondered about the purpose of ‘political science’. Presuming that it is in reality a ‘science’, as it proclaims to be, it should then share the purpose of science generally. While there is obviously no authoritative body to declare the official purpose of science, many scientists and philosophers have written on that subject, who have in some construction or another, nearly uniformly concluded that science about the acquisition of knowledge that improves the human condition or state of being, in either a material or spiritual sense. Albert Einstein wrote, “All religions, arts and sciences are branches of the same tree.... All these aspirations are directed toward ennobling man's life, lifting it from the sphere of mere physical existence and leading the individual towards freedom.” I further hold that no civilization within which there is injustice has maximally achieved these objectives. Therefore, as political scientists it seems to me that our job is to discover the principles of and create social structures that make society a better place for the poor and the oppressed, rather than defending a system that favors the rich.