Lost faith in politics : Chesterton's "Ethics of Elfland"

In "The Ethics of Elfland' (in Orthodoxy), G. K. Chesterton observed:

"Now, I have not lost my ideals in the least; my faith in fundamentals is exactly what it always was. What I have lost is my old childlike faith in practical politics. I am still as much concerned as ever about the Battle of Armageddon; but I am not so much concerned about the General Election. As a babe I leapt up on my mother's knee at the mere mention of it. No; the vision is always solid and reliable. The vision is always a fact. It is the reality that is often a fraud."

I used to be very concerned with politics. But in recent years I have lost faith in politics - and in the voters. We need government for some things, but very often government gets in the way. And when the voters don't have well-formed, informed consciences, we end up with elected officials who promote things that are popular, but are simply wrong.

I gave up on the Democratic Party a decade ago - after 35 years of being active in the party. I was a Republican for one year - because I supported one candidate (Huckabee), but left that party immediately after he did not get the Republican nomination of President. I tried to get involved in the American Solidarity party, but that party quickly splintered.

Political parties lead to compromising, and  compromise after compromise eventually leads us to accepting things that are wrong.

We need the values found in undying universal principles that Chesterton found in fairy stories - "elfland" - and, of course, in faith.

I can accomplish a lot more by being a good Catholic and a good Franciscan than I can as a member of a political party.

Pax et bonum