Note: I read the
essay in French
Cliquez ici afin de lire mon avis en français
On the Abolition of All Political Parties is a short essay by the French
philosopher and activists, Simone Weil, known for her engagement with the trade
unions and anarchists. There are only 48 pages in my edition and is very easy
to read.
A powerful quote that I liked at the beginning of the essay was – ‘Parties
are organisations officially constituted to systematically kill the soul of
truth and justice’ (translated by me).
She argues for a system that prioritises justice and truth in politics,
which according to her is not possible so long as political parties exist.
As it is a political essay, I need to add my personal opinions as well.
Her arguments are well presented but she has given a solution that is too
simple for a very complex problem. It is true that political parties curtail
the powers of an individual elected representative by imposing the party line.
However, in any gathering, there would be some natural evolution towards the
regrouping among individuals with similar ideas and goals which would
eventually lead to formation of some sort of a political grouping similar to
that of political parties we have today. An example of this is Nebraska in the
US, which officially has a non-partisan legislature, but the elected representatives
group themselves as Democrats and Republicans anyway.
To conclude, I would say that this is an interesting essay and a discussion
that we ought to have in the society to improve the quality of political
discussions and debate, but her arguments present both the strengths and shallowness
of her proposal at the same time. I award the essay a rating of six on ten.
Rating – 6/10
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