Campaign '08 and the Politics of Meaning

My colleague Alex Pattakos, author of the international best-selling book, Prisoners of Our Thoughts, recently guest blogged on Basil & Spice about the U.S. Presidential campaign and the politics of meaning.  He concluded by writing:

...let me propose a new “politics of meaning,” one that asks both candidates and the electorate to focus on the will to meaning rather than either the will to pleasure or the will to power. From a candidate perspective, this means that those seeking elected office should be willing and able to reveal their values and goals in ways that are authentic and transparent; they should be willing and able to articulate how their values and goals are truly “meaningful”; and they should be willing and able to demonstrate unequivocally that they are authentically committed to to these values and goals. From a voter perspective, this means that citizens must take their responsibilities seriously by being willing and able to do their due diligence on those seeking elected office, including careful and thorough examinations of personal character, and be willing and able to cast their votes accordingly. Only in this way will America be able to live up to the ideals of a democratic society. Only in this way will America be able to shift the focus of politics away from the magnetic draws of forces like pleasure and power towards an authentic commitment to meaningful values and goals. And only in this way will we be able to ensure that we are voting for the best person to be the President of the United States and not just an American Idol!