Aristotle's Politics

Okay so I found Aristotle's message to be a little bit confusing, but there were certainly ideas that worked for me.

For one, I found a lot of depth in the fact that Aristotle seemed to believe that politics are innately good. I personally can acknowledge the fact that political science as a craft is not necessarily malevolent. I can follow Aristotle's argument there. I think that the idea of order and government is a genuinely "good" concept. But I think that as the craft of politics is/was learned by those who participate in it, it became a very powerful craft. People want to harness power. I think that the same argument can be made for many things: Society can take one concept that perhaps was intended to be good and turn it into something entirely the opposite. Power can lead to corruption, which in turn can lead to the shift of something "good" into something bad.

One thing Aristotle and I don't quite agree on is the idea that Political Science is not for the young. I would argue that perhaps the opposite is true. When contemplating this, I think about the innocence of youth. One might argue that part of the reason Political Science as a concept has not stayed "good" is because of politicians. Using this argument, it seems to me that corruption begins with people. In the course of life and politics, people become more corrupt. In this respect, I find that age is a disadvantage when it comes to politics. Also, everyone's heard the expression, "young and fresh." While it is admittedly rather abstract, I find it applicable here. A "young and fresh" perspective is perhaps no better than an old and seasoned one, but it is arguable that the two may be logically placed on the same platform as equals. And do all people not have feelings? What I mean by this is that Aristotle's argument claims that the young govern their lives and decisions using their feelings, but is that not just human nature rather than the nature of the young?

I think my point is that Politics as a Science is not "bad." But I don't think that the young are incapable of practicing or studying Politics because of their age. I think that corruption is corruption, and it finds its' way into Politics through many different avenues.