Johnnies of our generation

After the election—the myth that Johnnies of our generation were completely ‘a-political’ was disproved last night. The Great Hall became an explosive gathering of Johnnies who kept close track of the election. It is no surprise, most Johnnies there were Obama supporters, and so dancing and celebrations of all sorts followed the announcement. The Lower Dormitory common room was packed as well. Much of this new enthusiasm for a renewed interest in the political life might be a consequence of the current political climate, but at St. John’s we owe a lot to the club anthropoi politikoi: citizens Aristotle would be proud of. For they organized special debate-watching events with such enthusiasm that they were well-attended and just plain fun, even tutors were with us eating pizza and watching the debates. The discussion continued even today at lunchtime. Though, I must say, there are very few discussions of modern politics nowadays in which Rousseau, Hobbes, Smith, Locke and Plato are continuously brought up. The Great Books are constantly with us, or rather in us. How could we not love using our background to discuss our modern ideas?