Visto de Macau

"One of the most fundamental questions about political life – or political science, as some like to call it, as if it were one – is 'Who are we?' With what pattern of loyalties do we identify? Which narratives, memories and experiences shape our behaviour? Do we always find ourselves caugh in the some threads of that spider's web? Can we move about from one strip of the silky trap to another? All of which raises a preliminary question. 'We' is simply the collection of 'I's'. So who am I? What makes up my identity? Genetics, nature, nurture play a major role. But in addition, as with everyone else, my identity in part reflects choices I make. It is also in part the result of influences over which I have little or no control. 'Know thyself' was Socrates' challenge, a challenge both to personal memory and to honesty. Here, perhaps, is the beginning of a justification for writing in this rather different way about my life."