Thursday, August 08, 2002

Why is "Political" a Dirty Word Some people shy away from anything labeled "political". In fact, I suspect most people shy away, even those who read Salon blogs.  Why is this.  I think part of the reason is that "political" implies someone telling you what to do or think.  For example in our town there is a group of people opposing expansion of our local airport--Hanscom field.  Some people are personally offended that commuter traffic might increase and care deeply about this.  Others don't  care so long as airplane noise is light.  Some feel that easy commuter flights to New York are a benefit.   Others feel war is a more important issue than airplane noise.  When people not involved in the issue are approached with a leaflet, or asked to think about the problem, it is a "political" event. So, "political" means being asked to pay attention to something you don't want to think about. Our elected politicians also give "political" a bad name.  It implies acting for selfish or corrupt motives, such as taking a position you don't believe in to get votes, to avoid blame, or acting with no guiding principle except to get reelected. Yet my experience of "politics" was life changing.  In the movement, we used to say "the personal is political", and politics was not an occasional event, but was all around us, in everything we did, thought, or acted out. It was where we lived our lives. Caring about empowerment of women meant that If a man was acting in a sexist way towards a woman--that was political.  Caring about sharing things equally meant that If a person would not contribute within the group--that was political.  In its purest sense, this was unbelievably empowering.  It was the bonding and life experience idealized in our media only when going to war or building a winning sports team.  But we were creating a new community.  We wanted to live and act together in a collective, loving, supportive way, and politics was the language, the tool, the means to do so. I have never lost that sense of empowerment.  I care about stopping the war in Iraq because I have empathy with ordinary Iraqis, and a duty to decide, as do you, whether they will be killed unnecessarily in my name.  Each of us individually have the same moral authority and right to decide as George Bush.  Yet in our history the sense of empowerment was often destroyed by factionalism or sectarianism --suddenly, the 'polis" or group is redefined, and made smaller.   The ones in the new sect retain their sense of loyalty toward each other, but treat their former friends and allies as enemies or as people whose value is measured solely by whether their beliefs are closer or farther from the sect.  This drove some people out of "politics". But the common experience of politics for most americans is one of alienation--being disregarded, not valued, tossed aside, or used for someone else's gain.  We live in a very exploitative society--where great accumulations of wealth depend on great exploitation of others, here and abroad.  So bringing "politics" to bear in this environment is like walking into a burn ward with a blow torch.  Everyone cringes from the heat, which makes all the old burns throb. Those of us who have experienced the liberation and joy of politics have a responsibility to find a new way to bring it forward--to relate to our non-political fellow citizens with empathy, understanding, and above all respect--so as to overcome the legacy of exploitation that all of us bear. 10:25:41 PM   comment []

© Copyright 2002 Toby Sackton. Last update: 12/26/2002; 9:29:42 PM.