In 100 Days – Everything is Political

I think it’s a profound untruth to believe that one can “choose” to not be political about anything. Almost every decision you make is informed by political action – past and present. But I feel that the perceived choice to “be political” is probably misunderstood. I think it would help to first understand what I mean by “being political” to begin with. 

To “be political” means expressing one’s opinions or attitudes towards a topic that intersects with the lives of living creatures in a meaningful way. This, of course, means that things such as: 

• Should X group really be allowed to Y? 
• I dislike X group because Y, but …
• People who believe X about [individual] are …

… are all forms of “being political”. 

Whether such ideas are positively or negatively introduced is of no consequence – its very existence is political because politics is so entwined with everything. When: 

• Black people are disproportionately more likely to be poorer than their white peers, 
• Transgender and nonbinary youth are more likely to consider suicide than their cisgender peers
• Disabled people are almost twice as likely to be unemployed compared to those who were not disabled
• Women are still paid less than men while doing the same job

_{Note: the above list is not exhaustive. If you are interested in learning more, I urge you to do your own independent research and learn about the issues affecting other marginalized groups in society if you truly wish to do better.}

… the first question that should be asked is “what can we do to fix this?” rather than “why”. Knowing “why” is helpful, certainly – but the truth of the matter is that these things are already happening, and an attempt to alleviate the issue is better than simply asking “why”. 

In either situation however, the fact that these problems still exist in a society that has had many years to correct these issues says to me that this is a feature of the society, not an oversight. All the decisions that culminated in this reality were not mistakes. Simple mistakes can likely be mended with an apology and by actually correcting the issue. 

These issues tangibly affect people’s lives, and this is what makes it political. Including (or excluding) someone from a space is a political topic, because it affects a person’s life. Having the luxury to believe your thoughts and actions exist independently of politics; of history; of the actions of those who came before you, is … political.