I was raised in a political household. I remember very clearly having political discussion with my grandmother from a young age and constantly asking questions and wondering about the state of the country and why things happen. When I got to the age where I starting trying to have those conversations with other kids my age, I found myself getting shut down constantly. They would cite disinterest or lack of understanding, and I attributed that to still being pretty young. However, I still find that happening to myself now.
You’re ‘just not that into politics’? Your boss is. Your landlord is. Your insurance company is. Every day they use their political power to keep your pay low, raise your rent, and deny you coverage. It’s time to get into politics.
Very often when I’m trying to discuss politics with someone, I get told, “Oh, I’m just not that into politics.” Let me make one thing perfectly clear: ‘Staying out of politics’ or ‘not caring’ about politics is not a thing unless you are in a position of privilege. Everyone has that friend on facebook, the one that is afraid or unwilling to partake in civil political discourse. “Why can’t we all just get along?” they lament, blaming ‘both sides’ for the issues today. Maybe it’s because it’s all they see on their news feed, or maybe it’s because they don’t want to take a stand or offend anyone. Maybe it’s because they just have no concern with who runs the country and what policies are being enacted. Naturally, they complain about it, making sure to throw on a cute picture of a puppy or kitten to soften the blow.
Sorry friend, but your anti-politics rant is privilege in action.
If you don’t care about politics, it’s because you don’t have to. Either that or you’re too dumb to care, but I like to give humanity more credit than that. In today’s political climate, not caring about politics is a privilege. It means you’re not being affected by the policies being enacted by the current administration, and it won’t have an overt effect on your well-being. Hell, it might even benefit you. Because of who you are, you get the choice of not caring. You are not threatened.
This puts you in a position of privilege. The policies being enacted by the political administration in America are affecting people of many – if not all – marginalized groups. We have to care. We care because living in Trump’s America threatens us, our well-being and the people we care about.
When you say you’re ‘sick of politics’, you show privilege. You must not be a (cis) woman because you don’t have to worry about having a president that says you can “grab them by the p*ssy”. You must not be transgender because you don’t have to worry about the executive order that rolls back health insurance coverage for transitional care, or that you’ll be murdered for just existing. You must not be queer in general because you don’t have to worry about the possibility of a rollback of Obergefell v. Hodges, the Supreme Court case that legalized same-sex marriage. You must not be a person of color because you don’t have to worry about the huge racial disparities in how US police use force. The list goes on and on.
Maybe your gender, power, or money protects you from the political fallout, giving you the choice on whether or not you care about anyone else. Must be nice. Just remember that for people who care, Elisa Chavez says it best in her poem “Revenge”: “We have always been what makes America great.” Don’t expect us to sit down and take it.