With the 2024 US federal election on the horizon, it seems fitting to talk about politics. But true to form, let's approach this from a slightly different angle...
"You Keep Using That Word, I Do Not Think It Means What You Think It Means" - Inigo Montoya
Did you know that the word 'politics' literally means "affairs of the cities"? Today, it's often used more broadly to mean "activities associated with group decisions." However, in everyday conversation, we tend to use the term 'politics' to refer to our state governance structure or those who govern us within it. This narrow interpretation misses the broader scope of what politics truly encompasses.
Politics: The Water We Swim In
Politics is everywhere. It's so pervasive that Aristotle famously stated, "man is by nature a political animal." Politics isn't just about arguing over the direction of your country. Rather, it’s about arguing over the direction your company or choosing whether to help a homeless person. It's about having children or not, participating in civic life, supporting higher education - essentially, all the choices we make in building our society.
Politics are the decisions we make, both individually and collectively, that determine the direction of the groups we're part of. It's the process by which we shape our world.
Politics In The Family
This exists at the family level:
What constitutes "your family?": Do close friends count? What about in-laws?
How does your family organize and make decisions?: Do the kids have a say? Or is it whoever 'wears the pants'? Is there veto-power between spouses?
What is your family trying to accomplish in this world? And, how are you working towards that goal?
Making these decisions is doing politics at the family-level. Politics is determining the family group boundary (who is in and who is out), how the family makes decisions, what the goals of the family are, and what the family is going to do about it.
Notice, however, that politics isn't about the outcome. Politics isn’t really about the goals of the family or who ends up being part of it. Instead, politics is about the process of making those decisions and the activities associated with living them out. That is, politics is about the function, not the form.
Some families organize themselves after a monarchy – where the mom or dad rule as the matriarch or patriarch over the family. Families are also sometimes fascist or communist, and very rarely democratic. (Democracy is hard to pull off when little kids are involved.)
Regardless of which form the family chooses to pursue, politics is happening. Moreover, maybe the family decides to believe in Science. Politics is happening. Or, maybe they decide to go to church. Politics is happening.
Beyond The Family
Politics is happening in all groups you are part of. Some groups are likely to be squishy, meaning that you are part of them because of some inherent characteristics to you. For example, I'm a Caucasian male born in Florida, USA. Those characteristics immediately put me into some groups and not into others. The white guy's group, the Floridian group, the American group, etc.
Other groups are formal, like being married: this requires a license; you can register for it in your taxes. Or, having a Ph.D., I had to go through years of additional education in how to do research, produce a dissertation, and go through exams, and now have a degree that bestows the title. Or your membership to Costco, your gym, or your church.
Regardless of the many kinds of groups you are part of, they all have their own politics. Decisions about who is in and out, what the group does and does not do, and where the group is going, why, and how it's going to get there.
Your Role As A Group Member
Now we are ready to talk politics, real politics: You are a member of many different groups, and have a degree of power to influence the direction of each of those groups.
Some groups you have more influence in than others.
Your role as a group member can go many ways. Maybe you want to go with the flow. Maybe you like being the devil's advocate. Maybe you want to support the leader. Maybe you want to be the leader.
Whatever you decide, realize you are making a political decision. This is how you are choosing to use your power and influence within that group.
The Inescapable Nature Of Politics
Unfortunately to hear for some, but this means you can't escape politics. Said explicitly, no matter how passive you become, it's still political. No matter how much control someone gets, it's still political.
Politics is hard because it forces us to take responsibility for the groups we are part of and the world we are building together.
Most of us want to defer these decisions to someone else, specifically, the person sitting in the White House. But the reality is, the person sitting in the White House isn't going to fix your marriage, raise your kids, feed the homeless, help a family overwhelmed by debt, build a better world. Only politically motivated groups can do that. That is, groups desiring to influence the world around them towards their vision.
So, as we approach the 2024 election, remember: while voting is important, it's just one small part of politics. True political engagement happens every day, in every decision we make. Embraced your role as a political animal and take responsibility for shaping the world around us, starting with the groups closest to you.