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It’s not uncommon for college students to say things like “I’m not political.” This is actually very normal and very typical. College offers people an opportunity to join new social groups, where they hopefully meet people different in many ways from the friends and family with whom they grew up; where they can in the process experience new ideas. All these things may be true, however, it is an inescapable fact that if you are part of a society, you are a part of its politics.
Politics in the United States has become extremely polarized over the years. Where once people of different political ideologies worked together to solve problems, this is sadly no longer the case. Young people are being drawn into ideological conflict often without having had sufficient opportunity to learn and reflect on different points of view. The following essay presents a humorous look at our contemporary political landscape, as it explores the idea of how people attempt to rise above the fray and remain “not political.”
Essay (Humor)
Listen up guys, I get it. You hate the orange guy with the crazy hair. You love the old guy with the crazy hair. You think Hillary is a woman but she sends too many emails. Wow, you’re soooo political. Good for you. I just don’t like to get into that sort of thing. I’d rather abstain from all the petty name-calling and meme-swapping because I believe that life is about more than just politics. (Also, because I’m pretty sure that whatever happens will not affect my day-to-day life in any way because I’m not a member of a historically oppressed group.)
I guess politics has never appealed to me because I just don’t enjoy arguing (things I do enjoy: massages, sriracha, extreme privilege as the result of a class system rigged in my favor, NOT ARGUING). I don’t need to spend hours debating what led to the Iraq War—it feels like it went by super fast anyways (since no one in my social circle had to join the military to pay for college). It’s not important to me that I understand the best solution to economic inequality—my great-grandfather invented steel.
While some people need to always be right, I would rather always be kind. Maybe if everyone were always kind, we wouldn’t even need politics (I don’t know what poverty is because my father invested in soybean futures).
Honestly, if more people were like me (low-key, rich, able-bodied), we wouldn’t have to have these fights about things that don’t affect me and never will.
Another thing I don’t like about politics is how it divides people. I believe that we are all the same (almost all my friends went to the same college). So I think we should be able to find common ground when it comes to the major issues affecting our lives, whatever those may be. My best friend is actually a socially conservative libertarian and I have never once let that come between us because I have never asked her what that means and she always has weed.
If you’ve been on social media lately, you know that it can seem like politics is impossible to avoid. But imagine for a second what would happen if we replaced all the angry rants about healthcare and immigration with pictures of kittens and puppies. I, for one, would definitely feel better. I already have healthcare and don’t know why anyone would want to change countries—it sounds like it would be really difficult!
In conclusion, I know it’s fun sometimes to get all riled up and scream at the TV. But I’m pretty sure that, come November, whether we elect the guy from The Apprentice or the guy from Curb Your Enthusiasm, everything is going to be okay (at least for me).
Sources
Essay reposted from The Reductress – “I’m Not Political (Because I Assume I Will Retain All of My Privileges Forever)
Discussion Questions
Do you ever find yourself saying things like “I’m Not Political?”
If so, can you see how declaring yourself as such is a marker of privilege to some degree?
Growing up, I was taught that you should never discuss religion or politics. For awhile I refrained from talking about it and perhaps ignored learning about it until I was a senior in high school. My parents never talk about politics because they’re just happy that they’re in America than our native island. I once was guilty of saying “Im not political” but at the time I was naive to what was going on in the real world. Yes, not worrying about politics is a privilege. Having money and resources because of one’s life chances without a care in the world because everything works in your favor is beyond a privilege. Its a privilege to be able to go school without learning a thing about student loans or hoping that financial aid can cover you. Its a privilege to not care about whats going on in our policing because institutional racism is just a figment of our imagination. It’s a privilege not to worry about war, gun control, laws and regulations that are changing for the worse. Being a minority and woman, I simply cant afford the privilege. I cant afford to not know whats going on especially when people like me are targets or pawns to America’s idiocracy. I think many young people are disconnected from the reasons we go to war in this country because if it’s not affecting their personal world ,why should they care? Theres too many distractions in this world that cast away things like politics. And when we use distractions like media as a source of information but what we learn is misconstrued and perhaps not liable. A lot of things that are heighten on television is usually a half true to feed a bias or a lie to cover up the truth. But one thing I do know is that none of us can afford not to be political, especially when we have a unreliable bigoted “Lets make America White Again” candidate like Trump running for president.
I agree. Based on my experience most people my age don’t feel the need to go into politics because they don’t feel affected by it. A lot of my friends say that regardless of the president or the party, nothing is being done for them. All politicians are liars and nothing will change. That’s why they not only stay away from politics but they don’t vote either. There are a lot of distractions in the media and lately people are more focused into turning politicians into cool memes and hashtags than actually listening to their points (stupid or not). I get the sense that it is easier to sit back and not get involved because when things go wrong, you can throw your hands up in the air and say “Well I didn’t vote anyway!” I wish that young people would take more time to talk about politics and debate each others’ points. A lot of these policymakers and politicians like to say that they are doing things on behalf of the next generation and the decisions that they make WILL affect the next generation. So it’s time that the intelligent young minds around America got together, shared the facts, and made sure that the best decisions are really being made. Many of us minorities do feel a false sense of privilege at times but we shouldn’t have to wait until the next terrible event or a restrictive law/policy for us to come back to reality and fight. The fight is ongoing and we must always be prepared. Nice Trump slogan by the way lol.
Personally I would never say I’m not political. I have too many strong opinions about politics to not be political. I was born and raised in a developing country in the Balkans during communism. My grandfather was an officer in the military and always active in politics. Growing up I had the impression that all that older people did was talk about politics. When the news aired on TV everybody shut up in order to not disturb my grandfather. In retrospect this was a good thing. As the old saying goes, democracy is not a spectator sport. When people fail to take part in democracy is ceases to be democracy. That is the issue facing this country.
Too many people in this country do not seem interested in politics because they see it as this far away thing that they do not need to concern themselves about. Only to find out later when something does not work in their favor, they start to complain about the way things are. Not realizing how they got that way in the first place. Things got this way because of the inaction of people. People rather watch their TV series or watch cat videos on YouTube than educate themselves about politics.
I would also disagree with the point that privileged people do not care or that they are disconnected from politics. That is just simply not true for many of them. The power elites depend desperately on politics. It is through politics that they continue to maintain control of their power and wealth. They are very much affected when political policies change, such as taxes corporate laws, immigration, off shore labor etc.
I can honestly say that I am not very political. If I do talk about any forms of politics it’s with my mom after we watch something on the news. None of my friends are involved in politics. I don’t even think that the few friends that I have are even registered to vote. My mother always taught me that you should know about this things that are happening in the world and when it comes to politics, we really only talk about elections when someone is running for some form of office that might be closely affecting us. Now that the presidential election is coming up, my mom and I have talked about Hilary Clinton and how stupid Donald Trump is. Any talks about politics is never with a peer of mine. It is mostly always with an adult. I feel like kids my age aren’t interested in anything political unless their taking a political science class. I believe that people my age don’t really pay attention to the politics because it’s something that doesn’t interest them as much as Snap Chat and Instagram does. The most they would get interested in politics would have to be memes that are created over social media. Until they see something coming across their newsfeed, there is no taking the initiative to want to know certain things just out of their own curiosity. Me personally, I try to watch State of the Union speeches to have some form of clue as to what this nation is going through. I feel that because politics isn’t somethin that a really follow, my mother and I make it our business to watch things like that. We also watch debates because it is good to see what the people are about that are trying to pretty much take your lives in their own hands. I do some from a military family but it’s never been my personal goal to join and want to really be apart of “the fight”. I might not know that much about politics but I would never want to be completely uninformed. I’d like to be able to have some form of a conversation with another person. For the people that don’t take it upon themselves to want to know something about this country, I think that is strange because how can you live somewhere and not know that things that are going on. Of course you can’t know everything, but you should want to know something.
I don’t say “I am not political,” but I seldom talk politics. I rarely post anything political on social media unless it has a real funny angle. However, I often read newspaper articles about political issues and some of the political posts on social media because I like to have an idea of what is going on, but I rarely engage. There is a major difference between me and the lady from the article; I am aware of my privilege. Privilege is a funny concept. My privilege does not put money in my bank account, but it makes it so I don’t have to worry that my application for a bank loan will be denied because of the color of my skin. My privilege will not buy me a place in Heaven, but reduces the likelihood my place of worship will be infiltrated by the FBI or fire-bombed by some jerk. My privilege will not get me my dream job, but will allow me to apply without fear that my application will automatically be rejected. Bottom line, I have to work for everything I want, but I don’t have to work twice as hard to get only half of what I get.
Why are so many young people disconnected from the reasons we go to war? There is no single answer. The lady in the article is disconnected because it makes no difference in her life. Neither she nor anyone she cares for will fight those wars. She has no skin in the game. If you are wealthy and privileged, odds are you will not have to fight the wars. If anything, the wars may be good for your personal well being if you or your family have money invested in the companies that profit from war. Of course, that does not turn you into a war monger, but you have no incentive to actively oppose war or even take a position on the war issue.
It is easy to understand how those not affected by wars are disconnected from why we go to war, but how do we explain the disconnect of those who are affected? One possibility is that they believe they have no influence on the process, and involvement is a waste of time and energy. Another possibility is that they believe those in charge know what they are doing and it would be unpatriotic to second guess them. Then there is the possibility that somebody, for whatever reason, really could not care less.
Whatever the reason, way too many young people are disconnected. What gets in the way of their understanding the rationale underlying US foreign policy? The answer lies in the reason of their disconnect. If they are not affected, they have no incentive to be concerned. Same applies if they feel powerless, why bother if you can do nothing about it? If you trust the powers-that-be, then you have no reason to concern yourself with policy. Finally, if you don’t care then you have no need to worry about policy details.
I am definitely not into politics. Unfortunately, due to our current president candidacy chaos, utilizing business mentality, Donald Trump has manage to sell by attracting the mentality of those with limited education or grown weariness of current political structure, who do not need more than behavior to feel empowered not realizing the danger behind his behavior because they do not know any better. His language has been kept simple as to not scare away those who see and identify with his attitude. It’s truly appalling to see what is happening. Also Trump is managing to segregate once again the population making it easier to oppress and keep voting population in order not to mention the advantage he has with groups practicing hate crimes to protect their political opinions targeting minorities unfortunately. It has been the scariest scenes captured by far in my lifetime by media everywhere since Hitler. I fear what is to come. Ignorance is expensive! He is the representation of everything we have fought against stripping away our right to have our own opinions. He is so weak he cannot listen to opinions that do not agree with his belief system or cause threat. He has gone as far as stating once he becomes president; it will be a crime to talk against him. This is against our constitutional rights. The fact that Trump believes and uses violent strategies while utilizing the United States Secret Service is even more sickening. I am not saying his existence or personality type is unique for we have so many racist among us, but have manage tolerance and living with one another. We all have differences. We all witness things we do not agree with. These differences however, do not give anyone the right or privilege to hurt/violate/target/bagger others. We are all human. We all belong to the same species and must be above all kind to one another because believe or not we are more alike than what we choose to recognize. When we are ill, we all want to be cared after. When we have children, we need that village to raise them. When we are unsure, we all look for guidance and answers, hell!, when we are hungry, we go fucking grab something to eat. What makes one person worth more than another? Nothing. Once again, I am not into politics, I am into rebuilding humanity and spreading love. I am into the reconstruction of a new progressive society where we all can be recognized for our unique talents as oppose to corporate manufacturing we have in place where we educate by replicating instead of truly learning and discover individuality and where we shine.
It is so much fun to make the “I’m not Political” people squirm when you pop their bubble. These are people who have never had to fight for anything in their entire lives and they cower at the thought of conflict. And it doesn’t stop at politics, these are people who would use the “I’m not Political” line as deflection from any questions about race, gender, poverty, student loan debt, sexual orientation, or anything else that asks them to do the dreaded critical thinking that they are so afraid of. I wouldn’t be surprised if they use it if someone asks them if they like crust or no crust on their toast.
They really think they’re nice when they say this crap. But all they’re really being is apathetic and ignorant.
When someone uses that line on me, I smash down that weak deflection with the power fist of reality. I don’t take that line as an answer, I continue to probe them by asking why.
Why aren’t you political about the murder committed by your government on your tax dollar? I got news for you, you’re involved. Why aren’t you political about learning the social-economic issues that contribute to poverty? I got news for you, you’ll feel the effects when you’re being torn apart by a mob who is the right shade of desperate for cash. I drag them, kicking and screaming, into the real world where they realize how shallow they really are. And that makes me feel so go as it distracts me from the fact that in any moment a government official who is paid by my tax dollars could decide that I’m a threat.
To be honest to you guys, if these people were just honest I wouldn’t care so much. I would respect them more if they flat out said ” I don’t care about the issue because they don’t effect me because all I care about is me.”
Just know what you really are.
The word “politics” did not come across my mind until the end of high school when I took U.S. government and politics to learn about our country’s bureaucratic system. When I think of “politics” I think of it as an organized structure to help people live their lives and survive. I mean, that is why we have policies, laws and rights. However, the system has been corrupted and man’s kind have been taken over through greed and power to move up in the hierarchy. The way how the U.S. markets itself to be this great country with wonderful opportunities and how people can achieve the “American Dream” was what inspired my parents to immigrate here. I feel that we are blessed to have these bill of rights such as freedom of speech or print, bear arms, the Miranda rights and etc. But, over the years people have crossed over these boundaries from gun ownership to hate crimes and violence.
I think young people are disconnected from the reasons we go to war in this country is the lack of awareness and shared experiences. Nowadays, most people are distracted and busy in the realms of digital media and sometimes lack awareness of their surroundings. I, myself is guilty of that. Sometimes I do not understand why we go to war. A simple example, is post 9/11, where some of us were in 3rd grade when this happened. We see fire, planes and injured people, then the U.S. went after Muslims and Afghanistan. Why is there a need for retaliation when your country needs to fix itself first? Sometimes when there is a police officer in the school or on the train, there’s a sense of surveillance and tension of power, that the police is right and you’re wrong. It may be hard to relate to them or even ask for help in fear of suspicion or threat. Simply, the uniform gives off the vibe of superiority, fear and lookout, which may be why we may feel disconnected to soldiers or figures.
From the article, I do agree that “politics divide people”, because of history. We see how rules divide people, such as during slavery where sales were used for trade, post-slavery and segregation to immigration. For example, the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, was the first racialized law to prohibit Chinese immigrants from entering the U.S., because we created this fear to the Americans by taking their jobs.
To be political what does that mean? I find myself being more politically minded the more I am involved in the affairs of a world I see, read and think about.
Politics is seen as a source of power whether big or small. A small power source of politics could be being involved in your building’s co-op board or being a volunteer in a local community kitchen. If you believe a building’s board of directors are not doing a good job managing building finances, you can lobby with like-minded tenants to get backing so when the annual meeting comes around you have enough votes to be elected and be able to make positive changes, not only for oneself, but for all those who backed you. Volunteering in a kitchen, preparing food with a community, helps you see that not everyone is the same.
On a larger scale, the wealthy have enormous funds to lobby politicians for their own causes whether it be war, economy or healthcare. These people have a great power called money to advance their causes. The presidential election is an opportunity to watch wealth at work. Donald Trump, the orange guy, warned on ABC News on 12/29/15, “if anybody goes after me, I will spend a lot of money against the people who go after me.”
Politics is a lot of things to a lot different people. If you choose not be involved in change as this woman is comfortable in her bubble of wealth and does not want to be disturbed. She will not see the world as it really is around her, it must be nice. Money does not always buy you happiness or awareness.
Growing up, I never really dwelled into politics as I felt like it was distant from my personal life and interests. One of the reason that might be is that as an immigrant in various countries, I did not have the opportunity to make my voice heard by voting thus complaining about the leadership of a country and standing up to do something about it felt like a luxury I was not afforded. The convoluted climate politics in my own country and the abuse of power by the leadership made me apolitical. I did not care about the finger pointing sensationalism or the huge amount of money spent on political campaign but I did care about immigration laws, the struggling economy, education and affordable health care for all regardless of their social status and race.
Years ago, I came upon a quote from Bertolt Brech, which made me reanalyze my way of thinking. “The imbecile (political illiterate) doesn’t know that, from his political ignorance is born the prostitute, the abandoned child, and the worst thieves of all, the bad politician, corrupted and flunky of the national and multinational companies.” I realize that if I am interested in making a change, I must be involved in the discussion. Not doing anything is just as bad as agreeing with ideas or policies I oppose. I am still struggling with what I can do but as of now staying informed, thinking critically as opposed to just swallowing what I am told to believe and uncovering hidden messages or agenda are preparing me to make wiser decisions when the time comes to step up. I think that changes and improvement will come when people start caring and realizing that politicians and corporations’ main interest are power and money.
I strongly believe the reason so many young people are disconnected from the reasons we go to war and or our foreign policy is because those in power, the “power elite”, want them blindfolded with more importance place on mainstream celebrities and less on the real issues. On the flip coin, it is more comfortable for some of them to just believe what they are told without questioning authorities.
How can even a young, rich, devil-may-care privileged person be so disconnected from the harsh realities of THIS LIFE and the WORLD of today? Simple! it’s called PRIVILEGED. These individuals are unaffected by anything that affects the LITTLE people….AS they should be. they are sheltered, protected, and everything they get is handed to them. Their lives are pre-determined, and who the Hell are WE LITTLE PEOPLE to question their lack of knowledge of what the LITTLE PEOPLE have to deal with day-to-day. our heartaches & heartbreaks, war, poverty,hunger, homelessness, etc. Who The Hell Are We To Bring Any Of These ISSUES To Their Attention and RISK Shattering The Illusory Views They Have Been Fed All Their Privileged Lives From Silver Spoons? JUST WHO DO WE THINK WE ARE? We are the little people. Please forgive us………………….