Hunting The Muse

Politics Matters

Dogan asks me about why I am so political, and brings up the point that he rarely feels affected by all the political goings-on personally. First, I don't actually see myself as extremely political - I don't participate in campaigns (yet) or anything, for one thing. But I guess it's a matter of degree.

Well, there are a variety of generic responses to give to a question like this. Most of these responses are stupid. Here are some examples.

Evangelistic Altruisim:

But you SHOULD care! People are hurting out there! Just because you aren't doesn't mean other people aren't! Look at the poor people! Look at Evelyn McWilliams! Look at George Bush punch her in the mouth! Doesn't that make you feel sorry for Evelyn? Doesn't that make you dislike George Bush? Poor Evelyn! Evil evil Bush!

Usually when I get that response, I just want to punch the mouth of the person giving it to me. :-) I think it's simplistic and I don't think it inspires the recipient to actually care. In other words, if the intent is evangelism, the technique works against the intent.

Dark Foreboding Foreshadowing:

It doesn't affect you personally? Just wait.

Well, that may have a grain of truth in it, but it isn't exactly helpful. It scores points for dramatic effect, though! Usually the person saying it is trying to break into show business.

The Canned "You're A Nazi If You Don't Care" Response:

First they came for the Jews and I did not speak out — because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for the communists and I did not speak out — because I was not a communist.

Then they came for the trade unionists and I did not speak out — because I was not a trade unionist.

Then they came for me — and by then there was no one left to speak out for me.

—  Pastor Martin Niemöller

Let me be clear I don't have a quarrel with the Pastor. I think it's a very powerful quote. Especially considering that when he said it, he probably said it in the context of the Holocaust. But when people start using it to guilt people into thinking the way they want them to think, it's a cheap trick. I've seen this quote used a few times to shock someone else to "come to their senses".

Now, I'm not intending to set up straw men here; just examples. I'm saying that I don't like when someone tries to strong-arm someone else into having an opinion. The strong-arming really just skips whatever personal reality the person might have for not having that opinion. It ultimately discounts the person it is trying to maniuplate, and again, isn't helpful.

So, where does that leave me, and why do I care?

I guess it's because I believe in ripples. I don't believe that every person can change the world. I don't believe that I can change everything in the world. But, I do believe in the power of ripples. I do believe that my little ripples combined with everyone else's ripples can result in a change. And, I even believe that in some cases, if my ripple weren't there, the resulting change from all rest of the ripples might be a little different than if my little ripple had been there.

The thing that is important to see is how big and massive these systems are. I'm not able to stop Bush from going to war against Iraq. But Bush is elected by elections that sometimes rely on voting machines that don't have their counting procedures audited, in precincts which have results that don't match up to the exit polling, and there are fifty states, and maybe I can participate in the public comment period of one of these states, as I did in Washington, and help convince them to not use electronic voting machines from a particular vendor.

I guess the other thing is that I believe that even huge massive systems and realities have a balance point, where it can rapidly tip to one side or the other, and I believe we're on a balance point now. A little nudge one way or another, even by a very small group of people, can create huge change.

The other reason I care about politics is because the struggles and battles that happen strike me as being very archetypal. The fight of someone who tries to corrupt another, or tries to encourage someone to corrupt himself, in an effort to accumulate more power. The fight to discredit an idea or a person, in order to inflate an opposing idea or person. These are all battles we fight inside ourselves as well, and witnessing the resolution of these battles can give us clues on how to relate to our own senses of power. And as these archetypal battles are fought over and over again, always leading to something that feels like a net loss, once in a while there's reason to believe that we can stumble on to approaches that lead to real healing instead.

P.S.: In another note, there was a mentioning of compromise and how it was discouraging. I think that the belief that opposing realities has to lead to compromise is a big misunderstanding. If you have two opposing realities, one way to handle it is to discredit one side, or discredit both sides equally, and come to a resolution that neither side is extremely happy with. But another way to handle it is to actually work with the two realities enough that they come to a transformative understanding. This isn't anything new-age or revolutionary, it happens in the business world all the time - they call it synergy, or negotiation, or win-win scenarios. I believe they are always there, if both parties want to find them. I think that true politics - policy - is the art of finding them.

I also do feel personally affected by politics. I could give a big list of how, but I'm not sure that's what was being asked for.

Posted by Curt at September 17, 2003 06:39 PM