One of the enduring frustrations of political life is the frequency with which those of us who regularly vote encounter Americans who dismiss the importance–indeed, the relevance–of politics. “Oh, I’m not political,” these folks tell us, as if an interest in who governs us and how is akin to a fondness for a certain television show, or engagement with a hobby.
Judging from the number of people who are eligible to vote but don’t bother to cast ballots, there are millions of people who utterly fail to connect their lives and prospects to the policies and competence of the governing regimes under which they live–who fail to understand that, at base, pretty much everything is political.
A recent essay by Rick Perlstein in the American Prospect made the case for that connection.
Perlstein began by noting that Scientific American had endorsed Kamala Harris. This is only the second time in that publication’s 179-year history that it has made a presidential endorsement, and the decision to do so prompted criticisms. Critics argued that engaging in the campaign was a bad idea–that it just risked giving aid and comfort to conservatives who “want nothing more than to be able to credibly claim the scientific community as just one more in a malign den of elite liberal villainy.”
They say the endorsement degrades what is most valuable in science’s operative ideal: that its results are ideologically neutral, because scientists follow evidence objectively without reference to who benefits, and that once science becomes “politicized,” it will not truly be science anymore.
I understand and respect those arguments. But I disagree. If anything, I think the Scientific American endorsement doesn’t go nearly far enough.
In Perlstein’s view, negative reactions to the endorsement should be part of a much larger discussion about how institutions, organizations (and indeed, all of us)– should think about electoral politics. In this case, he focused that discussion on the question “when is it appropriate to break norms of behavior?” (It has been a norm, for example, that science is non-political, at least in the partisan sense.) His discussion is well worth reading in its entirety, but it triggered a somewhat different stream of thought for me.
Is it really possible for a human who lives in a society–a non-hermit–to be nonpolitical? With that question, I suppose I’m returning to a conviction I have often voiced: language is important. Using language to communicate requires that those participating in the conversation agree on the meanings of the words being used. When people declare that they are not “political,” I’m fairly certain that they mean they don’t engage in partisanship–that they are uninterested in contests between political parties and their spokespeople. (We can quibble with that declaration too, but that’s a subject for a different time.)
What they fail to understand is that politics encompasses far more than the battles between political parties. All activities associated with decision-making in groups, and virtually all other power relationships between and among individuals, are political. Politics governs the distribution of goods and services–or, for that matter, the distribution of status–in a given society.
When you think about the various ways that public decision-making affects us all, hundreds of examples come to mind.
Workers who have no redress for wage theft, battered wives in societies that accord husbands “dominion” over their spouses, homeowners unprotected by zoning laws that prevent the guy next door from operating a tavern from his living room…The hundreds of laws and customs that allow communities to function and individuals to flourish– are all the result of politics, the result of decisions about the way people relate to each other, decisions about what constitutes fair play and justice, decisions about our obligations to our fellow humans.
Which brings me back to Perlstein’s central observation: saying that we shouldn’t “politicise” science–or any area of human conduct–is meaningless, because every area of our common lives is inescapably shaped by political decision-making. The decision by scientists to rely on evidence–and their definitions of what constitutes reliable evidence– is political. Educators’ choices of what subjects to teach (and how) is political. A journalist’s decision to report Item A and ignore item B is political.
Recognizing the power of government and choosing to be governed by people who respect the Constitution and the Rule of Law is unquestionably political–it affects every other aspect of the social and political reality we inhabit.
Americans who don’t understand that, who won’t bother to vote or educate themselves about the choices before us, are ultimately as dangerous as the MAGA folks who vote their fears and bigotries.
When one party considers using Nuclear bombs to affect the weather, I think it is far past time for scientists to speak up.
Political Science 101. Hmmm. 🤔
Wouldn’t it be a wonderful site to see Indiana Democrats displaying the same excitement about this 2024 election that we are seeing in news reports of Taylor Swift’s appearances at Lucas Oil Stadium!!! Or even the same excitement they display for Colts’ games at Lucas Oil Stadium.
Priorities of Americans today are highly questionable; truth has been left by the wayside and public displays of lost morals have taken over Americanism. Trump has proven one old adage to be true; that ANYONE can grow up to be President of the United States of America. Can you really call his campaign foundation “political”?
This essay reads to something I’ve mentioned before as one of the elements of why there are MAGAs at all as well as voter apathy: Intellectual sloth. As a former scientist and science educator, using the marvelous gift of the human mind to solve problems and define our universe is what makes us human. We wouldn’t have all these incredible things and modern societies without those agile minds in science working hard to bring them into being.
But Republican strategy requires the dumbing-down and backwardness of those mentioned above. It’s how Republicans get their wealth on the backs of others without having to follow the rules. When one reads about the inherited wealth of our current billionaires who STILL want tax cuts, we need no other evidence to see why politics is so critical to our survival as a democratic republic.
Did anyone hear that raving lunatic at a Trump rally screaming about socialism? Norris, he would flunk Poly-Sci 101. He had NO idea what he was screeching about. Then, the bar was lowered further and Trump came out. GAH!
This is one of the lessons of history that we’ve never learned. One third of us simply refuse to engage in our political system, or more appropriately, our system of government.
That’s not great in a democratic republic, where we the people have an important role to play. It makes it easier for a cult, like the MAGA movement, not just to exist, but to take the reins of government.
It makes me think of one of my favorite lines from the movies: “Well, here’s another nice mess you’ve gotten me into.” (Stan Laurel to Oliver Hardy in many of their movies.) We do have a mess and we need the voices and the participation of the final third if we want to make our world make sense again.
“My vote does not matter”, said 7 million people…
I watched Megyn Kelly on Bill Maher and was pretty horrified at what I saw. I knew her politics were conservative of course, but her looks – like an overly glammed-up Ann Coulter – and her strident demeanor – full of borderline conspiratorial and hardline MAGA stuff – was not what I expected (I remember trump demeaning her yeas ago at a debate she co-hosted). I remembered her as right wing, certainly not crazy, but this performance was Kool-Aid material. Lots of folks follow her, and her relentless hard core arguments must be convincing to many on the right. Bill tried to reason with her, even agreeing with her partly on one issue, but she was having none of any attempt at reasonable discussion. It simply reminded me of just how starkly our country is divided, has always been divided, only this time the poisonous hatred has oozed to the surface, leaving us in pretty much a do or die situation. I am seeing an ever so slight edge in the polls – which I am very suspect of – for Kamala, and am encouraged. I hope with all my heart they are right this time.
Well, I’ll admit once again how I didn’t follow politics for decades. My uninformed vote would be malpractice to our country. It wasn’t until I got married to a foreigner and lived abroad that I could study politics and Obama had just come aboard. If I still lived in Indiana, I probably would be more active in it. The red wall in Indiana needs to be brought down and gerrymandering outlawed. Good luck. Your post today is something I could relate to. Vote, vote, vote!
I forgot to mention that my naturalized spouse gets discouraged that everything is political now. I’m going to send him this post to show him why.
It’s hilarious to say the scientific community should avoid politics. Where do we train scientists? If a college campus, specifically for the sciences, isn’t political, I don’t know what politics is in this country. It’s both political and partisan.
Due to the cohort of anti-China politicians in Washington, they cut all federal funding from universities that had relations with China. We can’t have good relations with China because they are kicking our asses in the field of science. If it’s that way under Biden, imagine what it will be like under Trump, who wants to fire the Washington bureaucratic scientists.
I would say that much of our scientific body is coerced in this country due to monied interests. With public dollars leaving universities, private dollars have replaced the void and come with strings. This is why university leadership looks more and more like politicians than business or acclaimed scientists.
This is all commonplace within any organization of society with democratic intent. Ours was destroyed from the beginning and only got worse. Heed the statement from the sociologist Robert Michels in Iron Law of Oligarchy:
“By controlling who has access to information, those in power can centralize their power successfully, often with little accountability, due to the apathy, indifference and non-participation most rank-and-file members have in relation to their organization’s decision-making processes.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_law_of_oligarchy#:~:text=directives%20to%20follow.-,Implications,large%20groups%20and%20complex%20organizations.
The good news is that in a Democracy, everyone votes what’s in their heads.
Three national Chief Executive choices: Harris, Trump, stay home.
We might know who won by Wednesday or Thursday if we’re lucky.
I’m confident it will be Harris.
That’s good news, but it’s terrible, too.
The Trump-inspired national shit show is coming. A new one, but slightly different than his campaigning but an insult to democracy just the same.
I’m sure that I will be offended by it.,
I was born in November. All I want for my birthday is a blue tsunami.
That’s supposed homemade cake looked wonderful 250 years ago! But after 250 years of that cake setting on the table, it’s not so wonderful looking, what was once alluring has been devoured by maggots and Beatles, full of mold and rot, poisonous to consumption.
The time to worry about all of these things would have been when Roosevelt went after the Robber Barons. As soon as he had gotten his legislation passed, the capitalist powers that be, got busy to short circuit any progress that was made. After John McCain ran out of money, citizens United became the law of the land. They were never going to let that happen again! After all, a more balanced playing field, not level or equalized, allowed a black man to become president.
When the authorities of the land, allow a politician to stand up in front of throngs of supporters, telling obviously bold-faced lies, with impunity, nothing good will ever come of it.
Religion was just a tool of politics all the way back as far as the written word goes. There were lots of warning signs, but nobody could actually smell the conflagration going on in their own house! Empires crumbled, humanity lived in dark ages, where it was illegal in some areas to even read! Keep them dumb, keep them fighting for survival, and you won’t have to worry about them.
No matter who wins, the fork has been thrust deep into the breast of the goose that has been cooked. The time is long past for correction. All of the work Roosevelt did, has been undone! You have these egotistical clowns trying to race to be the first trillionaire. And what good are they doing for the average citizen on this planet. Can you imagine if they would turn some of this financial regalia towards the suffering going on everywhere? It will never happen because Ego and Greed are more important than compassion and empathy.
You know why Elon Musk wants to get to Mars so badly? So he can spend all of his looted booty to build his own empire away from a planet that he helped destroy! And he can be another tin pot dictator who can actually control the weather, the oxygen supply and the food! A fascistic government on steroids!
Willful ignorance and delusion allows a belief in alternate reality. How many today live in that alternate reality? I would say, a mighty majority. That moldy rotten maggot infested brick that used to be a delicious and alluring cake, is still desirable to those who live the delusion. They can still taste that cake as if it was made yesterday, ignoring the poison is rot that they are consuming.
Excellent presentation, Sheila.
I expect that Scientific American made its choice exactly because the MAGA crowd, and its putrid leader are so militantly anti-science.
Some people use the claim that they are “not political” simply to avoid discussing a fraught subject with someone who they suspect might disagree with them. In a like-minded group, such people feel far more free to be “political” since their views will not be challenged.
Sharon, I very much hope you get what you want for your birthday!
This Blog post reminds me of Bob Dylan’s song “Political World”.
Needed a study to see why eligible voters don’t vote. What are the facts, why they don’t think it matters, or their vote has consequence? Using their freedom not to vote sends a message that needs to be understood. They are disenfranchised for reasons, and I suspect that political obstruction, intimidation shaming are at play.
Suzanne
Link to a funny music video like “Political world”.
https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=Wm0ETLv3zWk&si=DUcEkdKYzq0Y9_Mc
The scientific community should be staying up nights with the revelation that Bobby Kennedy Jr. will be put in charge of all health and science regulation, and with a statement by Trump that he’ll let Kennedy go “wild” with such regulation. Kennedy doesn’t believe in vaccines or in fluoride in our water to minimize tooth decay. if he agrees with the Trump administration’a Project 2025, then he will elimination the national weather service to privatize it to oil companies and other huge corporations. If regular folks want weather reports, we’ll have to pay the corporate piper for them. These two will destroy America’s pre-eminence in both science and health discoveries and treatments. Add to that that Trump still wants to repeal Obamacare. America’s school attendance and work attendance will decrease as will our productivity because disease and sickness will cause massive health absences from schools and from work.
I don’t think either Trump or Kennedy has the mental dexterity to understand that making us sicker will destroy our economy, especially at a time without health insurance to afford medications and treatment.
I am really afraid for our country right now.