“We live in a political world”—Bob Dylan
Definition of political
1a: of or relating to government, a government, or the conduct of government
b: of, relating to, or concerned with the making as distinguished from the administration of governmental policy
2: of, relating to, involving, or involved in politics and especially party politics—Merriam Webster Online Dictionary
Occasionally I’ll see someone interviewed by a member of the news media. When asked a question they demur, stating they don’t want to be “too political”. What does this mean? When did political become a pejorative? I guess what they mean is: a. I haven’t really thought about it, or b. I’ve thought about it but don’t want to tell you. Either way it’s an evasion. Maybe they realize politics is related to government, and they see government as evil.
We live in a representative democracy—or at least we used to. We elect representatives through a political process called elections. Now we have a significant number of people who believe that elections were rigged, and encouraged by former president Trump, don’t believe that Joe Biden is the legitimate elected president. I believe that a significant number of those would be ones who would defer a question by the news media as “too political”.
One can use logic to point out that without government there would be no roads, bridges, or military. They believe, a la Ronald Reagan, that government is not a solution, but the problem. If that is the case, why do they want to re-instate the former president to government power? Why do they fall for outlandish conspiracy theories? I conclude you can’t use logic to counter either conspiracy or know-nothing ism.
We live in troubling times. As the events of January 6 revealed, there are those who are passionate about their perceived patriotism and will fight for what they believe is their God-given duty to preserve a way of life that is fading before them. You can accuse them of being misguided, but whatever you do, don’t accuse them of being too “political”.
