By Ande Jacobson
I don’t like politics, but I have voted in every election since I turned 18 because I see it as my civic duty as an American to not only vote, but do so responsibly.
I don’t like politics, but I study the issues to understand how they affect us all and where our representation stands.
I don’t like politics, but I studied US history and civics in high school when they were still required courses, so I understand how our government is supposed to work. I even went through the citizenship study questions for fun to test my knowledge. Sadly, the vast majority of native-born adults couldn’t pass the citizenship test today which randomly draws 20 US history and civics questions from the 128 study questions. A score of 60% (12/20) or better is required to pass. Our government’s political structure is there to truly make a positive difference for the country and the world if we work together to make it happen.
I don’t like politics because too many politicians will do anything to get elected including flat out lie to the public and take bribes rather than honestly and seriously work for the public good. That’s not to say that all politicians are bad. Some truly want to serve the public good, and it’s up to the electorate to determine who will work in the public’s best interests and who will only serve to further their personal or professional greed. Unfortunately, it takes effort to sort fact from fiction regarding the candidates and the issues, and far too many voters lack the skill and/or the will to do that work. Still, when that work is done, great things can happen that move us toward the ideals our founders envisioned.
I don’t like politics, but our political system is how we as citizens have a say in our government. The democratic system the founders enacted was revolutionary in its time and served as a model for how a nation’s people could enact the government they wanted based on the law, not the whims of a king. We still do, and it’s up to us to use our voices and our votes wisely.
I don’t like politics, but only through active participation in our political process can we affect change for the better. Democracy cannot function without an informed and engaged electorate. The system isn’t perfect, and as recent events have shown us, there is always the potential for corruption and abuse by bad actors. Still, WE THE PEOPLE can and do make a difference.
Politics requires compromise to find the best overall solution to the challenges that face the nation. In a healthy democracy, no one group gets everything it wants, but everyone is represented and gets a say in the ultimate solution that hopefully benefits the vast majority of people. It is often a painful process as tradeoffs are considered, but in the end, the goal is to keep moving forward toward the ideals set forth by the founders of the nation.
We as a nation have not yet achieved the ideals we claim to represent such as opportunity for all and equality for all under the law. We have made great progress since the nation was founded, and yet as we’ve seen recently that progress can be halted and even reversed if we let that happen.
We’re living through difficult times in part due to the technological advances we’ve made. We have information at our fingertips that used to take days, weeks, or even months to find not all that long ago. That ease of access to information overall has allowed us to learn and grow at remarkable speeds, but it has also allowed those with nefarious intent to have greater influence. It’s up to us to evaluate the information we consume to sort fact from fiction. That used to be done for us in the past when information traveled more slowly. That’s not to say that there weren’t also bad actors, but we had a common understanding of our reality on which to base our decisions. Today, because of the ease of influence, that reality is challenged by those wishing to cause harm to others for their own personal gain.
The thing is that the common good actually does help us all, but we have to be able to look past our own noses and personal desires, i.e., we cannot let personal greed (or a candidate’s greed) drive our politics.
I don’t like politics, but I understand their necessity in a modern society. Politics are everywhere, not just the government. Any time you have a group of more than a couple of people, politics enter the arena. In the workplace, politics abound whether we like it or not. In school, politics have an overarching effect in driving curriculum and staffing decisions as well as the day to day functioning of schools as a whole.
In a sense, politics are native to human group dynamics. Politics drive group decision-making whether we like it or not. On a small scale, the effects may not have significant consequences, but once we get to the government levels, their significance increases.
We don’t have to like politics, but we do have to understand them.
In early 2024, Teri Kanefield released a fascinating book entitled A Firehose of Falsehood that talked about the distinction between misinformation and disinformation and how the latter has been used throughout history. Misinformation is information that is accidentally misleading; whereas, disinformation is intentional and is meant to deceive. It’s often difficult to separate the use of disinformation from politics because it’s been a political tool since ancient times. It’s used to influence the public for political gain by distorting reality and creating a believable but false narrative by nefarious political agents seeking an advantage for personal gain. Beyond giving readers the colorful history of disinformation, Kanefield provides definitive methods for protecting ourselves from its effects, especially in today’s technological information age.
Politics in and of themselves are neither good nor bad. Their merit depends on how they are used. On the surface, politics define the process by which organizational negotiations are conducted. Politics at the governmental level define how resources are allocated, power is distributed, and societal policies are defined and exercised. That can be a benefit or a scourge. It all depends on how we, the electorate, collectively participate.
I don’t like politics, but I try very hard to engage in a positive way, not just for myself, but for my community and for the country as a whole. My vote, like everyone else’s matters. My voice, like everyone else’s also matters.
References:
Letters from an American
terikanefield.com
A Firehose of Falsehood, by Teri Kanefield
A Good Reed Review 