Wo/man the Political Animal

(The English author who showed how dangerous politics and power could get–something we’re seeing more of now in the Western world)

Everything and everyone seems to have become politicized these daze in the Western world. I certainly have become more political again since the twin bozos, Trump and Trudeau, got elected. They are frightful, frightening creatures, both. One is overwhelmed by their lack of caring, their 100% ‘rightness’, and unstoppable dictatorial powers. Ordinary folk must needs speak out; free speech is the last bastion of Western democracy.

Anyway back to the topic. Everything is politicized from birth and before even. When two people marry and fight about their values and how much compromise each will be expected to make. This extends into whether of not to have kids, where and how they will live, what their dreams, goals, and expectations are. It is no wonder that the divorce rate is as high as it’s been going back to the sixties.

Kids, from birth are a source of politicization. Arguments about how to raise the kids, whether they’ll stay at home or be ‘farmed out’ during the day while parents work, how and what they’ll be fed, how they’ll be treated medically, which schools, churches, or extra-curricular they’ll go to, etc. It’s a long list of political landmines from birth into K or grade 1. And the politics continue right through up to the late teens and early 20s, when kids then become more autonomous and legally responsible for themselves.

And then a whole new run of politicizing takes place as kids move into adulthood and the job world. On the back end of things, there are new and more politics as people grow older, need more health care, or are closer to death.

To a large extent, coming of age and adult life are about negotiating the never-ending run of political conflicts and crises. Politics, to a large extent, rules our lives as much as economic conditions and relative amount of freedom and autonomy. Just about every context and episode is political in some way and personal choices in response to these define a life quite often, based on the values and beliefs which underlie who we essentially are.

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