Politics, the Most Powerful Taboo
Talk about it!
You’ve heard all your life not to talk about three things: religion, sex and politics, and I would add money. But the one that doesn’t fit in this list of taboos, but rather is at the head of it, is Politics. Because politics really defines everything else in the list - the politics of religion, the politics of sex, the politics of money.
In each case, it means people talking with each other about the cultural norms we want to live with in our communities. Tip O’Neill famously said,
All politics is local.
Actually, his father said it and O’Neill constantly had to give him credit.
I’m going to argue that in this election year, “local” is much bigger than the place where you live. The issues in your town, city or rural area are probably similar to others all across America.
For example, North Carolina Republican leaders are undermining public education by shifting public tax money to private schools. In my rural county, public school buildings are in disrepair, students need more mental health counseling than Commissioners will pay for, and teachers are harassed and often can’t afford to live here.
It might be the same where you live.
The other side of this dire picture is that people everywhere are stepping up to run for local office. They care about people. They don’t have political experience, but all have volunteered and worked in their communities.
You might know a candidate who, like Andrea Ocasio-Cortez in 2015, saw the need for a community advocate in local government. Ocasio-Cortez said,
My decision to run for office was a decision that found me. When Trump was elected, I was uncertain about our country. In my area we had low voter turnout because people felt ignored and had no real representation.
I was 27, I had no network, no money. I decided my first goal would be community, not money. So for the first 6 months I asked for house parties, just for people to hear me out. Then the support started to come.
There’s so much disinformation now, that what matters is that you can look people in the eye and they can trust you. I won my seat by 13 points.
This reminds me of what it does look like to care more about money than people. In 2017 I heard Buncombe County GOP Chair Carl Mumpower tell a crowd that teachers enter the profession not for money, but to help children, and that more pay would just insult them. The teachers in the audience loudly objected!
I don’t live in Buncombe County. Still, in my own county I recognize Mumpower’s dismissive attitude. So, to say that “All politics is local” doesn’t mean that we’re isolated. It means we all have more in common than we think.
Enthusiastic new candidates and volunteers like ours are showing up at local Democratic headquarters all over the country. The time for change in America is now, and our strength together as a nation is far more than we can see from our own Main Street.
And the Politics behind all these new Democratic candidates and volunteers? To quote Vice President Theodore Roosevelt,
The most practical kind of politics is the politics of decency.
This election was not about the candidates or their policies but the general population doing what is in the best interest of them selves and their family.
It looks like the people have plan for our country by the democratic process that is in place. We have a constitution and should be upheld by every politician on either party. A person’s right to vote on any candidate must be respected. It is our duty to see that this happens no matter what our personal view may be.