Everything is political

[Ichingcarpenter]

Politics are the process by which people or groups of people make collective decisions that affect an entire community or nation-state. Politics is a force of human nature by which the hierarchical human social construct of power is manipulated, transferred, and/or put into use for the benefit of the collective entity. It is human nature to be power hungry, each group or individual believes that their ability to make collective decisions is superior to the other. The ability to make collective decisions is what defines power. All political factions compete for power.

Politics rule all forms of social activity because human beings evolved to create a division of labor and activity as an optimal means of surviving. It is very difficult to decipher which came first, politics or civilization; it is yet another variant of the “chicken or egg” dilemma. However, one thing is clear about their relationship, they constitute a self-perpetuating system of human interaction. Civilization could never exist without politics, in the animal kingdom, the issue of power is also crucial to the collective survival of wolves. Wolves do not challenge the status of the alpha male, they simply instinctively know who is strong enough to lead the pack. Wolves live an apolitical lifestyle. Unfortunately, the rapidly changing circumstances of human civilization necessitate a constant challenging of authority to adapt. Politics are the means by which humans best adapt to changing circumstances and evolving views of human epistemology. Thus politics are a constant adversarial struggle. All historians agree that history is made by political conflict. The nature of the events surrounding political conflict is what historians disagree about.

Politics are everywhere. Politics are found even in areas of study that are meant to be solemn and ideally non-political like religion. All religions make political statements that attempt to answer what is the best cultural norm to adopt for the optimal means of survival with peace. Religious leaders can function politically within their respective religious organization. The mixing of politics and religion may be taboo among adherents of modern Western civilization but this phenomenon is nothing new. The idea of a theocratic government is older than any kind of secular democracy, the ancient Egyptian Pharaoh had a dual role of political leader and religious leader. The question of the efficacy of this form of government is up to the political philosophy to which one may subscribe.
The truth is, however, that all human social interactions, to some extent politics within them; hence, the logical fallacy of the phrase “politically apathetic.” If all human interactions are political to some extent, then completely disengaging in political activity is virtually impossible. The only instance in which a living person can be completely cut off from human interaction is when a person has completely lost his sanity or consciousness. So politics is ever present due to the competitive nature of human interactions.


http://www.udfl.net/everything-is-political.html

Not my words but being a Political Scientist I always thought it was



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politics

[stray cat]

1. All of life is physics

[blondeatlast]

2. Indeed it is. It's a way of resolving the conflicts any open society faces.

If we can't do it civilly--well, we know all too well the answer to that. War, torture, and people taking matters into their own violent hands.

When did we become this sick?

[unblock]

3. yup. shopping is political.

purchasing is hiring. it's saying "i think someone should have a job producing these goods and services, and get paid some portion of the money i'm forking over."

shop at costco instead of wal-mart, and you're voting for more social resources to be directed to employees and owners of a comparatively labor-friendly store. shop at wal-mart instead of costco, and you're voting to fund sweatshops in china while americans go looking for work.

it all matters, though it's far more effective when done as a bloc.

[Hippo_Tron]

4. People often use "Political" to mean "Partisan Politics"

They are specifically referring to Democrats vs Republicans or liberals vs conservatives. That is generally what they are referring to when they say that somebody is "politicizing" something.

[warren pease]

5. And these days...

...everything political is about money. Richly paid venom-spewers foster a climate of hate and fear -- not necessarily because they believe their own bullshit, but because hate mongering and bogeyman creation is now a very well-paid career. Obscene speaking fees reward them for shilling for the corporate oligarchy.

And the billionaire puppet masters who pull their strings are further enriched by operating in an environment in which hatred and fear are simply ways to con consumers into thoughtlessly fattening the corporate bottom line.

For example: the alleged debate over national health care galvanized tens of millions of low-information idiots into predictably supporting the corporate for-profit position, to the detriment of their own interests. As usual.

As in: "Keep your filthy gummint hands off my Medicare."


wp