“The political is personal!”…
I’m sure you’ve all heard that phrase thrown around a lot! The strident activist for whatever issue says it to urge others to join their cause. It’s thrown out there when others decide not to be politically active or join causes. To be honest, I think the phrase is too often overused and turns more people off than motivates them to take action. I myself have never really been interested in politics and was ever politically active until I started this blog. I also think that not everyone has to be or is obligated to be politically active! Many do have a tendency to over politicize every little issue and make it into a derisive thing that divides, not unities us in our society.
However, there is more than a grain of truth in that statement. Many issues I write about on A Lady of Reason are social issues. Racial tensions, culture clashes, hypocrisy and inequalities, gender relations, morality, and the like. Politics does impact our lives in various ways. The policies made in Washington do trickle down to the average citizen at some point! Our tax dollars fund their agendas. Attitudes about race “color” (pun intended 😉 ) how people may interact and view each other. Gender issues affect the dynamic between how men and women relate to one another. Our foreign policies and defense determine who’s our friends and enemies. Immigration policies determine who will be your neighbor, your classmates, your coworkers, what sort of society you will live in. Special interest groups’ agendas do have ramifications for others that affect far beyond just themselves. Who you become friends with, who you trust, how safe you feel, how financially secure you are, what your neighborhood becomes, your children’s schools, all of it is affected by political and social policies and agendas. And that’s the thing: Much of the Left who are young and brainwashed by public school, will get a wake up call that their idealism doesn’t work in the real world once they grow up and take on more responsibilities, jobs, homes, families to raise etc…
My dad, who never wanted to vote and was never political became so after 2016, because of what he saw, and what he’s been through. A man who never voted, voted for the first time in over half his life in our last election. Why? Because the policies over there, affected him and his family and community. Many on both sides of the political spectrum have had similar stories. See, I became outspoken on these issues here once I grew older and saw more of the issues I bring up regularly, and why I argue for the Conservative viewpoint socially and politically. I’ve seen the Left’s policies at work, and have the evidence that they simply aren’t working! So what’s “personal” about politics?
It’s personal when your children’s school is being filled with 3rd world children who have only ever known dog eat dog brutality, or the neglected children from broken, unstable, and even criminal homes who disrupt the learning environment in more ways than one!
It’s personal when your wife, mother, daughter, sister etc… has to share a bathroom with a biological man who masquerades as a “woman”…
It’s personal when the shooting happens in your high school or college and no one was allowed to fight back or even take precautions such as security beforehand…
It’s personal when you have to look your children in the eye and say “Daddy lost his job” because of illegals being hired.
It’s personal when your husband, son, brother, father, etc… is on the receiving end of a baseless allegation from some woman…
It’s personal when you’ve worked with a generation affected by the devastation and insecurity of a broken home, glossed over in “any family is a real family” politically correct propaganda…
It’s personal when you’re told that your skin color or gender confers guilt for deeds you never did and supremacy you never upheld through any actions of your own, or why you didn’t get that job or into that school…
It’s personal when your neighborhood is turning into an unsafe ghetto and you fear for your safety every time you step outside your home..
It’s personal when you worry about the messages your daughter is absorbing about sex being a handshake to give away to anyone who asks guilt free…
Or the message your son receives encouraging him to revile his manhood and his masculinity…
It’s personal when the fear becomes real, that a foreign enemy is knocking on your door due to a weak military, and some who have come here know that exact fear…
It was and still is, personal for the countless lives lost and their families to terrorism due to denial and political correctness avoiding the REAL reasons for terrorism. And for all of us, as it can happen anywhere, to anyone at any time…
It’s personal when your own children are taught in school to see you and other family members as misguided, wrong, and even, immoral for the politics you hold…
It’s personal when your pay check is stretched thinner and thinner due to incompetent economic policies…
It’s personal when you realize countries just like ours have degraded into chaos, terrorism and crime! Countries you may have enjoyed on a trip not so long ago that are no longer safe, and realize that they could be us. They were just like us…
It’s personal when you are defined as a “victim” because you’re a woman, or your skin is darker when you know you are far more empowered than they say you are but are shut down and labeled a “traitor” when you dare to speak the truth by your own kind!
And last but certainly not the last point in existence on the subject:
It’s personal when you can’t voice your views without ostracism, censorship, demonization, ad hominem attacks, lost jobs, friendships and family!
So yes, the political is personal in many cases, which is why we must not be silent on what is affecting our lives! The silent majority can’t stay silent forever…. 🙂
So, what made politics personal to you?…
A Lady of Reason 
WOW! So glad I found this post. Very well said. I wish this could be RT’d daily. Thank you and God bless!
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The reverse was “the personal is political” and it was used by 2nd wave feminists to campaign for certain rights they wanted.
Out of curiosity, what do you think should happen to “children from broken homes”, “children from 3rd world countries” etc? Should they be further marginalised by being denied education, because they’re supposedly inferior to those of “polite society”? That left me shaking my head.
It would be great for them not to get their hands on guns, that much is true, but conservatives think they should be able to.
I honestly tried to meet you halfway but…we each have our red flags and lines which can’t be crossed. Once you go after children who are not at fault for their living conditions and say they don’t deserve a chance; that certain people should stay down in perpetuity, the ugliness of the conservative mindset seeps through.
Sorry.
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I don’t think they should be kept down as you say, but until their behavior is changed for the better, I personally wouldn’t want them disrupting my children’s classroom and education… Or even being violent, as proven in some cases. Sorry, but I don’t think people who live in a mindset of might makes right brutality should be coming into this country. It’s not the kids’ faults per se, they were raised that way, but they will grow up to repeat the cycle and were taught to shun our society. It gets “ugly” for me when it’s my kid who was assaulted in the bathroom, or thinks school is a nightmare due to disruptive classmates from the ghetto or the 3rd world and can’t learn. Their right to an education should not supersede everyone else’s in the classroom! And also noting, many don’t care about the “gift” of an education, they’d rather disrespect their teachers, classmates, and live like they’re back in their old ways… I’m sorry if this means our differing views make us incompatible to you… The choice is yours to stop following my blog, but you’re welcome to stay also.
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How is it you know these are the people disrupting your classrooms, not wanting to be educated? Making such claims does not make them true. Most children want to be educated, though not all are as equally prepared to be educated the way you want to be because they came from third world countries, or broken homes, or poor families where both parents have to work to make ends meet. Is this a valid reason to keep them out of your schools? They weren’t as lucky as you to be born to families that were able to prepare them to go to school. And if you don’t let them go to school, their children are going to end up in exactly the same circumstances as their parents were in. This does absolutely nothing to create the society you want to live in.
All I am doing is asking questions. Are you willing to answer them?
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These children belong in your overburdened school districts. You take responsibility for them. Rather than to pack them into the author’s local school, we need to send them to your school of compassion where you promise to take care of them. You deal with the problems. You watch your kids be marginalized and underserved because money is stretched too far to provide adequately for all students because any third world person who may wish to live in the US can stroll across our borders and burden our communities with their social, educational, and material needs. You fix society so there are fewer broken homes. The children are not what’s at issue, in that debate. They are victims. It is the failure of parents who cannot or refuse o take care of their own children and burden schools to be parents.
When you attend to supporting the outcome of your beliefs that America must take care of all the world’s poor and needy, and you pay those bills and tend to people who are not your neighbor, let us know how happy you are.
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Exactly! See how you like it when it’s YOUR kids being overtaken by the ungrateful 3rd world ones who couldn’t care less about learning! Great point! 🙂
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I’m not in the US and thankful for it, I’m not sure you know how reviled your country is around the world, particularly the snobbish factions. It’s fairly amusing they think the conservative elite, only out to enrich itself, will ever do anything for those who are not well off. Turkeys voting and cheering for Christmas.
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Wow. You only see what you are programmed to see. There is no way in hell that conservatives want children to have guns, however when they are of legal age, they are allowed by the 2A. And yes, children from broken homes, crime riddled families, 3rd world countries can and do disrupt the learning/teaching in a class. BUT nowhere did the @LadyofReason say those children should not be there.
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The U.S. was founded — at least theoretically — on the principle that the sole moral duty of government was to secure and protect the rights of the individual. When asked what kind of government was being proposed, Benjamin Franklin replied: “a republic, Madam, if you can keep it.”
Unfortunately, ‘we the people’ lost it when ‘we the people’ opted for the promise government largess in lieu of upholding the ideal.
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Very good point! We have strayed far from what we should be… Especially the Left!
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It is important to remember that when America put Trump in office many of us were seeking a world where the leadership in Washington would focus on bringing both jobs and money home rather than squandering it on foreign wars. Simply put, Trump did not come across as a warmonger during the presidential campaign. If David Stockman is right it could be that the power of the swamp is too strong and simply cannot be drained.
Stockman, who served as a Republican U.S. Representative from the state of Michigan and as the Director of the Office of Management and Budget under President Ronald Reagan, contends that President Trump has become a hostage of those occupying the very swamp he promised to drain.
http://brucewilds.blogspot.com/2018/04/silly-us-we-thought-we-were-voting-for.html
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I’d have to disagree still… Trump is by no means perfect and certainly no saint! But he is making real change for the country and holding others accountable…
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I would rephrase that oversimplified catch-all. I would say this in order to iterate and emphasize that passiveness and silence can be just as detrimental as being over zealous or over-selling a cause. Here’s my rephrase:
When I describe it that way I am always reminded of Martin Niemöller’s c. 1946 speech which goes something like this:
First they came for the Jews
and I did not speak out
because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for the Communists
and I did not speak out
because I was not a Communist.
Then they came for the trade unionists
and I did not speak out
because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Liberals.
and I did not speak out
because I was not a Liberal.
Then they came for the Moderates-Intellectuals
and I did not speak out
because I was not a Moderate Intellectual.
Then they came for me
and there was no one left
to speak out for me.
My point is that standing up for what is right, what is humane and protective of basic human dignity & rights can covertly and subtly be dismantled if decent human beings do not unite, speak out and resist the insatiable monster of Authoritarianism. There is a baseline for global equality that must not be marginalized.
I disagree. I think this is a gross oversimplification. There are indeed those of the Gen Y who are not at all “brainwashed” because they were BROADLY educated and tested in the fires of real-world Conservative or Authoritarian atrocities and abuses. Just my 2-cents. 🙂
To conclude a bit neutral here, the KEY is to remain active and engaged in the discourse of civil governing and progress. And the ideal method for achieving that progress of a Greater Good for the Greatest Number is doing our persistent best of BIPARTISAN negotiating and compromise.
So LoR… I finally got a chance to visit and participate. Woooohoooo! LOL 😉
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Yay!!! Great to have you stop by! 🙂 You always bring good food for thought! Although, I do see evidence that many young liberals don’t see the harm done by many Leftist policies such as letting in illegals, or hook up culture until they are the ones raising families and paying the bills! A hefty dose of real life can change one’s opinion! Conservatives aren’t the boogeyman subjugating the world…
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Thank you Ma’am. I do appreciate your sentiments. And to state for those here that may not know, LoR and I also have many points of “life” and the pursuit of happiness we DO agree on. ❤
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The greatest good for the greatest number reminds me of the Sam Harris suggestion of well-being as a moral yardstick so we judge our acts by the well being they produce. Unfortunately what is good for some is bad for others , so capitalism developed and each person struggled for their own good and the good of their family.
In the rich western democracies the government exercises a control on blatant capitalism in order to protect the weak and vulnerable. The politics of our democracies is an argument about how much we should protect those persons.
Sadly human nature is subtle and if a loop hole can be found in any system it will find it and milk it. There are those who believe the milking all takes place from the bottom but a careful examination shows its across the board.
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Hi kersten. I appreciate your feedback and that’s a fair statement/comment. Thank you. 🙂 You mentioned…
I’d modify that a little bit and say:
At the risk of oversimplfying a complex socio-economic machine… I completely agree that the abuses are mostly a human hustle (vs. a system or philosophy) and as long as there is a gargantuan or significant economic and occupational gap (inequality, a sick struggling middle-class, if it’s there at all) that doesn’t progress, or decays among the social-occupational ranks, the extreme top and bottom will cannibalize the entire milk cow, to use your analogy. 😉 To quote my favorite Nobel Prize winning economist, Joseph Stiglitz:
And after “too late” comes the civil revolts, war(?), and the entire system collapses with EVERYBODY losing! Ironically and sadly, it could’ve been avoided had EVERYONE been participating, engaged, civil, patient, collaborative, compromising, all of those higher virtues, and reminding ourselves and others that we are just humans from planet Earth. Done. Stop there. No more dividing, segregating, gross bias or prejudice.
Our individual and collective good (which is now global, like it or not) are interrelated, intertwined, and dependent on each other’s well-being just as much as it is on our self. Another acclaimed scientist, naturalist, and Pulitzer Prize winner I very much align with and have enjoy his life’s work:
“Exclusion makes us suffer. Inclusion makes us thrive.” — E. O. Wilson
Now, kersten… if you figure out how that silver-bullet can work and where it can be found, let me know! I’ll be at your door immediately! Hopefully with the correct matching 6-shooter. 😄
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The top 1% is 76 million a huge figure but then we have 7.5 billion on the planet . Just to emphasize the huge disparity , in the UK I’m below the poverty line but I’m in the top 2% globally in terms of income. Most of that 76 million live in the rich countries about one third of the globe live on 2$ per day.
Steven Pinker seems quite pleased with progress in his huge book ‘ The Better Angels of Our Nature ‘ he pours out statistics in a mind boggling pentitude . Mr Pinker even points out we are in the most peaceful time of human history , mind you it’s not because we have changed but because war no longer pays.
Safa Motesharrei is an expert on the collapse of civilisations he even delves into the mathematics of extinction ( bit difficult for me ) but like many he’s not too happy about how things are going .
It seems to me the climate is a great danger and one that we cannot avoid come what may , but you are right collaboration is not a widespread human trait . We have come from the apes and are born to compete , natural selection did not give us intelligence to understand the universe or to cooperate but to survive. The unforseen result of natural selection was our moral nature or to put it into biblical terms eating of that tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
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Well written. Politics is indeed personal. After all, politics is simply a friendly expression and discussion of ideas, and the area of politics encompasses everything pertaining to society around us. Everyone has political beliefs, but not everyone necessarily has an interest in politics because some persons aren’t as interested in intellectual pursuits. The more philosophically inclined groups of society, who have dedicated time to developing their intellectual skills, are often the types of people who find an interest in politics. Only half of people even vote in US elections though, because some people simply prefer less-intellectual activities which don’t involve a more complex depth of thought. Of course, that’s alright, because it’s easy to get caught up in day-to-day life, and naturally not everyone is strongly opinionated – so some people are more content to go along with whatever the general consensus around them would have them to believe. Yet, politics is still applicable to our lives, and it’s important to be able to develop arguments and break down political ideas. Typically, with a better ability to see the perspectives of others, it becomes easier to realize the philosophies behind political arguments; and in turn, that allows us to shape our culture and society through influencing politics.
~ https://rebelreformer.wordpress.com
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Indeed! Being well informed helps protect us against those who wish to exploit and subjugate us without being held accountable!
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Vincent Mancini: Yours is a world of finance and politics; these are things I don’t understand.
Licio Lucchesi: You understand guns. Finance is a gun. Politics is knowing when to pull the trigger.
Godfather 3
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You just kinda hit all the points in one post! Well said.
It makes sense to me that the personal becomes political. I think personal reasons are why anyone gets political, really. But I think the political is interfering too much with the personal! Meaning the government it meddling in things are outside what should be their scope. Local government deals one to one a lot more, and in many ways, has to be more personal. By the farther up the chain of government, the less personal it should be.
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Very good point! Personal decisions should not be made by those to whom the decision is quite impersonal 😉
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I think that it is very good because you point out that the people who bear the burden of liberal policies pay the price for it in the very personal ways that you described. As a hardcore libertarian, I would add that you make a very good case for keeping decisions that affect the personal lives of people personal. That is, rather than have the government make those decisions, we should let the people who bear the burden of those decisions make them for themselves.
One note about the blog in general that is not in any way a criticism of it, we don’t seem to get rational postings by the opposition. Of course several post emotional rants in opposition, but it would be nice to have some rational leftists outline their reasoning dispassionately. The benefit would be that we could compare and contrast the reasoning of both sides and better understand each other’s point of view. I would like to see something from the left that sheds light on the issue rather than just emotional heat.
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I do too! 😉 But sadly, the snowflakes would rather melt than argue rationally!
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Rational dialogue by the opposition as it were went by way of the dodo at some point during the Clinton administration. It’s as if at that point they became possessed. Bush Sr. was too much of a curmudgeon to win, and the second time around Dole was too stoic. I did vote for Bush Sr. though again, but I don’t think I went with Dole even tho my significant other at the time urged me too. I now regret that although I don’t think it would have made a difference.
I think this entry is worthy of the whole nation seeing! It should be in a national mag somewhere! But at least it’s out there on the internet for all the world to see as much as we can pass it around. Will be retweeting the link.
Politics became personal when the far-left became both tyrannical and hysterical all at once! Rebels with no direction or cause save the destruction of sane society!
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Thanks! Means a lot this is resonating with a lot of people! 🙂
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It’s very good speaks the truth and I think you capture how many conservatives feel right now. Keep up the good work, it really does make a difference!
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They also assume that you 100 percent hate all points of the left, and not that it is just that we can see through evidence and history that the end game they see is going to fail once more.
Certain policies of the left would be great if the world would work that way. If everyone looked out is the good of other people and would willingly put in a hard days work even if it in no way made a difference to their life whether they worked or not.
Socialism and communism has yet to address a means to make people with no benefit. When I was younger we learned about the problems in the USSR in that state farms produced less that areas where they could have a profit or bonus if they did better.
If I believed gov’t was competent and did know what was best for my life I may be excited to see the erosion of basic rights on all fronts.
But to some we see it as a rise of a police state and a need to look out for big brother to rat out people that don’t buy into the gov’t plan. It isn’t freedom it is just a slow path toward what they had in the failed USSR and other communist nations
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Very good point. Some sound good in theory, but in practice, are a complete disaster!
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Politics is the food of the discontent and there are two types of discontent ; those who are discontent with their own lot and those who are discontent with the lot of others.
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Well since I live in public housing it’s always been personal for me. I also live within walking distance to the 911 site. When 911 happened, I was so empathetic with the Muslims that were here that I even married a Pakistani man. Ah heck, I even decided to be a Muslim chick. I wore a head scarf and became very modest in my way of being. What a fool I was but I feel in love and lost my mind.
I have always been the type of person that gives a dollar to a beggar on the street. I would also call a for an ambulance if I saw a person on street and looked like they were not breathing. In a nutshell, I protect the weak. I am a Christian woman from the heart.
June of 2016 was my turning point and when I actually walked away. I have not seen that man either. Also the time my son was removed from home by Child Protective services. Summer of 2016 was hard but I still had my Make America Great sticker on my walker with my American Flag attached to it.
Yes it is personal, disconnecting from the matrix of real madness has not been easy. I can truly say I would do it again if it meant our America is safe for all who Love this Country.
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Wow – This was an amazing rendition of all my anxiety, fears and concerns, expressed well, and put into one post. Thank you for saying what so many of us are thinking and feeling. We need more like you to help us come out of the closet and stand up for our rights and values.
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Thanks so much! I love to know my message is resonating with people 🙂
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