How is everything related to politics?
April 4, 2012 3:02 PM Subscribe
How is everything related to politics?
I was having a discussion with a friend, and being a student of Politics I wanted to show him that everything around us, from why we eat the things we eat to the messages embedded in pieces of art to why scientific advancements took the direction it did, is political or at least connected to some aspect of politics.
The best statement I could come up with was a rather pathetic regurgitation of Aristotle's "man by nature is a political animal".
I'm quite bothered by my own answer probably because on one level I wanted to justify how my subject is extremely pervasive in all parts of life, on another level I just wanted to give a long-winded, romanticised, even epic explanation as to why "everything is politics and politics is everything".
So, would anyone be able to indulge me in giving somewhat pompous but sensible explanation as to how everything is related to politics?
I was having a discussion with a friend, and being a student of Politics I wanted to show him that everything around us, from why we eat the things we eat to the messages embedded in pieces of art to why scientific advancements took the direction it did, is political or at least connected to some aspect of politics.
The best statement I could come up with was a rather pathetic regurgitation of Aristotle's "man by nature is a political animal".
I'm quite bothered by my own answer probably because on one level I wanted to justify how my subject is extremely pervasive in all parts of life, on another level I just wanted to give a long-winded, romanticised, even epic explanation as to why "everything is politics and politics is everything".
So, would anyone be able to indulge me in giving somewhat pompous but sensible explanation as to how everything is related to politics?
Money is a part of everything we do. How money is spent, what its spent on, where its spent, and who spends it drives much (or all depending on how you look at it) of our political debate.
Which is a shame, given that we'd have gobs of money to spend on any earthly domestic program if we weren't dropping a couple trillion into the military...
And that last tangent just further illustrates the above.
posted by Slackermagee at 3:17 PM on April 4, 2012
Which is a shame, given that we'd have gobs of money to spend on any earthly domestic program if we weren't dropping a couple trillion into the military...
And that last tangent just further illustrates the above.
posted by Slackermagee at 3:17 PM on April 4, 2012
I think DarlingBri has it at the first attempt. I'd also add that politics is emotional, in case you want to move onto your next argument with your friend.
posted by omnigut at 3:18 PM on April 4, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by omnigut at 3:18 PM on April 4, 2012 [1 favorite]
Inasmuch as politics basically describes the way we (as citizens) conduct ourselves in the public square, I'm not sure how you can avoid the conclusion that there is a political basis for everything we do, and if not a basis, at least a considerable influence.
Shall we build a road? If so, where? Who owns it? What does 'own' actually mean, anyway? Who pays, and how much? Who builds it? And so on. The answers to these questions in many cases will be political in nature, and more so once you get into the lowest details (because, after all, that's where the devil lives).
Just about anything can devolve to a political question of Who, Why and How.
posted by jquinby at 3:19 PM on April 4, 2012 [1 favorite]
Shall we build a road? If so, where? Who owns it? What does 'own' actually mean, anyway? Who pays, and how much? Who builds it? And so on. The answers to these questions in many cases will be political in nature, and more so once you get into the lowest details (because, after all, that's where the devil lives).
Just about anything can devolve to a political question of Who, Why and How.
posted by jquinby at 3:19 PM on April 4, 2012 [1 favorite]
Yeah I'd say that (nearly) everything is economic, and the economic is political. Unless you live in a log cabin totally off-the-grid unabomber style.
That's because pretty much every waking moment we're consuming - energy, culture, food, information, and of course stuff - and all this, no matter how trivial, costs money. Even when asleep we're consuming energy to charge our devices and warm our houses. All these little consumptions, expenditures, and decisions for thing A over thing B alter the entire edifice of western civilization in some way, from minuscule all the way up to momentous.
posted by tempythethird at 3:22 PM on April 4, 2012
That's because pretty much every waking moment we're consuming - energy, culture, food, information, and of course stuff - and all this, no matter how trivial, costs money. Even when asleep we're consuming energy to charge our devices and warm our houses. All these little consumptions, expenditures, and decisions for thing A over thing B alter the entire edifice of western civilization in some way, from minuscule all the way up to momentous.
posted by tempythethird at 3:22 PM on April 4, 2012
I would phrase it more that politics comes out of our personal beliefs. Because we all have personal beliefs, politics reflects our choices and interactions.
posted by DoubleLune at 3:23 PM on April 4, 2012
posted by DoubleLune at 3:23 PM on April 4, 2012
"Everything is related to (BLANK)." is on of those phrases that is always absolutely true in some regards in every complex system but it's hard to wrap your head around unless you're used to thinking about complex systems.
You'd be better off just arguing that everything is related by transit policy, and look at major historic stuff like industries that were useless prior to decent roads, and how vital it was for towns back in the day to be on the rail road route, and then, once your friend has bought into that, drop the fact that everything is related to monetary policy and let it dawn on them that all political policy has long term sweeping effects.
posted by Kid Charlemagne at 3:23 PM on April 4, 2012
You'd be better off just arguing that everything is related by transit policy, and look at major historic stuff like industries that were useless prior to decent roads, and how vital it was for towns back in the day to be on the rail road route, and then, once your friend has bought into that, drop the fact that everything is related to monetary policy and let it dawn on them that all political policy has long term sweeping effects.
posted by Kid Charlemagne at 3:23 PM on April 4, 2012
Words work like objects on a scale--they are useful when they divide concepts at a commonly understood balancing point. Whenever you extrapolate a word's definition to include everything, then that word loses meaning, and you must invent a new word to mean what the average person understood by the original word. If, for example, you say everything we do is selfish (even volunteer work or donations make us feel better), then you must use new or different words to distinguish between what we previously understood as, say greedy, vs. benevolent. You could make a case for everything in the universe being hot, and there being no cold except for those things that are absolute zero, but how would you then explain to your child why he can pick up the basketball, but not that frying pan? So although you may make a case for everything being political, you have diluted the meaning of the word political to the point of uselessness. It would be more educational to point out a few things that your friend previously thought were not related to politics, and show him the connections.
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 3:23 PM on April 4, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 3:23 PM on April 4, 2012 [1 favorite]
Politics and economics both deal with the allocation of scarce resources. Economics is involved with how resources should be allocated, politics is involved with how they are allocated.
posted by gteffertz at 3:26 PM on April 4, 2012
posted by gteffertz at 3:26 PM on April 4, 2012
I was a pol sci major, and I have always voiced the same sentiment thusly: Politics is essentially power relations in groups. There is precious little in our modern world that is accomplished solely by an individual - and even then your very thoughts have been shaped by others and the political milieus they moved in.
posted by smoke at 3:46 PM on April 4, 2012 [5 favorites]
posted by smoke at 3:46 PM on April 4, 2012 [5 favorites]
Yeah I'd say that (nearly) everything is economic, and the economic is political. Unless you live in a log cabin totally off-the-grid unabomber style.
Actually, not even if you hole up in a log cabin for your whole life (and are so fantastically lucky as to never need to go to the hospital). You're enjoying the cabin and other stuff (clothes, food) that was created in the economic system, which could only exist with the help of government; for instance, we need courts to enforce contracts so that corporations can rely on promises that are made when they're doing business. You're hoping the government doesn't exercise its power of eminent domain and condemn your cabin to build a government building in its place. You might benefit from zoning laws about what people can and can't build in the area. You might be benefitted (or harmed) by environmental regulations that affect the air, water, etc. in the area. You're relying on the courts and police to deter people from committing violent crimes against you or your property while you're there. You're counting on a huge body of contract and property law to be able to assert your right to stay there if someone else tries to kick you out of the cabin and start living there (by the way, that body of property law also underlies the law on burglary). In addition to the police, you also count on the military to dissuade invaders from bombing the land. So even if you try to totally escape society, you'll still be affected by a slew of government action and inaction. (Of course, the extent to which the government actually should take any particular action is often going to be wildly controversial, and can't be answered by spouting the glib truism that everything is political.)
posted by John Cohen at 3:46 PM on April 4, 2012
Actually, not even if you hole up in a log cabin for your whole life (and are so fantastically lucky as to never need to go to the hospital). You're enjoying the cabin and other stuff (clothes, food) that was created in the economic system, which could only exist with the help of government; for instance, we need courts to enforce contracts so that corporations can rely on promises that are made when they're doing business. You're hoping the government doesn't exercise its power of eminent domain and condemn your cabin to build a government building in its place. You might benefit from zoning laws about what people can and can't build in the area. You might be benefitted (or harmed) by environmental regulations that affect the air, water, etc. in the area. You're relying on the courts and police to deter people from committing violent crimes against you or your property while you're there. You're counting on a huge body of contract and property law to be able to assert your right to stay there if someone else tries to kick you out of the cabin and start living there (by the way, that body of property law also underlies the law on burglary). In addition to the police, you also count on the military to dissuade invaders from bombing the land. So even if you try to totally escape society, you'll still be affected by a slew of government action and inaction. (Of course, the extent to which the government actually should take any particular action is often going to be wildly controversial, and can't be answered by spouting the glib truism that everything is political.)
posted by John Cohen at 3:46 PM on April 4, 2012
smoke has it: politics is the study of power, and nothing get decided in human societies without first deciding who has power.
posted by Jehan at 3:49 PM on April 4, 2012
posted by Jehan at 3:49 PM on April 4, 2012
So, would anyone be able to indulge me in giving somewhat pompous but sensible explanation as to how everything is related to politics?
Human societies need rules, or anarchy results. Governments exist to establish and enforce those rules for the rules to mean anything. Government is not free -- it is supported by revenue, taxes or some kind of convertible good or service (money, barter or time-sharing). Government cannot be unlimited in power and resources.
Politics, therefore, is the ongoing attempts to modify or influence the government in order to influence the rules.
That banana on the table? Government needed to exist to enforce the farmer's property rights and the contracts to enforce a fair sale of the farmer's bananas. That service was paid for in taxes. Do you want more bananas? Cheaper bananas? A bigger farm? Do you want to keep the Mongolians from invading and stealing all the bananas? Do you want to make sure the farmer isn't selling rotten bananas? That's all government.
And therefore, your banana is the result of politics in action, on some level, somewhere.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 3:53 PM on April 4, 2012 [1 favorite]
Human societies need rules, or anarchy results. Governments exist to establish and enforce those rules for the rules to mean anything. Government is not free -- it is supported by revenue, taxes or some kind of convertible good or service (money, barter or time-sharing). Government cannot be unlimited in power and resources.
Politics, therefore, is the ongoing attempts to modify or influence the government in order to influence the rules.
That banana on the table? Government needed to exist to enforce the farmer's property rights and the contracts to enforce a fair sale of the farmer's bananas. That service was paid for in taxes. Do you want more bananas? Cheaper bananas? A bigger farm? Do you want to keep the Mongolians from invading and stealing all the bananas? Do you want to make sure the farmer isn't selling rotten bananas? That's all government.
And therefore, your banana is the result of politics in action, on some level, somewhere.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 3:53 PM on April 4, 2012 [1 favorite]
"Politics is Who gets What, When and How" -- Harold Lasswell
posted by Rash at 4:32 PM on April 4, 2012
posted by Rash at 4:32 PM on April 4, 2012
You should be aware that you can make the same argument about a large number of subjects; that everything is mathematics/philosophy/religion/physics/chemistry/psychology/sociology/economics, etc.
posted by martinrebas at 4:51 PM on April 4, 2012
posted by martinrebas at 4:51 PM on April 4, 2012
And, martinrebas, I would argue that that is because most subjects are defined not by WHAT they are studying, but how they are studying it. (at what level of abstraction, through what concepts, etc...)
posted by ropeladder at 7:39 PM on April 4, 2012
posted by ropeladder at 7:39 PM on April 4, 2012
I would start with a definition: politics is the process for allocating scarce resources and enforcing social norms. We want rules and we can' t build roads everwhere- so there has to be a method for deciding - Americans have one way, Soviet Russia had another, ancient Romans another. The unit of politics in this model is not the individual, but the state, which is largely political a consruction. In some political environments economic systems and structures are delegated substantial power, but this by no means universal.
Everything isn' t political however - I've always joked that politics is an applied field of sociology. Things like religion, beliefs, family, and large parts of our social being simply aren' t motivated or served by the definition of politics I am forwarding. Some things, like morality, are intertwined with politics. For example, many of the most contentious political issues are moral positions (norms) that affect other peoples rights (alternate norms). Some, like believing in the tooth fairy, are not.
Regarding the OP's examples: food is very heavily political in contemporary society because it is a finite resource derived from an aggregate of finite resources ( water, land and labour) and most people must rely on intermediaries for this critical substance, so trust,safety, etc are all major issues. That means it is political from the subsidy to grow food, to how it is inspected, and every step to your plate is regulated.
Direction of scientific progress: current research is dominated by universities, which are political units, and business, which are seeking profits that are influenced by political considerations like the many tax benefits currently available. However the direction of the actual research would not be primarily driven by this definition of politics- in fact the very structure of both organizations attemt to minimize such influence.
Symbolism in art - some art is political. A definition of politics as asthetics could shoe horn all art in, but at the expense of a politics of governance/power. As previously noted a narrow definition necissarily eliminates and excludes.
posted by zenon at 10:40 PM on April 5, 2012
Everything isn' t political however - I've always joked that politics is an applied field of sociology. Things like religion, beliefs, family, and large parts of our social being simply aren' t motivated or served by the definition of politics I am forwarding. Some things, like morality, are intertwined with politics. For example, many of the most contentious political issues are moral positions (norms) that affect other peoples rights (alternate norms). Some, like believing in the tooth fairy, are not.
Regarding the OP's examples: food is very heavily political in contemporary society because it is a finite resource derived from an aggregate of finite resources ( water, land and labour) and most people must rely on intermediaries for this critical substance, so trust,safety, etc are all major issues. That means it is political from the subsidy to grow food, to how it is inspected, and every step to your plate is regulated.
Direction of scientific progress: current research is dominated by universities, which are political units, and business, which are seeking profits that are influenced by political considerations like the many tax benefits currently available. However the direction of the actual research would not be primarily driven by this definition of politics- in fact the very structure of both organizations attemt to minimize such influence.
Symbolism in art - some art is political. A definition of politics as asthetics could shoe horn all art in, but at the expense of a politics of governance/power. As previously noted a narrow definition necissarily eliminates and excludes.
posted by zenon at 10:40 PM on April 5, 2012
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by DarlingBri at 3:05 PM on April 4, 2012 [6 favorites]