There Is No Such Thing as Being “Above Politics”
Lately I’ve noticed a phrase appearing more often.
“I don’t follow politics.”
Usually said casually.Sometimes proudly.Often as though it reflects wisdom rather than withdrawal.
I understand the impulse.
Politics can be exhausting.The news cycle is relentless.Everyone seems angry.Many people are overwhelmed, overworked, raising children, paying bills, protecting their peace.
I understand wanting distance.
But there is a difference between protecting your peace and abandoning your post.
Because whether you follow politics or not, politics follows you.
Politics decides whether your grandmother can afford her medication.
Politics decides whether your neighbor’s disabled son receives services.
Politics decides whether schools are funded, whether veterans receive care, whether retirement savings hold their value, whether people can afford housing, groceries, insurance, education, and gas.
Politics decides whose problems become visible and whose become invisible.
You do not escape these decisions by declining to pay attention to them.
You simply surrender your influence over them.
And lately I have been wondering if we have confused personal wellness with civic disengagement.
Somewhere along the way, citizenship became optional.
People speak as though being informed is a personality type rather than a responsibility.
As though caring deeply about the direction of the country is somehow embarrassing.
As though saying, “I don’t do politics,” is evidence of sophistication instead of privilege.
Because let’s be honest.
The ability to ignore politics often belongs to people who are not currently feeling the sharpest edges of public policy.
If your healthcare is stable…If your income feels secure…If your rights feel protected…If your family is not directly affected…
It becomes easier to imagine politics is just noise.
But for many Americans, politics is not a conversation topic.
It is rent.
It is insulin.
It is a denied claim.
It is a child’s future.
It is caregiving.
It is whether retirement stretches another year.
It is whether a person feels safe walking through their own community.
And no—you do not have to become an activist.
You do not have to argue online.
You do not have to make politics your identity.
But citizenship asks something of us.
Pay attention.
Learn.
Ask questions.
Vote.
Care what happens to people who are not exactly like you.
Allow yourself to be inconvenienced by someone else’s reality.
That should not be considered radical.
That should be considered adulthood.
Democracy is not maintained by people who are obsessed.
It is maintained by ordinary people who accept that freedom comes attached to responsibility.
Not responsibility to agree.
Responsibility to engage.
You do not owe anyone outrage.
You do owe your community attention.
And perhaps one of the quiet dangers of our moment is not disagreement.
It is indifference.
History has never looked kindly on generations that stood comfortably nearby and announced:
“This doesn’t really affect me.”
Until it did.
Julie Bolejack, MBA
The Mindful Activist
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