Don't Be an Unreasonable Political Animal

A friend moved back to town who I hadn’t seen since she graduated college. She was married now and I was eager to meet Troy, her new husband. I hosted dinner at my home and immediately felt a kinship with him just as I always had with her.

Over dinner, we laughed about old times and I learned about their future plans. When we settled into the library for coffee, Troy took a keen interest in my book collection. “You have a nice collection of history books. I’m impressed,” he said. “Do you have any books by Alan Dershowitz?” I did not.

Troy then announced that thanks to reading Alan Dershowitz, he left behind all the radical notions he once held in college and was now intellectually mature and conservative. “Democrats, after all, are by and large immoral,” he proclaimed—which confused me since Dershowitz was a Democrat.

Troy was passionate about his views, to say the least, so much so that he angrily cut off his wife whenever she tried to interject a mediating thought or opinion, especially as our views collided over the course of the evening’s cordial political discussion.

But gone was Troy’s initial charm and equipoise. Now, he seethed and glared whenever I said anything contrary to his beliefs—like I deserved a bullet in my head. Clearly, he had lost his balance.

We know that when we physically lean too far to the left or right, we will lose our balance and fall. Troy was a stark reminder that when we buy into “truths” preached by either extreme of the political spectrum, we will easily lose our emotional balance. We will disrespect. We will turn against. We will rage. We will hate. We will go to war. We will kill. We will lose loved ones.

When tragedy strikes our country, prominent leaders stand at the podium and say, “This is not a time for politics.” Why? Because they know what politics is. It’s sport. It’s a brawl meted out in a political arena where losers get bloodied and winners are cheered into their greenrooms followed by all those who betted on them and filled their coffers.

Throughout history, politics has been a game of winners and losers. It’s a play for power and your vote. That’s all. It’s not philosophy. It’s not wisdom. It’s not a heroic mission. Those who are selling tickets to the game hype it up with alluring promises they won’t fulfill, and profit big by having you on their hook. If you get hung up on it, you’ll dangle there longer than your candidate stays in office—and longer than the legislation you helped pass remains law.

Is it worth it? Has Congress made your life better? Has it brought you closer to your friends and family? Has it put more money in your pocket? Are you any safer in your home or on the streets? It’s doubtful. Accomplishments in life are your doing and likely the result of hard work. They are never political handouts.

I’m not saying politics is useless. Nor am I saying you shouldn’t vote, contribute, or lick campaign envelopes. Just don’t be fooled by it. Believe instead that all the good that gets done today will surely be undone tomorrow. My history books have taught me so—along with the stunning unraveling of hard-fought laws we once took for granted. Some may say that’s good. But it proves that nothing sticks and no one should stick their necks out and lose their balance on account of politics.

Go ahead and run for office, as I once did. Protest or wave your flag, as I often have. I highly recommend it. It reflects we can still count on some rights. So go out and be a good citizen and work for what you believe in. Do it loudly and proudly. But do it wisely with both feet on the ground, leaning neither too far to the left nor too far to the right. That way we can all meet somewhere in the middle. That’s what democracy is about.