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The fact that so many accept the maxim "life is political" is terrifying. Life is not political but we can imagine a life that is political and I doubt that ki

The fact that so many accept the maxim "life is political" is terrifying. Life is not political but we can imagine a life that is political and I doubt that kind of life is worth living. Politics is necessary to structure the relations between people. But that doesn't mean that politics pervades every corner of life. You might as well argue that "life is about water" because we can't do without water. I'm not saying that your kulturkritik perspective is without any value. It has value. But there are other perspectives that also have value, and you should seek them out. If you don't, you'll only have one perspective, which is an ideology. Ideological people do bizarre things like spying on their coworkers and then playing the victim when they get fired.

claudiawerner 7y ago
> But that doesn't mean that politics pervades every corner of life. But it does, whether we like it or not. Everything from the media we consume, to the drugs we take, to how we expect our significant others to behave in a relationship, to what software we use - is political in one form or another. The politics isn't always national or party politics, though. For example, software freedom is a very strong and popular political goal among technologists, and because of that, proprietary software is political. The fact that some people are ignorant of that fact doesn't change it. And "having one perspective" alone does not constitute ideology. Most people are extremely ideological; people forget that just because an ideology seems natural or is normal, it doesn't mean it ceases to be an ideology. Belief in the democratic state is ideology, freedom of speech is ideology, the US Constitution is ideology, the democratic process is ideology, the culture propagated in daily life is ideology. I think Althusser and Lefevbre made a very good point about how ideology reproduces itself and how everyday life is subsumed into ideological functions of the workplace or the state. Culture, like anything else, must reproduce itself, a dead culture is one that failed to reproduce itself. Within this reproduction we are making all kinds of choices (conscious or not) to keep certain elements of our society in moving forward.
- mc32 7y ago
  Maybe you do want to think about the power relationship with parents and siblings and coworkers as things happen and as conversations take place. I don’t. There may come times when I think this or that sibling is favored or given the short shrift, but not in every single interaction. As Zizek asks, what do you do the day after the revolution? Most people just want to go about their daily business. Most people don’t want to have on going never ending political processes like some revolutionaries do, just because they can’t abandon that mode.
  - claudiawerner 7y ago
    > Maybe you do want to think about the power relationship with parents and siblings and coworkers as things happen and as conversations take place. I don’t. Me neither. But being critical and analysing our desires and interests should be the supreme goal of any self-reflecting person. It is possible to enjoy media and relationships while being aware of what drives you to make certain choices, and importantly, what drives others to make choices. Why is your culture the way it is? The fact that "everything is political" (a phrase I try to avoid using because of its ignorant lack of nuance) does not mean we have to constantly think about it. Climate change activists will use buses, Marx still got Capital published through a publishing company, and I still watch porn sometimes. The point is to be aware and critical about what you do, not necessarily while you do it.
  - Faark 7y ago
    I agree, "being political" as in defending and fighting for what is right comes at a cost and people (or companies) have other priorities as well. But be aware those wanting to move away from what we consider right will be thankful for our inaction. Thing is, waiting usually makes problems worse. Divisiveness seems on a recent all time high already, and two political extremes won't just cancel each other making everything go back to normal. One of them will probably just win. That's how it went prior to the Reich, at least. So yeah, increasing divisiveness makes defending the good parts of our current societies require more and more effort. Had we not let it get to were we are now we would have required a lot less "being political". Waiting will likely make it worse down the line. Yes, politics is a never ending process. Since there will always be rules needing to be revised and people trying to use that processes to gain power. Again, allowing this to happen initially and undoing so later will require us to pay extra. But yeah, obviously most people just want to live their lives not having to spend their valuable time (and more) on politics. Doesn't mean this is a great move. Even more so in times were shit is about to hit the fan.
threatofrain 7y ago
Politics is the negotiation of power, and the degree to which power is not relevant in your life is the degree to which politics is irrelevant. As for water politics, water is a matter of power and it's scary. But refusing to discuss the relationship between power and water does not make things any more or less ideological. The failure to discuss power doesn't make things any more or less political, either. It just makes you mute.
- leftyted 7y ago
  The degree to which you reduce everything to power is the degree to which you impair your ability to think and speak. This is because thought and speech are faculties based on the ability to draw distinctions between things. In exchange for voluntarily diminishing your capacity to think and speak, you receive a one note answer to everything: "blah blah blah power blah blah privilege".
  - threatofrain 7y ago
    Some people's vision are the stuff of moral leadership, and others are the stuff of moral complacency. Some people make progress like Lawrence v Texas, and other people say "blah blah privilege, I'm so tired of hearing this stuff." But it's hard to believe they are the same person in one. One wonders whether you would hope that those who are suffering stop their shrillness because you are really tired of hearing about the blah blah privilege. But from the outside perspective, America's democracy looks complacent. It appears as if a major aspect of the American political game is wondering whether black people or Latinos are going to vote more. What a game. There's a nasty smell here, and one wonders the degree to which people might carry on amid that nasty smell because they are so very tired of the blah blah. America already has a culture of avoiding political talk in person. Is it working? Does American democracy smell healthier than ever?
    - mc32 7y ago
      And if second gen Latin Americans vote more conservatively and if more blacks start voting conservatively is that a good of a bad thing? (Compared to how they voted for people who are now lauded in the press and by Obama as good conservatives like Bush and Romney)

claudiawerner 7y ago

> But that doesn't mean that politics pervades every corner of life. But it does, whether we like it or not. Everything from the media we consume, to the drugs we take, to how we expect our significant others to behave in a relationship, to what software we use - is political in one form or another. The politics isn't always national or party politics, though. For example, software freedom is a very strong and popular political goal among technologists, and because of that, proprietary software is political. The fact that some people are ignorant of that fact doesn't change it. And "having one perspective" alone does not constitute ideology. Most people are extremely ideological; people forget that just because an ideology seems natural or is normal, it doesn't mean it ceases to be an ideology. Belief in the democratic state is ideology, freedom of speech is ideology, the US Constitution is ideology, the democratic process is ideology, the culture propagated in daily life is ideology. I think Althusser and Lefevbre made a very good point about how ideology reproduces itself and how everyday life is subsumed into ideological functions of the workplace or the state. Culture, like anything else, must reproduce itself, a dead culture is one that failed to reproduce itself. Within this reproduction we are making all kinds of choices (conscious or not) to keep certain elements of our society in moving forward.

mc32 7y ago
Maybe you do want to think about the power relationship with parents and siblings and coworkers as things happen and as conversations take place. I don’t. There may come times when I think this or that sibling is favored or given the short shrift, but not in every single interaction. As Zizek asks, what do you do the day after the revolution? Most people just want to go about their daily business. Most people don’t want to have on going never ending political processes like some revolutionaries do, just because they can’t abandon that mode.
- claudiawerner 7y ago
  > Maybe you do want to think about the power relationship with parents and siblings and coworkers as things happen and as conversations take place. I don’t. Me neither. But being critical and analysing our desires and interests should be the supreme goal of any self-reflecting person. It is possible to enjoy media and relationships while being aware of what drives you to make certain choices, and importantly, what drives others to make choices. Why is your culture the way it is? The fact that "everything is political" (a phrase I try to avoid using because of its ignorant lack of nuance) does not mean we have to constantly think about it. Climate change activists will use buses, Marx still got Capital published through a publishing company, and I still watch porn sometimes. The point is to be aware and critical about what you do, not necessarily while you do it.
- Faark 7y ago
  I agree, "being political" as in defending and fighting for what is right comes at a cost and people (or companies) have other priorities as well. But be aware those wanting to move away from what we consider right will be thankful for our inaction. Thing is, waiting usually makes problems worse. Divisiveness seems on a recent all time high already, and two political extremes won't just cancel each other making everything go back to normal. One of them will probably just win. That's how it went prior to the Reich, at least. So yeah, increasing divisiveness makes defending the good parts of our current societies require more and more effort. Had we not let it get to were we are now we would have required a lot less "being political". Waiting will likely make it worse down the line. Yes, politics is a never ending process. Since there will always be rules needing to be revised and people trying to use that processes to gain power. Again, allowing this to happen initially and undoing so later will require us to pay extra. But yeah, obviously most people just want to live their lives not having to spend their valuable time (and more) on politics. Doesn't mean this is a great move. Even more so in times were shit is about to hit the fan.

threatofrain 7y ago

Politics is the negotiation of power, and the degree to which power is not relevant in your life is the degree to which politics is irrelevant. As for water politics, water is a matter of power and it's scary. But refusing to discuss the relationship between power and water does not make things any more or less ideological. The failure to discuss power doesn't make things any more or less political, either. It just makes you mute.

leftyted 7y ago
The degree to which you reduce everything to power is the degree to which you impair your ability to think and speak. This is because thought and speech are faculties based on the ability to draw distinctions between things. In exchange for voluntarily diminishing your capacity to think and speak, you receive a one note answer to everything: "blah blah blah power blah blah privilege".
- threatofrain 7y ago
  Some people's vision are the stuff of moral leadership, and others are the stuff of moral complacency. Some people make progress like Lawrence v Texas, and other people say "blah blah privilege, I'm so tired of hearing this stuff." But it's hard to believe they are the same person in one. One wonders whether you would hope that those who are suffering stop their shrillness because you are really tired of hearing about the blah blah privilege. But from the outside perspective, America's democracy looks complacent. It appears as if a major aspect of the American political game is wondering whether black people or Latinos are going to vote more. What a game. There's a nasty smell here, and one wonders the degree to which people might carry on amid that nasty smell because they are so very tired of the blah blah. America already has a culture of avoiding political talk in person. Is it working? Does American democracy smell healthier than ever?
  - mc32 7y ago
    And if second gen Latin Americans vote more conservatively and if more blacks start voting conservatively is that a good of a bad thing? (Compared to how they voted for people who are now lauded in the press and by Obama as good conservatives like Bush and Romney)