It feels weird that the contemporary meaning of “politics” is what it is, when the original meaning is about the ways in which we make collective decisions and share power. Politicians today feel, in the abstract, so isolated and self-serving that it is easy to forget the many civil servants who are in fact out here trying to push and pull their way through the hard task of serving a community, a city, a nation, a world.
How do you provide for the sustenance and happiness of the people who live on your block and look like you without sacrificing the lives of the people who live in a faraway neighborhood? What does it mean to consider not just your own community but the ways in with your community is inextricably linked with those around you—even those that are seemingly very different from you?
I explained politicians to Kina in this way, possibly hoping that by naming it, I could make it so.
dad
p.s. One last cajoling plea for subscriptions as we head into the final stretch of fundraising for Kina’s school and the entire problem of American public education. If you want to hop on and give a few buckeroonis a month, smoosh the button below. Happy to have you. You’re great.