"I'm Not Political"

Choosing to stay out of politics is a political choice

Politics is a tawdry subject. It's associated with lies, corruption, and division. But politics is broader than the scandals therein, aligning also with civil rights movements and trying to make change for the better. Society has laws and culture that can vary over time, and be shaped by those engaged in it, for better or worse. Since we all exist and engage in society, our actions are inherently political to some degree. The choice to be "not political" is in and of itself a political choice. It says you are fine with the way things are, and are not worried that you will be meaningfully negatively impacted by the outcomes of elections or legislation in the foreseeable future.

White men hold 62% of all elected offices despite only making up 30% of the population.¹ The 2020 elections have resulted in a record number of openly LGBTQ+ members of Congress, but that record number is only 11², which accounts for just 2% of seats compared to the general population being about 6%³. It’s a similar story for women⁴, and for anyone who is not rich⁵ or White⁶.

The current political and social climate in the United States is absolutely overwhelming for those not apart of the in-group of American culture. That is, for anyone who is not a cisgender, straight, middle-or-upper-class, able-bodied, White man.

Cisgender and straight

There is an absolute onslaught of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation sweeping through Republican-controlled state houses across the country.⁷ Texas has weaponized Child Protective Services on parents of trans youths and shut down availability of gender-affirming care.⁸ Alabama has outlawed gender-affirming care at the penalty of 10 years in prison, forcibly detransitioning transgender youth in the state.⁹ Idaho is in the process of pushing through a bill that would do the same but with a penalty of up to life in prison.¹⁰ With their current legislative actions towards transgender people in the country, Republicans meet 3 of 5 of the UN definitions of genocide; laws aim to take children from their parents, incite violence, and create the conditions to no longer be able to exist in society.¹¹

Middle-or-upper-class

Only 44% of Americans could cover a $1000 unexpected emergency expense.¹² For those living paycheck-to-paycheck or worse, policy changes can change lives. The Child Tax Credit passed by Democrats in 2020 reduced childhood poverty by 30%.¹³ However, it has since ended, as the razor-thin Democratic margin in the Senate did not hold and Joe Manchin of West Virginia held back legislation to keep it going, and Republicans provided zero votes in support.¹⁴ The Trump administration had previously tried to slash SNAP benefits that provide assistance for food for those who need it.¹⁵

Able-bodied

About a quarter of all Americans live with some type of disability.¹⁶ Republicans famously tried to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which expands Medicaid coverage and provides protections for those with pre-existing conditions, among other things, over 70 times¹⁷, despite the fact that this would cause over 20 million Americans to lose coverage¹⁸. This weight would fall disproportionately on those with disabilities.¹⁹ In 2018, a Republican house majority passed HR 620, which repealed the reasonable accommodation requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act.²⁰ This did not get a vote in the Senate.²¹

White

There is a racial wealth gap between White and Black Americans of over $10 trillion.²² Black Americans hold a disproportionate amount of student debt, with ~$25,000 more in student loan debt on average than White graduates.²³ If Democrats were to forgive $50,000 worth of student debt, it would instantly increase the wealth of Black Americans by 40%.²⁴ In elections, Black Americans vote Democratic at a rate of over 90%.²⁵ This has resulted in Republicans working the system to prevent them from being able to vote. This is from broad strokes of racial gerrymanders to precision strikes like targeting Sunday voting to prevent Black church groups from heading to the polls together.²⁶ ²⁷ Nearly every issue you can think of has a racial disparity. Healthcare²⁸, education²⁹, maternal mortality³⁰, sentencing³¹, employment³², even software³³.

Man

The right to abortion is about to end in America. A partisan and hyper-political Supreme Court³⁴ is set to decide on Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health over a 15-week abortion ban in the coming months³⁵. Roe v. Wade was a Supreme Court case that established viability — when the fetus can survive outside the womb — as the cutoff for having an abortion.³⁶ Legally permitting an arbitrary time restriction would be overturning that precedent, and would not stop at 15 weeks.³⁷ Texas has already implemented a legal hack allowing residents to sue anyone who provides abortion services to someone after 6 weeks³⁸, which is typically before someone even knows they're pregnant³⁹. Oklahoma has just passed a complete ban on abortion entirely with no exceptions for rape.⁴⁰ The pandemic itself has been a setback for women's rights with nearly 2 million dropping out of the workforce.⁴¹

Everyone Else

Being able to not care about the political happenings around you is a wonderful gift, but one that not many are fortunate enough to be afforded. If you are in this position, consider that if you don’t personally care what happens, you can still vote on behalf of someone who does. On behalf of someone whose life and livelihood is at stake. Vote to protect healthcare for those who need it. Vote to protect bodily autonomy. Vote to protect voting access itself. Vote.

1. Srikanth, Anagha. 2021. "New study finds white male minority rule dominates US" The Hill. May 26, 2021. https://thehill.com/changing-america/respect/diversity-inclusion/555503-new-study-finds-white-male-minority-rule/.

2. Avery, Dan. 2020. "Congress will have record number of lawmakers next session." NBC News. November 8, 2020. https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/congress-will-have-record-number-lgbtq-lawmakers-next-session-n1246487.

3. Jones, Jeffrey M. 2021. "LGBT Identification Rises to 5.6% in Latest U.S. Estimate." Gallup. February 24, 2021. https://news.gallup.com/poll/329708/lgbt-identification-rises-latest-estimate.aspx.

4. Sanbonmatsu, Kira. 2020. "Women's Underrepresentation in the U.S. Congress." Daedalus. Winter, 2020. https://www.amacad.org/publication/womens-underrepresentation-us-congress.

5. Evers-Hillstrom, Karl. 2020. "Majority of lawmakers in 116th Congress are millionaires." Open Secrets. April 23, 2020. https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2020/04/majority-of-lawmakers-millionaires/.

6. Shoen, John W. and Dzhanova, Yelena. 2020. "These two charts show the lack of diversity in the House and Senate." CNBC. June 2, 2020. https://www.cnbc.com/2020/06/02/these-two-graphics-show-the-lack-of-diversity-in-the-house-and-senate.html.

7. “Legislative Tracker: All Anti-LGBTQ Bills,“ Freedom for All Americans, accessed April 23, 2022. https://freedomforallamericans.org/legislative-tracker/anti-lgbtq-bills/

8. Sharrow, Elizabeth and Sederbaum, Isaac. 2022. "Texas isn't the only state denying essential medical care to trans youths. Here's what's going on." The Washington Post. March 10, 2022. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/03/10/texas-trans-kids-abortion-lgbtq-gender-ideology/.

9. Smith, Serena. 2022. "Alabama will now force trans youth to detransition." Dazed. April 8, 2022. https://www.dazeddigital.com/politics/article/55882/1/alabama-will-now-force-medically-transitioning-trans-youth-to-detransition.

10. Ring, Trudy. 2022. "Idaho Seeks Life In Prison For Providing Gender-Affirming Health Care". Advocate. March 8, 2022. https://www.advocate.com/politics/2022/3/07/idaho-seeks-life-prison-providing-gender-affirming-health-care.

11. St. James, Emily. 2022. "The time to panic about anti-trans legislation is now." Vox. March 24, 2022. https://www.vox.com/first-person/22977970/anti-trans-legislation-texas-idaho.

12. Ali, Shirin. 2022. "Survey finds more than half of Americans can’t afford a $1,000 emergency." The Hill. January 19, 2022. https://thehill.com/changing-america/respect/poverty/590453-survey-finds-over-half-of-americans-cant-afford-a-1000/#:~:text=Bankrate%2C%20a%20personal%20finance%20company%2C%20released%20the%20results%20of%20a,last%20eight%20years%20of%20polling..

13. Turner, Cory. 2022. "The expanded child tax credit briefly slashed child poverty. Here's what else it did." NPR. January 27, 2022. https://www.npr.org/2022/01/27/1075299510/the-expanded-child-tax-credit-briefly-slashed-child-poverty-heres-what-else-it-d.

14. Zeballos-Roig, Joseph. 2022. "Biden indirectly blames Joe Manchin for demise of the monthly child tax credit, lumping him alongside the GOP." Insider. April 22, 2022.
https://www.businessinsider.com/biden-joe-manchin-child-tax-credit-bbb-2022-4.

15. Hsu, Spencer S. 2020. "Federal judge strikes down Trump plan to slash food stamps for 700,000 unemployed Americans." The Washington Post. October 18, 2020. https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/legal-issues/trump-food-stamp-cuts/2020/10/18/7c124612-117a-11eb-ad6f-36c93e6e94fb_story.html

16. “Disability Impacts All of Us“ Center for Disease Control, accessed April 24, 2022. https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/disabilityandhealth/infographic-disability-impacts-all.html#:~:text=26%20percent%20(one%20in%204,is%20highest%20in%20the%20South.

17. Williamson, Vanessa. 2020. "Closing the racial wealth gap requires heavy, progressive taxation of wealth." Brookings. December 9, 2020. https://www.brookings.edu/research/closing-the-racial-wealth-gap-requires-heavy-progressive-taxation-of-wealth/.

18. Hanson, Melanie. 2022. "Student Loan Debt by Race." Education Data Initiative. March 10, 2022. https://educationdata.org/student-loan-debt-by-race.

19. Bustamante, Alí. 2021. "Economic Impact of Student Loan Payment Pause." Roosevelt Institute. November 29, 2021. https://www.warren.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Economic%20Impact%20of%20Student%20Loan%20Payment%20Pause%20-%20Roosevelt%20Institute%20(1)1.pdf.

20. Igielnik, Ruth, Keeter, Scott and Hartig, Hannah. 2021. "Behind Biden's 2020 Victory." Pew Research Center. June 30, 2021. https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2021/06/30/behind-bidens-2020-victory/.

21. Witherspoon, Andrew and Levine, Sam. 2022. "'A racist move': Florida's DeSantis threatens Black voter power with electoral maps." The Guardian. April 20, 2022. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2022/apr/20/ron-desantis-florida-electoral-map-gerrymandering-republican-advantage.

22. Graham, Rebecca Brenner. 2021. "Attacking Sunday voting is part of a long tradition of controlling Black Americans." The Washington Post. March 4, 2021. https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2021/03/04/attacking-sunday-voting-is-part-long-tradition-controlling-black-americans/.

23. “Racism is a Serious Threat to the Public’s Health“ Center for Disease Control, accessed April 23, 2022. https://www.cdc.gov/healthequity/racism-disparities/index.html

24. Elliott, David. 2020. "This is what the racial education gap in the US looks like right now." World Economic Forum. October 16, 2020. https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/10/us-education-racial-equality-stanford-data-project/.

25. https://www.kff.org/report-section/racial-disparities-in-maternal-and-infant-health-an-overview-issue-brief/

26. https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/publications/racial-disparity-sentencing#:~:text=Blacks%20are%20more%20likely%20to%20be%20jailed%20pending%20trial%2C%20and,receive%20a%20less%20severe%20sentence.

27. Weller, Christian E. 2019. "African Americans Face Systematic Obstacles to Getting Good Jobs." Center for American Progress. December 5, 2019. https://www.americanprogress.org/article/african-americans-face-systematic-obstacles-getting-good-jobs/.

28. Najibi, Alex. 2020. "Racial Discrimination in Face Recognition Technology." Harvard University. October 24, 2020. https://sitn.hms.harvard.edu/flash/2020/racial-discrimination-in-face-recognition-technology/.

29. Riotta, Chris. 2017. "GOP Aims to Kill Obamacare Yet Again After Failing 70 Times." Newsweek. July 29, 2017. https://www.newsweek.com/gop-health-care-bill-repeal-and-replace-70-failed-attempts-643832.

30. Rapfogel, Nicole, Calsyn, Maura and Seeberger, Colin. 2020. "The Chaos of Repealing the Affordable Care Act During the Coronavirus Pandemic." Center for American Progress. October 1, 2020. https://www.americanprogress.org/article/chaos-repealing-affordable-care-act-coronavirus-pandemic/.

31. Cokley, Rebecca. 2020. "Repealing the ACA Would Create Chaos for the Disability Community During a Pandemic." Center for American Progress. October 9, 2020. https://www.americanprogress.org/article/repealing-aca-create-chaos-disability-community-pandemic/.

32. Dharapak, Charles. 2018. "The GOP's H.R. 620 will gut the Americans With Disabilities Act, pushing disability rights back to 1989." Think. February 22, 2018. https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/gop-s-h-r-620-will-gut-americans-disabilities-act-ncna850261.

33. “Summary: H.R.620 — 115th Congress (2017-2018),“ Congress.gov, accessed April 23, 2022. https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/620

34. Hasen, Richard L. 2020. "The Supreme Court's Pro-Partisanship Turn." Georgetown Law Journal. July 26, 2020. https://www.law.georgetown.edu/georgetown-law-journal/wp-content/uploads/sites/26/2020/07/Hasen-The-Supreme-Court%E2%80%99s-Pro-Partisanship-Turn.pdf.

35. “Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization,“ Center for Reproductive Rights, accessed April 23, 2022. https://reproductiverights.org/case/scotus-mississippi-abortion-ban/

36. “Roe v. Wade (1973),“ Legal Information Institute, accessed April 23, 2022. https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/roe_v_wade_(1973)

37. Manian, Maya. 2021. "Dobbs and the undue burdens of pre-viability abortion bans." SCOTUS Blog. November 30, 2021. https://www.scotusblog.com/2021/11/dobbs-and-the-undue-burdens-of-pre-viability-abortion-bans/.

38. Ramsey, Ross. 2022. "Analysis: Texas’ new standard is abortions for those who can afford to leave Texas." The Texas Tribune. April 18, 2022. https://www.texastribune.org/2022/04/18/texas-abortion-law/.

39. Sakay, Yasemin Nicola and Ries, Julia. 2021. "Texas Law Bans Abortion at Six Weeks, Before Most People Even Know They’re Pregnant." Healthline. September 2, 2021. https://www.healthline.com/health-news/most-people-dont-know-theyre-pregnant-at-6-weeks-what-that-means-for-texas-abortion-law.

40. LeBlanc, Paul and Stracqualursi, Veronica. 2022. "Oklahoma governor signs near-total ban on abortion into law." CNN. April 12, 2022. https://www.cnn.com/2022/04/12/politics/oklahoma-abortion-ban-kevin-stitt/index.html.

41. Gonzales, Matt. 2022. "Nearly 2 Million Fewer Women in Labor Force." SHRM. February 17, 2022. https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/behavioral-competencies/global-and-cultural-effectiveness/pages/over-1-million-fewer-women-in-labor-force.aspx.