Week Forty-Two
get in loser we're getting political
IN:
young people running for office and generally becoming politically active (Jack running in NY-12 is a great example)
reciting the slam poem from 22 Jump Street by heart (please watch this in full)
diners
it taking 15 mins to get from Williamsburg to the Chrysler Building
the tunnel being open in the Chrysler Building from Grand Central (so you don’t even have to go outside!!)
OUT:
paying 8 dollars for an oat latte for it to come in an 8oz size cup aka a cappuccino/flat white (WatchHouse, tf is that??)
“false spring”
claiming to be “apolitical” or “not really into politics”
having to wait 15 mins at Grand Central for the 6 train so that you can take it one stop and then walk for another 8 mins to the office
when you get off the 4/5 to switch to the 6 and the 6 train is just pulling out of the station so now you have to wait ages for the next 6 to show up (who times these things and what do I have to do to make them time it better!!!)
BFFR:
IN: young people running for office and becoming politically active (Jack running in NY-12 is a great example)
OUT: claiming to be “apolitical” or “not really into politics”
I’ve recently become my own worst nightmare. I’ve become lethargic. I’ve let the overwhelm of every single horrible headline get to me and make me avoid all headlines altogether. I used to be better. I used to live in DC and be physically, mentally, and emotionally surrounded by the news. I used to be a law student, immersed in every new SCOTUS ruling and policy change, and the implications they would inevitably have on society. It was 2016-2019, and it was the worst of the worst that we could imagine (or what we thought could be the worst…2025+ said hold my poodle), and I considered myself to be part of the front lines.
By the time the pandemic rolled around, and the misinformation, isolation, and doom began to spread even more rapidly, I knew I had to do more to make sure that we could save ourselves and get out of this very dark, very scary hole we found ourselves in as a country. It felt dire. Being so “in the know” all the time felt exhausting but necessary. I volunteered to knock on doors for campaigns, I volunteered at my local polling station for election day, and I posted about news stories and headlines that would motivate others to stay informed and vote to get us out of this mess. We had taken our foot off the gas before, and we saw where it got us; it wasn’t going to happen again, not on my watch.
And then we finally felt joy. We finally felt a breath of fresh air after what felt like holding our breath for so long. There was finally some peace, both literally and figuratively. We weren’t having to wake up every morning to another heinous story about some awful thing that happened or was said overnight. If I’m being honest, I finally felt free again.
And it was this freedom that gave me the space to let the complacency creep in, I let the lethargy take over, and that is why I am convinced that we are where we are now. For those quiet four years, I didn’t need to pay attention to every headline anymore. There were actual stable adults in charge who believed in norms, traditions, the rule of law, democracy (just a few pretty nice things to be reminded of), and I didn’t have to be so on. I wouldn’t say that I became one of those people who “isn’t into politics” (I firmly believe that as a woman and child of immigrants, there will never be such a thing as me and my life not being inherently political), but I did become someone who didn’t microscopically look into every policy plan or action being taken. I knew the gist of what was getting done, I supported it, and I moved on.
I moved back to NYC, I started my lovely career, I re-started my life in my late 20s after COVID took away some precious years, I focused on my friends and my own inner life, and in all of that living four years flew by and we were right back where we started just a few years before…except this time it was and has been much worse. And not only is it worse, but now my political muscles are out of shape, yet somehow also still exhausted from the slog we went through all those years ago. I knew I had to turn it back on again, to get back into watchdog mode, and I just couldn’t/can’t find the energy to do it. Every single day, there’s another horrible thing being said or done, and it’s draining and depressing. So to “protect my own peace,” I turn it off, and I dissociate. I become part of the problem. I forget how I only earned those four years of peace from so many years of paying attention and doing something about it. I give myself grace and know that I am just one person, and my contribution to the whole is just that, a contribution, but it’s also important for my micro-community and the influence that I can have within that community to get back behind the wheel and dive back in (and what ever other saying I can say to say get involved again). I need to do it, and so do you.
But god is it hard. And I give my own personal backstory here to say that I guess I understand now why some people may say that they’re “apolitical” (don’t get me wrong, I still think it’s an incredibly stupid and shortsighted thing to say and even admit to out loud), but I can see how you can so easily fall into that trap. Into that hole where you think that politics don’t actually impact your own life, and it’s just a little game that some people play while the rest of us go to work and live our lives.
By saying you’re “not really into politics,” you’re saying that you are ok being walked all over, ok with having decisions made for you (by just a few people with a lot of money who don’t give a fuck about you), and you don’t care about your quality of life. All things that I think most people would say they’re certainly not ok with and actually do care about.
“Politics” as a word is so charged, but what if we replaced it with what it really means, what it really stands for: a series of choices to lead you to a particular quality of life. Maybe then people wouldn’t be so quick to write it off as something they’re “not interested in” or “doesn’t involve them” as if it’s some sort of hobby.
I can promise you now, being as involved as I used to be in all things politics is not a hobby. It’s not enjoyable. But (not to get too dramatic) it’s necessary for survival.
And now more than ever, when we have entered and continue to enter such dark times throughout the world. When we feel like we can’t trust any headline we read, or statement made by any official, any “account”, any person. When it feels like all of the trusted adults have left the room, and we’ve been left to play catch-up and clean up while destruction continues to reign. We need to lock the fuck back in and get a grip. I don’t care what you have going on; look locally first if the federal government gives you anxiety. Make a list of 5 things you care about the most in your personal life, and figure out what the political ties are to those issues, and get involved.
This is where my “IN” comes into play. Jack Schlossberg came to speak at my work today. It was, of course, inspiring (he is a Kennedy after all, born to be able to inspire via speech), but he said something so great that stuck with me; he’s running this campaign because he wants people (especially young people) to “believe in something again.” He understands that we’ve stopped believing in almost everything, that we are in this dark hole, but instead of continuing to be down in the dumps about it all and avoiding headlines, we need to remerge and reignite our passions and our beliefs. And you know what? Hell yeah. I agree. And you know what else?? He’s 33. He’s only a few years older than me and understands that the only way to set ourselves up better for the future is to take the future into our own hands. No offense to baby boomers (emphasis on baby, ya’ll are a bunch of big old babies), but I don’t need you making any more life decisions for me or for the rest of the world when you likely may not be around to see how your actions impact us.
Back when I was looking for my first real career move post-law school, I put two feelers out for two different jobs, one in entertainment and one in politics. I said that whichever I get will be the path that was meant for me, and the entertainment path played out faster than the political path did, so that is what I decided the universe wanted from me (of course, entertainment and politics are two sides of the same coin and so intertwined that trying to separate them in any way is laughable). But there are weeks when I wonder if I’m using my law degree in a selfish, incorrect, silly way, and that I could be doing more, and that I made the wrong choice. But no, this is my reminder to myself and to all of you: It doesn’t matter what your job is, or what your day-to-day is like, there should be no and is no barrier to entry into politics and learning more about how systems work, what’s going on in the world, and what more you can be doing to get involved and stay current and hold everyone making those decisions about your quality of life, accountable.
A close friend of mine recently left her job in entertainment to pivot to a career in politics and campaigning. She clearly understands that this is such a key moment in our lives, an inflection point, and if we do not send our best and brightest out to help fix what is already so broken, we may be lost to this darkness consuming us forever. I’m not saying you need to be like her and leave your career for a new career in politics, but I am saying that you need to be like her and wake up and realize the time to get and stay informed is now.
It’s never too late to start.
And sorry for the call to action-esque BFFR this week, but some of you need to really BFFR in a serious way. No one is coming to save us; we are going to have to do it ourselves again. Get informed, get involved, and vote for the things that can help you and your neighbors have the quality of life you deserve.
Xx,
B
Not the b list making me cry this morning
Cynthia! Jesus died for our sin-thi-as!