Academically speaking, politics is the science and art of running a government. Most of us, however, tend to think of politics as opportunistic, manipulative, or devious behavior. It’s our distaste for such actions that make so many throw in the towel and wish politicians could all just get along and strive for unity. Given the mess that modern politics is, the partisanship, the anger and hatred why not just tune out and ignore the whole miserable thing?

The German novelist, Thomas Mann once penned the line, “There is nothing that is not political. Everything is politics.” (Thomas Mann, The Magic Mountain, 1924.) You may not want to agree with this, but let me cast the idea in a little different light. Assume that politics consist of the strategies we use to accomplish our goals. Anytime you try to achieve a goal, anytime a friend of family member tries to accomplish something, they are being political. If we use that definition, politics is a major part of each one of us. In fact, every one of us is by nature a political being.

Think of a couple of goals – moving ahead in your career, selling your house, or teaching your children a value system. In each of these, you will encounter opposition, people who want you to fail. At work, you can only move ahead at the expense of others. If you get promoted, others don’t and thus they suffer. When selling a house, you want to get the most you can for it and the buyer wants to buy it as cheaply as possible. At home, you have a life view and want to convey those values to your children. Hollywood, the teachers union, the Department of Education, and others disagree with your values and are actively looking for ways to undermine your efforts and teach your children an alternate value system. If they succeed, they win the battle for your children. Who will win? The best politician is the one who is the best at using strategies to accomplish their goals.

Borrowing from Richard Stallman, “People like to think that they can ignore politics. You can leave politics alone, but politics won’t leave you alone.” Think about it, people right now are trying to determine what you should not be allowed to eat (fast food), what is taught in school (sex education for kindergarteners), whether we use gasoline-powered cars, whether we classify the carbon dioxide we exhale as a pollutant, what are acceptable religious practices (stripping ecclesiastical authority from priests who refuse to perform gay marriages), what version of history is taught (the founding fathers were not religious), what our grocery bags are mode of (ban the plastic), and so on. Each of these is a real battle being fought today.

If you and I choose to stay out of the messiness of American politics, those we disagree with will win. We will be victims of our own inaction. What we hold dear and sacred will be viewed as evil, hateful, backward, unenlightened and will be banned. What we see as wrong, detrimental, wicked, will become elevated and celebrated. Politics is culture, religion, value systems, education, everything that makes up our lives – not because you want politics to touch every aspect of your life, but because others want to touch and control these aspects of your life. Someone will win; it will either be you or them. If you do not get involved, you are handing the power to control you life to those you vigorously disagree with.

Why are politics important? Because it is the ability to control your own destiny, to run your own life according to your belief system. If you value something, you will need to take a stand and fight for it — or plan on loosing it.