Everything is Political
American flag behind gated bars. Photo by ctj71081 on Flickr
The phrase “everything is political” may seem harsh; perhaps you may think it’s even a morbid hyperbole. But I can assure you, it is a phrase that is more than fitting while describing today’s world.
Our world is filled with corruption that shows itself in a multitude of ways, and while we would like to believe our very own government would never take part in such crass realities, we need to face the facts.
Every single aspect of our life, everything from the air we breathe and the books we are assigned in school to our bodily autonomy and who can vote, is political.
How about we first focus on air? How can air be political? Well, have you ever opened Chat GPT or simply googled a question and glanced over the AI overview? The sheer amount of fossil fuels used for generative AI largely contributes to global climate change by releasing greenhouse gases. This directly increases the amount of deadly air pollution from power plants and generators.
David Dalenski, of UC Riverside news, claims that, “This air pollution is expected to result in as many as 1,300 premature deaths a year by 2030 in the United States, and its public health costs from cancers, asthma, other diseases, and missed work and school days are approaching an estimated $20 billion a year”. Mind you, with regulations and proper legislation, we could potentially muster up a plan to dwindle these effects, but that, of course, requires time, money and overall care from the federal government.
Now, when I say books are political, I am speaking of their regulation. You may think, “But how can paper bound within the confines of a cover be so political”? Easy, the content makes those in charge uncomfortable, so it must go. According to the American Library Association, “In 2025, 92% of all book challenges were initiated by pressure groups, government officials and decision makers, up from 72% in 2024”. The content of these banned books predominantly tells the stories of LGBTQIA+ individuals and/or people of color.
To me, this is not an overwhelming coincidence; this is political silencing. Whereas politicians claim they may be placing these bans for the “safety” of children, it is really a broad attempt at narrowing young minds to confine their viewpoints of the world.
I feel that it should go without saying that the fact that a woman’s right to her own bodily autonomy varies from state to state is political. There is an argument that claims that abortion bans and bans on effective birth control are set in place for moral reasons; if this were the case, bodily autonomy would be a given right across the nation, and choice would be the standard.
Recently, SCOTUS has gone back and forth on whether or not Mifepristone (an abortion medication) can be delivered discreetly via mail. Our politicians see women’s bodies as something to be politicized and objectified. Autonomy isn’t even a guarantee anymore, and the saddest part is that, for a short time, there, it was. Now, women’s rights lie within certain borders and are nonexistent within others.
Just recently, the Supreme Court of the United States struck down a Louisiana second majority-Black districting map in an attempt to better represent the state’s Black community, which makes up one-third of Louisiana’s population. SCOTUS claimed this map adhered to unconstitutional racial gerrymandering. This ruling ultimately weakens Section Two of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
This decision shows the beginning of the fall of the Voting Rights act as now minority representation is going to dwindle in Congress, states will be able to pass more restrictive voting laws and will overall allow more discrimination on the federal level.
Of course, this decision was political; we have seen a mass increase in racial discrimination on the federal level as of late. Would this situation differ if the Black community weren’t the ones benefiting? Would this even be a second thought otherwise?
So, next time you see injustice, even if you think it’s being presented in a minute form, think again. Question actions, or lack thereof, since very rarely are such popular topics a coincidence.
I cannot reiterate it enough: everything is political.