pol·i·tics
ˈpäləˌtiks/
noun:
politics
The activities associated
with the governance of a country or other area, especially the debate or
conflict among individuals or parties having or hoping to achieve power.
I have heard quite a few people proclaim “I’m not interested
in politics”, “I don’t vote because all politicians are crooked” or “all
politicians are the same”. The problem
with that line of thinking is that whether or not you like the politicians,
they ARE in control of your life. Even
in “the land of the free and the home of the brave”. Even when you don’t vote, you are casting a
ballot. The following is a dictionary sampling
of all the areas of our lives that are determined by “politics” (sorry, nothing
for K, X, Y and Z):
A – Agriculture,
aviation
B – Bureau of
Alcohol, Firearms, Tobacco and Explosives, bankruptcy courts
C – Consumer
product safety, Customs and Borders,
D – Defense,
disability
E – Economics,
environment
F – Finances,
Federal Law Enforcement, Farm credit administration
G – Geological
Survey, Grain inspection
H – Health,
Homeland Security
I – Intelligence,
Interior
J – Job Corps,
Joint Forces Command
L – Labor
Department, Library of Congress
M – Military,
Medicare
N – Nutrition
(schools), NASA
O – Occupational
Health and Safety (OSHA), Ocean Energy Management
P – Pentagon,
Peace Corps
R – Rural
Development, Railroad Retirement
S – Securities
and Exchange Commission, Social Security Administration
T –
Transportation, taxes
U – United States
Post Office, US Mint
V – Voting,
Veterans
W – Women’s
Rights, Weather Services (NOAA)
Of course, this isn’t everything. It leaves out much of what is under the
State, County and City governments, such as roads, schools, police, sheriff,
traffic lights, stop signs, hospitals, emergency medical services and local
transportation. If you are a hermit and
live in the woods and grow your own produce and kill your own meat then none of
the above (“politics”) applies to you. The rest of you are clearly, inevitably,
unequivocally and inextricably part and parcel of the POLITICAL process.
