The Politics of Our Wellbeing
As the now-famous saying goes, everything is political. Unfortunately, this includes our well-being. I recently listened to an intriguing podcast where the host and guest discussed climate change. They emphasized that everyone desires clean air and clean water and believes in their right and access to these essential resources. They highlighted the consensus across all political lines, but the challenges arise in achieving these shared goals. The discussion emphasized how our shared interests in these goals often gets lost in our political tropes. In this context, the stereotype of an environmentalist is often associated with an ultra-progressive liberal, complete with Patagonia clothing, a Fjällräven Kånken backpack filled with granola bars, tools for making a picket sign on the spot, and a water bottle adorned with an earthy cliché.
However, we rarely perceive environmental activists as ultra-conservative religious figures. In the political sphere, we generally know what to expect regarding various social issues and their political affiliations. We observed a disruption of this during the recent presidential election cycle when analysts analyzed voting data and discovered something unexpected. It turned out that a portion of the Republican voting bloc consisted of a minority group of anti-vaccine conservative “granola” women. We live off the land and off the grid types. I apologize for the granola stereotype, but it was the way the information was reported. It also helps us identify these women, and I mostly attributed their subset to being a group of women who grew up and changed some of their worldviews, particularly after starting families and prioritizing their long-term well-being. This is a common experience for many of us. We grow up.
As I listened to the discussion, it made me wonder deeply about the possibility of disconnecting our collective well-being, which many of us seem to share, from our political process, which is inherently divisive.
When it comes to social issues that affect us all, it can become quite perplexing, especially when power, economic, and political power are involved. In such situations, individuals can inflict trauma on others for perceived “good” or through crowd justice, coupled with self-righteous and nonsensical altruism. Moreover, they tend to double down on their efforts when they prove futile, disregarding the autonomy and independence of individuals. Instead, they impose their own limited scope and frame of “shared values” and worldview on others, hindering their ability to design their lives and define their own well-being.
There must be a solution or an end to this madness.
You can read more of my other thoughts about the politics of our well being below:
Baselines of Power: Why Well-Being is a Question of Authority
The Imperative of Personalized Well-Being
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