Why I Hate Politics

Hate is seen as an ugly thing, especially in polite society. But hatred is not evil in itself. When hatred is motivated by virtue, it’s a good thing, but hatred motivated by vice is wicked. The telltale sign that your hatred is virtuous is the object of one’s hatred. Is it what a person does, or the person himself?

As the medieval philosopher St. Thomas wrote a long time ago:

It is lawful to hate the sin in one’s brother, and whatever pertains to the defect of Divine justice, but we cannot hate our brother’s nature and grace without sin. Now it is part of our love for our brother that we hate the fault and the lack of good in him, since desire for another’s good is equivalent to hatred of his evil. Consequently the hatred of one’s brother, if we consider it simply, is always sinful. (Summa Theologiae II-II.34.3)

In other words: hate the sin, love the sinner. Morally legitimate hatred is always grounded in love, grounded in the desire to correct injustice and see peace is upheld.

I love my family. I love my country and my fellow countrymen. I love my neighbor. I love things being orderly, just, and peaceful. I love God. And for all of these reasons, I hate politics.

Politics as I understand it is party politics, the popularity contest between Team Red and Team Blue that (supposedly) decides the fate of America. I say “supposed” because I hear in each election that it is “the most important election of our lifetime,” yet there are no radical shifts in-between elections. Like it or not, the United States seems to be going in a consistent direction. The people in charge have a plan.

Despite this lack of radical change, politics appears to be all-consuming, infecting everything and anything. Things that were once seen as being outside or beyond party politics have been sucked into the black hole that is the Red-versus-Blue Conflict. And like a black hole, everything that it touches is warped beyond recognition. Science becomes pseudoscience. All the arts and entertainment become course propaganda. Even day-to-day life can be impossible, as even simple, normal goals are impeded. Commentators from across the political spectrum have lamented this process, which they call politicization. Yet even though people see the problem with it, there’s no consensus on how to solve it or even what causes it. But for me, politics is the cause of politicization. If people weren’t consumed by the Red-versus-Blue Conflict, they wouldn’t feel the need to twist the truth, promote endless propaganda, and interfere with the day-to-day lives of the average person.

President George Washington’s Farewell Address blamed then-emerging “the spirit of party” for being the cause of many of America’s ills at his time. He argued that:

It serves always to distract the public councils and enfeeble the public administration. It agitates the community with ill founded jealousies and false alarms, kindles the animosity of one part against another, foments occasionally riot and insurrection. It opens the door to foreign influence and corruption, which find a facilitated access to the government itself through the channels of party passions. Thus the policy and the will of one country are subjected to the policy and will of another.

Tools of the government that are supposed to be used for good of the people are instead used to score political points. Politics divides communities and families using demagoguery. Violence becomes the norm. The state and the people can be more easily manipulated by influences, foreign or domestic. No matter what your political views are, if you love people, you must hate politics.

People will say “no, party politics can’t be the cause of politicization!” These people would look at how the Nazi Party in Germany and the Bolsheviks in the Soviet Union would politicize art and science just as effectively as any modern political party would despite having uncontested political power. But both the Nazi Party and the Bolsheviks were products of party politics. They are examples of what happens when a particular political party “wins” the Red-versus-Blue Conflict. Political parties are typically concerned with securing power for the sake of advancing the interests of whatever group they represent, whether it be a cabal of ideologues, an economic class, an ethnic group, or what have you. To advance these interests, the common good, the good of the whole, must be ignored, since any ruler that is not trying to advance the good of the whole is, by definition, advancing the good of some part of the whole. Even a tyrant who wants power for its own sake will sometimes advance the common good if only to secure his position. You have little chance of that happening in a one-party state.

And that’s the problem with politics in general: by sucking everyone into partisan conflict, it turns political leadership from an attempt to enact the common good into a team sport. But it’s a team sport that can never end. It’s a sport that keeps going on and on and on. Because, for a lot of these partisan figures, politics is their life. If they ever admitted they were wrong, they’d lose a great deal of support.

Besides that, I think there’s an element of personal moral failing involved on their part. Seeing politicians argue on television reminds me of all the times I’ve argued with my mother. Though she and I love each other, we’re both intelligent and stubborn. Therefore, we get into arguments over who is “correct” whenever there’s a factual disagreement. Of course, my mom is usually right, but such an experience doesn’t make it easier to give up the fight. Often, the urge to argue comes from a defensiveness born of pride. I believe that that is the source of a great deal of partisan bickering too. If we admitted when we were wrong whenever we got something wrong and learned to forgive one another, then the world would be a better place.

The solution to politics does not exist in the current state of affairs. As George Washington stated, it’s a part of human nature to squabble amongst ourselves. But we can minimize its influence on our lives. First, minimize your time on social media, where this sort of politics runs rampant. Second, try and find some real-life hobbies with real people who don’t want to participate in politics. These non-political activities will occupy your time rather than politics. If politics is injected into a situation, politely excuse yourself from the situation so that you don’t have to participate. Boycotts are as American as apple pie, after all. Why not try it for yourself?

I don’t like either political party very much. And I don’t think that either one is taking us in a good direction in our society. I pray that America will find its way. But until then, don’t let politics steal your joy and divide the country.