*For a list of all the articles in this series and other political articles, please go here: https://cityuntangled.com/category/politics/.
To warn readers, I am going to write about my experiences with and opinions on the darker aspects of politics in this series titled, “Political Tension”. I went back and forth between having two separate series on local and national politics. I decided to keep it as one series after realizing that there are overlaps with no clear boundaries. Local political issues have lessons for national politics and vice versa. Besides, it would be too confusing to keep track of two separate series on politics.
U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders from Vermont said that “politics should be kind of boring” in a July 14, 2024 TV interview (2m35s at https://youtu.be/GZMUrxqWS8s?t=155). Fuller quote:
And in a certain way, Kristen, politics should be kind of boring, you know? Our health care system is dysfunctional. How do we fix it? Well, it’s kind of a boring discussion, but we need a health care system that guarantees health care for all people. And we have massive income and wealth inequality. Well, maybe a boring discussion. Should three people own more wealth than the bottom half of American society? So what we’ve got to see is serious discussion of serious issues, and not this kind of harsh rhetoric that we have heard for the last number of years.
I agree with the senator’s views, but the harsh rhetoric seems to be increasing nowadays based on my experience. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary’s first definition of politics is straightforward (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/politics):
1 a : the art or science of government
b : the art or science concerned with guiding or influencing governmental policy
c : the art or science concerned with winning and holding control over a government
The third definition of politics hints at the potential for drama, bold emphasis mine:
3 a : political affairs or business
especially: competition between competing interest groups or individuals for power and leadership (as in a government)
b : political life especially as a principal activity or profession
c : political activities characterized by artful and often dishonest practices
Another adjective I want to add to item 3c is “violent.” Politics can be extremely unpleasant to watch, read, and participate in because you see some of the darkest aspects of humanity. I got to experience them firsthand when I presented dissenting political views or pointed out inaccurate claims at public meetings and on Facebook. That made me subject to yelling, insults, people finding my personal email address to send me unsolicited opinions, and in some cases, gaslighting – people making up narratives about what I did or leaving out context to confuse me. The gaslighting also had the effect of others seeing me in a negative light based on false information. Some of that verbal and psychological violence came from elected officials, starting with an incident in Holyoke, MA in 2022, which was a turning point for me on how I viewed our world.
Prior to the incident, I had a naively positive view of the world that when it comes to at least local politics, since people live so close to each other in a community, politicians are more restrained and care about all residents. I thought it was the duty of local politicians to respect and protect all residents, including those outside their own ward and those with different viewpoints. That changed in 2022.
I think the usual underlying goal of people engaging in these tactics is to intimidate others from speaking up, so if people get intimidated and do not speak up, they have succeeded and we become a community that primarily runs on fear and confusion. Despite the risks, people need to speak up about conducts that may be unethical, dishonest, or unlawful. Unless darkness is brought to light, situations are not going to improve. In the next parts of the series, I am going to share some details from my personal experience, starting with the 2022 incident.
City Untangled 