Politics is Personal

The saying goes, “All politics are local.” But I would beg to differ.

Based on the response my LinkedIn post from last Thursday has received over the past week, I would argue:

All politics are PERSONAL.

Clearly, I touched a nerve.

The thing is all the points I made last week not only served to connect politics to business/employment/ LinkedIn—the responses I got, in turn, took that connection one step further by linking politics to the issues we’re all dealing with as HUMAN BEINGS (and, in particular, as OLDER ADULTS).

Job-hunting. Planning for retirement (again, either voluntary or involuntary). Being paid what we’re worth. Family caregiving responsibilities. The cost of living. How we’re treated at work.

How we’re treated by society at-large.

Mind you, to me, these are NOT left or right—or red or blue—issues.

They are UNIVERSAL issues.

Don’t those of us who want and/or need to work deserve to be able to find gainful employment that allows us to use our skills and experience—regardless of our age?

Don’t we all want to ensure we are financially secure enough to enjoy the life we’ve worked hard for—during and after we leave the workforce?

Don’t we all want to be paid what we’re worth—and at least as much as our co-workers who perform the same job we do?

Don’t we all want to be able to afford to put food on our tables? To live in a nice home in a safe neighborhood? To have reliable transportation that gets us to and from where we need to go? To have our votes count?

Don’t we all want—and deserve—to be treated with respect? Both in and outside the workplace?

These questions have three things in common: They’re affected by policy. They’re influenced by politics. And they’re PERSONAL.

Let’s face it: must of us have unconscious biases—like ageist viewpoints—that we have yet to deal with.

Some reflect how we look at others. Some reflect how others look at us. And some reflect how we see ourselves.

When the collective view of society is that older adults are either invisible and/or disposable—that the older we get, the less we have to offer—that can affect how we view our contemporaries. And, more importantly, how we see ourselves.

That, in turn, can affect not only how we age, but how long we live.

So we, as older adults, MUST remain vigilant about the policies—and the politics—that affect our lives.

We need to take a stand. Mobilize. Raise our voices. Contact our elected officials.

Because issues like Social Security, Medicare, DEI, the cost of living, voter suppression, and ageism in the workplace aren’t just about policy or politics.

They’re about something much more important than that. They’re PERSONAL.