In recent days, I’ve seen a number of comments or editorials which focus on a dichotomy between reacting to the crisis of the moment (which is portrayed as the ICE raids, military deployments and general attacks on democracy) and focusing on issues like Medicaid (which is portrayed as politics-as-usual and an inability to recognize a national crisis). I agree with the sentiment behind this, but it’s wrongheaded and I want to explain why.
It’s true that there are some voices who want to focus on “kitchen table” issues and, for lack of a better phrasing, avoid controversial topics. I certainly disagree with that viewpoint and strategy. But I think it’s very wrongheaded, both tactically and in substance, to create a division between what affects your freedom, your right to govern yourself, and things that affect your pocket book — because those are all components of what are required to live a dignified life. On the simplest level, it feeds into the idea that self-government, democracy, the rule of law are kind of niche concerns of the hyper political or the affluent. Sort of a luxury you can afford to get wound up about if you’ve already got good health care and make enough money not to worry that much about higher food prices.
But beyond this we need to have a more holistic idea of freedom because our freedom, our right to govern ourselves, our access to courts to defend our rights is very much inclusive of what we might dismiss as “kitchen table issues.” You are not fully free without protection from financial ruin, whether that’s from a family illness or rising prices, or rights to bodily autonomy, and much else. To point a finer point on it, the responsiveness of our system to the popular will is what should provide some protection from massive cuts to health care provision that polls show the public overwhelmingly opposes.
All of these things are bound together in a more general question of, who’s side are you on? What’s your focus? What’s your priority? The corruption, the rule of law and the right not to be tyrannized, the right to the necessities of a dignified life — those are all part of a common whole. And it’s a mistake the try to pry them apart, both on the merits and as good politics.
