This is an open letter to everyone on social media comments pages, and in everyday life, who tell everyone and anyone that they just simply do not care about politics. You know who I mean.
The people who complain when celebrities "ruin their (insert talent here)" by speaking out about issues they support or have opinions on. The people who want politics out of their sports, out of their entertainment, out of their lives.
For some, politics is simply a nuisance in the background of life. They really aren't affected by issues, they think, so they can blow off caring and stay in their own bubbles of bliss.
If only it were that easy for everyone.
Not everybody lives the dream world where political talking points and the back-and-forth they bring don't impact life. Some people have nearly every second of their lives politicized.
Take the politics around immigration, for example. The Trump administration and their most ardent supporters have, whether you want to admit it or not, stoked a debate about who is allowed in the country and who really belongs in the country.
If you are an immigrant that has light or white skin, you may avoid the brunt of the effects of the politics. You have not been classified as the "other" that the administration has decided does not belong in the country.
If you are not a first- or second-generation immigrant and you appear to be white you probably do not ever have to explain or defend how you and your ancestors came to this country.
If you are not a woman the attack on Planned Parenthood and reproductive health writ large do not concern you, either.
More specifically, if you are a woman with health insurance, money and/or the resources and access to the care you might need, then you need not worry about politics.
But for the rest of the country, politics cannot be tossed aside and forgotten about like a bad grade or a minor headache.
For most people, politics is, in one way or another, inextricably linked to life itself. People have to stay informed on the political debates of the day because the debates are about the livelihoods of those people.
People need to know what the politicians say because they then have to defend themselves from the comments and amplify the backlash against them.
Not everyone has insurance and the resources they need to attain care. So when the political climate favors gutting programs and organizations that provide that care at little to no cost, they need to know that.
And then they need to fight.
Because, you see, not everyone can afford to not care. Not everyone can sit back and think that things will just work themselves out.
Not everyone can actually say they aren't affected by the political tug and pull that often starts in D.C. but stretches to every corner of the country.
I know that the ins and outs of politics are not everyone's cup of tea. I am not saying they need to be, either.
No one has to fully invest in something they do not care about.
But we could all at least try to be a little more aware of what life is like outside of our own little bubbles.
The next time you want to say that politics should stay out of something or that you don't care, do a little reflecting on why you can afford to make that claim.
If we were all a little more aware of the situation of other people maybe the political climate wouldn't be this hostile in the first place.
