In fact, it was one of the recent variations on Marxism that gave us the slogan that “the personal is the political,” that there is no domain of life, no matter how private or trivial—from awkward sexual encounters to, say, the video games you play or the goofy shirt you wear—that isn’t really about some vast political power struggle. Hence the drive to make sure all of these things are “politically correct.” This attitude is not only alive and well today. It is becoming dominant on the left.
I’m concerned that for many on the left, this outlook is becoming deeply internalized. It’s not just that the personal is the political, but the political has taken on an unhealthy personal meaning, defining the very essence of who you are.
For the right, politics and government is generally regarded as something to be gotten out of the way so that we can get on with the real business of life, which is about work and family and sports and entertainment and—well, just about anything except politics. We see ourselves as good people because we are good at our jobs, because we are good husbands and wives, because we are good parents, and so on.
By contrast, when you think government should be involved in everything, when politics is the key to every aspect of life, then your whole personal identity, and especially your ability to think of yourself as a good person, is identified with being on the right side of various political controversies. It becomes a sin to doubt, because that means doubting the validity of the very thing that makes you a good person. It is a serious personal dilemma.
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