It’s all politics

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I am 70 years old, and I want to retire. I can financially live on my Social Security income with supplements from my savings. I planned and saved for this. But now I’m fearful and not sure if Social Security will be around much longer. Is talking to others about Social Security political talk? Is fear of having my phone searched at the LA airport after I fly in from an out-of-country vacation political fear? Is my current job, prescribing birth control in a clinic, a political job? Is talking about paying more for groceries with added fees due to tariffs political talk? Yet many friends and colleagues around me don’t want to talk “politics.” Is this politics or just life?

If you like Trump and support his agenda, you don’t like me. And I do take that personally. Because I love my job at the clinic helping young women stay healthy and teaching them how to take care of their bodies. You must not like me because I believe in free trade, free speech, supporting global allies, and health care as a human right.

So when I lament about how hurtful these Republican agenda items are to people I love and/or care about, it’s not political, it’s humanity and compassion. If you don’t want me to speak politics, then what is left? The weather? Oh right, NOAA and the Weather Service are scaling back and on the chopping block. 

Think about it again. Our life in what is left of the United States democracy is all political. It’s all or nothing. If it’s not political then it’s (just) life. If it is political then it’s my and your life. Either way we can’t escape what is happening.

I’m tired. I’ve been a political candidate for office, I’ve done sit-ins and freedom walks and all kinds of rallies over the last 55 years. These issues are part of who I am. You don’t want me to speak politics. Then you don’t want to hear, see, and know me.

I would rather just retire, play Mahjong, paint by numbers, take a dance class, play with my dog, travel. But I can’t. I’m afraid to leave the country now, so I can’t talk calmly about it with you as we chat about our next travel adventure. I can’t relax in my golden years because my hard-earned Social Security check is not a guarantee any longer.

I don’t really want to talk politics. I want to talk TV, movies, and the weather. But it’s all politics now. Because we have never been here before, teetering on the brink of fascism and dictatorship. So, for now, it’s all political, and if we don’t talk about and share our grief, frustration, and confusion, we will never survive. And I want us to survive and thrive.

Sharon Girard
Nipomo

This article appears in Apr 17-27, 2025.