Everything Is Political

"We are children of our age,
it's a political age.

All day long, all through the night,
all affairs--yours, ours, theirs--
are political affairs.

Whether you like it or not,
your genes have a political past,
your skin, a political cast,
your eyes, a political slant."

(Children of Our Age by Wislawa Szymborska)

A few years ago, we subscribed to the newspaper I shall refer to as M1.  We had been looking for a paper that was not crammed with dicey photographs and sensational headlines, and for the lack of many other options, we decided to give M1 a try.  We quickly came to the conclusion it was not for us.  Although the newspaper did not have nude photos or headlines about pop singers who expose themselves emotionally ("I started singing because my father beat me/my mother was an alcoholic/my brother came out of the closet/I ran out of drugs"), we felt its worldview and perspective were narrow and limited.

Ever since we canceled our subscription, sales agents occasionally phone to try to convince us to resume it.  My oldest son, Guy, told me about a recent attempt.

"Hi, this is X, representative of the newspaper M1.  May I speak with Mom or Dad?"

"My parents are not here, may I help you?"

"I'm calling about subscribing to the newspaper.  When will they be back?"

Guy, knowing and sharing our attitude to M1, decided to deal with the agent's call himself.

"You can talk to me.  I'm empowered to make decisions about the household newspapers."

"I would like to offer you a subscription to the newspaper M1, at a special introductory price in honor of the Holidays."

"No, thank you.  We already subscribe to HA and G [two other newspapers] and we don't need another one," said my son.

"You subscribe to HA?!  What??!  You support the enemy?!"

My son responded immediately.  "Leaving aside the political aspect, you have to agree that HA is a better quality newspaper than yours," he told the stunned sales agent.

"What's 'quality' about it?!  Have you gone over to the other side, reading the newspaper of the leftists?"

"It's OK," said my son, "We like to see the bigger picture, and HA helps us maintain a balance."

"'It's OK'?!  What do you mean, 'It's OK'?  Soon you'll be completely brainwashed!  You'll be like the Jew who wanted to see how the other half lives and ended up eating pork."  By this point the hot-tempered sales agent had completely forgotten everything he learned in Telemarketing School about listening to the customer, about the "soft sell", about not negating the potential customer's position.  He treated my bewildered son and my innocent family--which, after all, had simply wanted to find a newspaper to read--as if we had deserted our country and run into the arms of the enemy.

Once upon a time I thought the function of a newspaper was to report objectively on what was happening in the country and around the world.  When I grew up I understood that the concept "objective" does not really exist, and that a newspaper will always reflect a certain world view and philosophy. But where does it end? What have we come to, when one's choice of reading matter is considered a political act, if not potentially treasonous?!

Sagi Melamed lives with his family in the community of Hoshaya in the Galilee.  He serves as Vice President of External Affairs at the Max Stern Yezreel Valley College, and as Chief Instructor (4th Dan) of the Hoshaya Karate Club.  Sagi received his MA from Harvard University in Middle Eastern Studies with a specialty in Conflict Resolution. He can be contacted at: melamed.sagi@gmail.com. 

October 2011