Lobsters are comfortable before they die. As the water heats up, it reaches a comfortable temperature and numbs the senses, preventing action before it breaks into the deadly boil.
Our politics are the same.
Often when engaging in political discussions, I find myself met with responses like, “I just wish people would be nicer,” or the more direct “I’m not into politics.” While I understand the sentiments, they betray a problem lurking deeper — apathy.
Here at Palomar, this attitude isn’t uncommon; it’s the norm. But in a time of housing insecurity, tuition hikes, book bans, and immigrant crackdowns, neutrality and silence are positions many of us cannot take.
While it’s easy to stay silent or to look away, the desire to protect our peace is dangerous when
left unchecked.
Much of this stems from our education. The American education system often struggles to teach critical thinking, defaulting to a much simpler system of “right and wrong.”
Think of your classes: how hesitantly you answer questions posed to the class. Scared to be wrong, as the student who is wrong is mocked and ridiculed.The whispers in the classroom are often louder than the lecture.
A core aim of education is to build student autonomy by teaching practical strategies that help turn learners’ motivation into effective action, according to a 2022 Frontiers in Psychology study.
The current way of teaching, silent and rigid, teaches students critical indifference. We learn it is easier to be apolitical, easier to run away and tune out. We become scared of saying the wrong thing.
American politics is so dominated by two parties that it leads to the misunderstanding that there are only two political molds (Republican or Democrat). More commonly, political scholars use a two-dimensional model for political ideologies, split across economic (left-right) and social axes (authoritarian-libertarian). This acknowledgement breaks down the American two-party divide that traps so much of our modern political discussion.
Unfortunately, American schools tend to not encourage critical thinking, especially when it comes to politics. A 2025 proposed Department of Education rule prioritizes a system of “informed patriotism,” defined as an accurate, honest, inspiring, unifying and ennobling presentation of history.
While an educated populace is a good thing to have, the emphasis on teaching American history in a way that is inspiring and unifying stands in direct opposition to critical thinking and a complete education. Many important facets of American history such as the FBI-Martin Luther King Jr. letter will not be unifying or inspiring.
The next time you find yourself in conversation with someone who doesn’t share your political views, I encourage you to actually talk about issues, not just dance around them. Will it always work? Will everyone be willing to have that discussion with you? No. But we often agree on more than we’ve been led to believe when we dig a little deeper.
Additionally, we find ourselves easily disconnecting from the news. We see this massive stressor as something to avoid, running from our fears. Its better to face them head-on.
Take Palomar’s governing board meetings, something we are not likely to attend because they’re boring or inconvenient. While these certainly can be true statements, it’s through this attitude that bad actors are emboldened to take actions such as the removal of the anti-racism policy. After all, there aren’t enough people watching them.
Of course there are other more pressing issues that can discourage you from political activity. Fifty-one percent of community college students work a job while attending college, according to California’s published data, leaving little time for anything else.
But has this not been the case before? Did those who advocated during the Civil Rights Movement of the ‘60s or the Pride movement of the ‘90s not also have day jobs? The balance is difficult but not impossible, so why not try?
Apoliticism and ignorance are positions only a few people can take. Working-class students cannot ignore wage stagnation and cost of living increases. LGBTQ+ students cannot ignore their rights and protections being rolled back. Immigrant students cannot ignore changes to immigration policy.
You can only ignore the things that do not directly affect you, but when you look around, they affect so many people in our communities: friends, family, neighbors and coworkers.
Those in the Dreamer Success Program, NSPIRE and the Pride Center do not get the option of apoliticism. Their existence has been thrust into the spotlight and made into a political issue. While policies are debated, it is their livelihoods that are affected.
“I feel like if I could get my voice out there more, I would be more involved. But it’s just hard. I’m not one of the important people, you know what I mean?” a Republican-leaning woman said in response to a Pew Research survey.
This attitude is representative of a large portion of our society — the idea that we must be important to be able to effect the change we want to see. Yet no one is born important.
A common misconception of political action is that it must be some grand action — a boycott, a protest, a well thought-out speech — but the reality is often much smaller.
It begins in the little actions that largely go unseen. Attending a governing board meeting, volunteering with campus food programs, or talking with your peers and professors about civic engagement opportunities are the small steps that get you moving. Maybe you will one day participate in a larger activity, but the small steps and small actions are much more impactful than you could imagine.
As the lobster does not know it’s boiling until it’s too late, so do comfortable societies. There is no one coming to save us, so we must lower the temperature, or we’ll all boil together.
