Iāve thought about writing this post more times than I can count. I wasnāt sureĀ how to say it,Ā if it would matter, or if anyone would read it… but at some point you just have to say it:
Politics are supposed to protect life. Thatās the deal.
Thatās the reason we build governments, write laws, vote, debate, compromise, and keep trying: because politics are how we decide to live together, safely. Politics are how we translate values into action, rights into reality, care into policy. They are essential for peace and justice, for progress well beyond primitive thinking. Politics areĀ what makes us human.Ā
Politics are the operating system of society. They touch everything: the conditions you are born in, how green your neighbourhood is, the price of your groceries, your ability to travel, the shape of the borders you cross, your family’s anxiety or happiness, the fate of entire countries, the stories our children will tell…
To pretend politics donāt matter is to pretend people donāt matter. Itās to look away as decisions are made, about war, about freedom, about whose suffering gets ignored. Thatās why politics matter. Thatās why I have been so fascinated by it. So much potential… so much to optimise and organise, to elevate. Because when politics suck, innocent people take the toll, and with them the unique contribution they brought to Earth. Right now, no matter how much we want to believe otherwise, no matter how much we scroll or distract or numb ourselvesā¦
Politics are broken.
Not metaphorically. Not theoretically. Politics are catastrophically, systemically, and undeniably broken.
Every day, I see more images I canāt unsee. Babies pulled from rubble. Innocents amputated. Families wiped out. The shadow of a little girl engulfed in flames. You’ve seen it too, right? The starving bodies of children murdered with European arms… More and more, I struggle to sleep and find myself crying over the increasing monstrosity of this situation. And the only thing that seems to move faster than the violence is the silence around it. Or worse: the soft, bureaucratic whispers of āconcernā from so-called leaders who claim to represent peace and justice. How can they sleep? More than ever, I feel failed.
Weāre watching the world unravel in real-time:
A brutal war in Ukraine enters its third year with no end in sight.
A genocide in Palestine, televised daily, yet still somehow debated, ongoing, and unpunished.Ā
Another round of U.S. bombings in the Middle East, with consequences no one can predict but everyone fears.
And through it all, European leaders ā the self-appointed champions of human rights and international law ā have done little more than clear their throats. They release statements. They call for ārestraint.ā They say theyāre ādeeply concerned.ā All while continuing to arm, fund, or politically shield the very actors committing atrocities.
Iāve heard European leaders speak with righteous fury about Russiaās war crimes in Ukraine. And they should. But when Israel drops bombs on refugee camps, bulldozes entire neighbourhoods, starves civilians, targets journalists, or defies every humanitarian principle in the book, suddenly, the vocabulary softens. Suddenly, the values are ācomplicated.ā Suddenly, justice becomes optional.Ā
How can they sleep, knowing they are enabling a catastrophe? More than ever, I am ashamed.
Letās not pretend anymore: this is not weakness, strategy, nor cowardice.
It’s disgraceful. Itās complicity.
There are now EU internalĀ reports acknowledging what many have been shouting for months: that the Israeli government’s actions in Gaza meet the legal definition of genocide. And yet, the official line remains one of support for Israelās right to ādefend itselfā. Why? Because to challenge it would be politically inconvenient. Standing up for the rights of Palestinians might offend our āalliesā, which we might be needing later because “interdependence” was supposed to help us keep peace (democratic peace theory). It turns out that this doesn’t last unless democracies are protected at their core, through its citizens, with a solid basis of trust and transparency for the public sphere. These days, inaction is disguised as diplomacy and, in the biggest Orwellian scam of all times, we are told that bombs are necessary for peace.Ā
This is how trust dies.
These double standards (Russia vs. Israel, Ukrainians vs. Palestinians) are not lost on the public. They are blazing fuel for every conspiracy theory, every authoritarian propaganda machine, every voice that says āthe system is riggedā. And, honestly, at this point, itās very hard to argue otherwise. You can’t blame it all on Russia.
Whatās perhaps most terrifying is how many people have stopped speaking up. Not because they donāt care, but because theyāre exhausted, afraid, or convinced it wonāt make a difference. Iāve heard friends say things like:
āItās too complicated.ā
āItās useless.ā
āBeing political just causes division.ā
But since when did being human become too āpoliticalā?
And since when did being “political” become synonymous with being wrong?
The human brain is the most evolved piece of matter on earth. Don’t tell me the leaders of our countries can’t use theirs to find a solution, in 642 days. This is the trap weāve fallen into: one where empathy is controversial and silence is safe. Can anyone remind me which stage of 1984Ā is that? We are sleepwalking into the repetition of historyās worst chapters: Holocaust, Iraq war, ā¦ all dressed up in recycled headlines. Oh yes, the Western media are absolutely complicit in this tragedy. More than ever, I am outraged.
We are told to trust institutions. But how can we, when those institutions canāt (or wonāt) uphold even their most basic promises? Bury their heads in the sand? We are told democracy is sacred but, seriously, what kind of democracy lets governments ignore genocide? They want us to believe this is right? We are told that we should read reputable newspapers but what good are editorials that echo the bullies abusing their power? Ignore millions’ calls for help?
The people in charge are either unwilling, incapable, or corrupt.
And the rest of us are left with the trauma of watching atrocities unfold at our fingertips, powerless.
Politics were never supposed to be perfect, but they were supposed to protect us. At the very least, they were supposed to prevent this level of destruction from being normalised. Thatās not happening. And if we donāt admit that, if we donāt start confronting this openly, we are endorsing the collapse of humanity.
So here it is, plainly:
Politics are broken.
And no one is coming to fix them unless we do.
Letās stop pretending this is fine.
Letās stop being afraid to speak.
Being human means refusing to look away.
Hi! Iām Sophie
I am a social scientist and explorer. In my work, I analyse the intersection of politics, technology, and democracy. Nothing makes me happier than learning and discovering the wonders of the world. I consider myself an enthusiastic feminist and self-care advocate.
