Political Preferences and Unrealizable Hopes

A politics grounded in personal preference not only extends the pervasive commodification of life; it is a practical hindrance to mature, strategic political action.

In a crude reversal of “the personal is political” (itself already crude), activists speak of their political projects today in intensely personal terms. They know that everyone has a story, and that that story is going to reductively determine their political “passion.” The healthcare activist’s son died on account of a lack of health insurance. The im…