In his book Politics is for Power, Eitan Hersh refers to the tendency of upper-class liberals to primarily react to political news without becoming directly involved as “political hobbyism.” He notes that one-third of American adults spend at least two hours per day watching or reading about political news, but only one-fifth of Americans actually spends time working in an organization or volunteering. Hersh asserts that upper-class white liberals who are constantly reading about American politics, giving donations, voting, and having political discussions, but never become involved in organized groups, are not really that involved in politics. Rather, he argues that these people engaging in “political hobbyism” are no closer to engaging in politics than watching SportsCenter is to playing baseball. Political hobbyism, Hersh notes, is overwhelmingly practiced by college-educated liberal men that feel that they do not have the ability to affect change in any major way and are therefore withdrawn from assuming political power.
I do not share Hersh’s belief that political discussions are not “real politics,” and I am perhaps the worst offender of “political hobbyism”: I often have abstract conversations about what Kamala Harris should do to win over more working-class voters in the 2024 election, I’ll go on the website Politico like how most football fans go on the ESPN app, and while I have extensively worked on multiple political campaigns in my hometown, I have not gotten particularly involved in Ohio politics. However, Hersh correctly identifies the phenomenon of college-educated liberals that are deeply invested in politics yet feel as though they cannot affect the environment around them. I firmly believe that college-educated liberals should become more involved in organized politics rather than ceding political power through “political hobbyism.”
Political hobbyism causes students or college-educated liberals to feel deeply frustrated with the world around them that they cannot change it in any particular way. I fear that many politically-inclined liberals I know at Oberlin will react to a potential Donald Trump victory by either becoming more obsessed with reading news or temporarily tuning out of politics altogether. Although I believe that occasionally tuning out of politics is necessary for most people, I think that in the event of a Trump victory, politically-inclined students should seek to become more involved in real politics as described by Hersh.
Not only is participation in organized groups more politically beneficial than “political hobbyism,” but it tends to be far healthier than merely paying attention to the news. Additionally, studies have shown increased participation through organized politics, which Hersh refers to as “real politics,” leads to greater sense of connection and resilience. Regardless of the election results next week, increased participation in organized groups would confer greater health benefits upon politically-inclined individuals.
So what does real politics look like? Hersh argues that politics is about amassing power through two examples that could not be more different. First, he references the case of 63-year-old Querys Matias, who devotes a significant amount of her time to participating in her Latino Matters chapter in Haverfille, NH. Matias and other members of Latino Matters are constantly working to improve the conditions of Hispanic people of Haverford by having discussions with the mayor about jobs for Latinos, ICE for reports about the treatment of Dreamers, and school superintendents to ensure that Spanish is available for public schools. Unlike most politically-inclined college-educated professionals, Matias is focused on expanding the political power of her community and is politically active even when there is not an election going on.
Secondly, Hersh cites how in 2018, the North Carolina Ku Klux Klan went around talking with opioid addicts and telling them that they were not responsible for their situation.
“This image haunts me not because an organization that I fear is serious about gaining power,” Hersh says. “This haunts me juxtaposed to how most of the rest of us are doing politics.”
Of course, I recognize that Oberlin’s local volunteering organizations are more likely to be focused on increasing turnout among Democratic-leaning groups than making political inroads with opioid addicts. Yet if the KKK understands the importance of building political alliances with groups they have nothing in common with, why do some highly-educated Democrats struggle to do that with their Republican neighbors? By avoiding traditional activism, Democrats have repeatedly missed opportunities to expand their voting share. Although most Oberlin students realize that many of our views are not shared by the average Lorain County resident, this should not preclude politically-inclined Oberlin students from engaging with Republicans and other Ohioans and appealing to our shared values. But hobbyism discourages well-meaning citizens from amassing political power through forming alliances with groups different from themselves. As Hersh said, the unwillingness of the well-intentioned to pursue political power is dangerous because someone else will happily fill that power vacuum.
On the other hand, I understand that it can be unreasonable to criticize “college-educated liberals” who consume news and do not become involved in organized activism. Most professionals and college graduates struggle to maintain a healthy work-life balance, and working with an organized group would certainly cut into their downtime. Given how progressives have always stressed that their supporters remain aware of social issues unrelated to themselves, it could feel like a bait-and-switch to turn around and criticize them for consuming too much information. And I understand why a politically-inclined student at Oberlin College might be more interested in discussing international affairs rather than getting involved in the election of the Lorain County Sheriff. Yet I still believe that if college-educated liberals become involved in organized activist groups, they will experience a higher level of satisfaction and reap greater political benefits.
