Politics is Now Taking a Vital Role in Every Sphere of Life: A Critical Appraisal of Its Pervasive Impact

By Dibyendu Maiti

Politics, once an instrument of governance for the common good, has evolved into a vast, invasive force that influences every breath of modern existence. No longer limited to parliaments or ballot boxes, it shapes our education, media, culture, religion, psychological health, and moral choices. It even defines friendships, family bonds, and individual identities. In today’s hyper-connected, ideologically polarized world, politics is omnipresent—and often dangerous.

The English writer Samuel Johnson once famously said, “Politics is the last refuge of the scoundrels.” While intended as an indictment of those who use power for selfish ends, his words today echo across the globe as political opportunism corrodes institutions, poisons relationships, and cripples nations.

This essay delves into the evolution of politics, current global trends, its pervasive impact on vital aspects of life, and the devastating consequences it brings—especially when it replaces humanism with hatred, and governance with greed.

Politics in its classical form was not inherently corrupt. In ancient Greece, philosophers like Plato and Aristotle viewed politics as a way to ensure justice and virtue. In India, Kautilya’s Arthashastra saw politics as a science of welfare and stability. The Enlightenment brought thinkers like John Locke, Montesquieu, and Rousseau who envisioned politics as a tool for liberty, equality, and fraternity.

However, by the time Lord Acton uttered his immortal words—“Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely”—the rot had already set in. Over time, political ideologies became instruments for oppression, wars, colonization, and systemic inequality. The 20th century witnessed genocides under Hitler, purges under Stalin, and imperial exploitation under colonial powers—all in the name of governance.

The modern era has seen an unprecedented politicization of daily life. Politics now dominates discourse on everything from school textbooks to films, food, fashion, sports, sexuality, and spirituality.

Rather than unite people around common goals, contemporary politics often thrives on division, suspicion, and fear. The rise of populism, ethnonationalism, and social media echo chambers has reduced public dialogue to a shouting match.

As George Orwell wrote in Politics and the English Language, “Political language is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable.” Today’s media, weaponized by politics, broadcasts hate, conspiracy theories, and character assassinations.

This pervasive negativity seeps into private lives, destroying relationships, fostering mental illness, and creating generations who grow up mistrusting everything and everyone.

Literature and the arts—long seen as reflections of human spirit—have become battlegrounds for political ideologies. Across countries, artists are jailed or exiled for questioning authority.

In India, rationalist thinkers like M.M. Kalburgi and journalists like Gauri Lankesh were assassinated for voicing dissent. In Russia, writers face censorship or disappearance. In Iran, poets like Simin Behbahani were silenced for critiquing state control.

The fear of reprisal leads to self-censorship. Creativity dies. Literature becomes propaganda. As Bertolt Brecht once warned, “Art is not a mirror held up to reality, but a hammer with which to shape it.” Today, that hammer is being confiscated.

The impact of political polarization on social cohesion is devastating. In the United States, Democrats and Republicans live in separate media universes. In India, Hindu-Muslim relations have deteriorated due to politicized religious narratives. In Myanmar, the Rohingya were dehumanized politically before being ethnically cleansed.

Politics, instead of embracing diversity, now exploits it to manufacture enmity. Food choices, language, marriage, and even neighbourhood selection are becoming politically loaded decisions.

In the words of Martin Luther King Jr., “We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools.” But today’s politics seems more invested in the latter.

Education—once the cornerstone of liberation—is now increasingly used as an ideological tool. Governments rewrite textbooks to suit their agendas. In Turkey, Ataturk’s secularism is being erased. In parts of the U.S., slavery and civil rights are minimized. In India, Mughal history is reduced or distorted.

Educators are monitored, professors dismissed, and students radicalized. Independent thought is replaced by ideological conformity. Noam Chomsky rightly observed: “The whole educational and professional training system is a very elaborate filter.” That filter today is stained with politics.

Where is compassion in today’s political world? Refugees are vilified. Migrants are treated as criminals. Minorities are lynched in the streets. Victims are blamed. War crimes are justified.

We are witnessing the extinction of empathy. As Mahatma Gandhi said, “Politics without principle” is one of the seven deadly social sins. Unfortunately, that sin is now global.

Power is no longer just corrupt—it is systemically rotten. Politicians involved in bribery, sexual misconduct, laundering, and nepotism still win elections. Whistle blowers are silenced while criminals become lawmakers.

The Panama Papers, Pegasus scandal, and numerous banking frauds reveal how deeply compromised global politics is. Leaders like Nawaz Sharif, Silvio Berlusconi, Jacob Zuma, and others were caught in scandals, yet retained massive support due to manipulated nationalism or religious sentiments.

As Thomas Jefferson warned, “When government fears the people, there is liberty; when the people fear the government, there is tyranny.” Sadly, fear is now the norm.

Politics is now a mental health hazard. Constant exposure to hateful content, fake news, communal tension, and ideological pressure causes anxiety, depression, and alienation—especially among youth.

Children are growing up in polarized families. Teenagers are bullied for their beliefs. Adults fear expressing their views. Political trauma is real—and spreading.

Numerous global scenarios illustrate how unchecked political dominance cripples nations:

• Syria and Yemen: Proxy wars driven by political greed have destroyed generations.

• Afghanistan: A nation abandoned to religious extremism due to political expediency.

• Venezuela: Economic collapse due to authoritarian misrule has created a humanitarian crisis.

• North Korea: Totalitarian politics has erased identity, expression, and hope.

• Russia-Ukraine War: A reminder that modern politics still wages ancient wars for territory and ego.

These are not isolated tragedies. They are the inevitable end of a world where politics becomes god, and humanity its sacrifice.

Across history, many voices have warned against the perils of political overreach:

• Aristotle: “Man is by nature a political animal.” But when that nature is twisted by greed, man becomes a beast.

• George Santayana: “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

• Albert Einstein: “Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of truth.”

• John Adams: “Because power corrupts, society’s demands for moral authority and character increase as the importance of the position increases.”

Modern thinkers and leaders—Angela Merkel, Barack Obama, Arundhati Roy, Malala Yousafzai—continue to raise their voices for inclusive, responsible politics, though often drowned in the noise of extremism.

It is imperative that humanity reclaims spaces from political monopolization. Citizens must demand transparency, fairness, and ethical leadership. Political discourse must be replaced with civil dialogue.

• Literature must speak truth again.

• Education must liberate, not indoctrinate.

• Media must inform, not incite.

• Politics must serve, not suppress.

As Vaclav Havel, the Czech dissident-turned-president said:“The tragedy of modern man is not that he knows less and less about the meaning of his own life, but that it bothers him less and less.”We must not let that tragedy become prophecy.

Politics is inevitable—but its form is our choice. When politics dominates everything, it erodes the soul of civilization. When it weaponizes religion, culture, and truth, it doesn’t build nations—it bleeds them.

As we witness the rise of demagogues, the fall of democracies, and the rise of cruelty cloaked in patriotism, we must pause and remember:“A nation that makes a great distinction between its scholars and its warriors will have its thinking done by cowards and its fighting done by fools.” – Thucydides

We need politics with a conscience, not just a strategy.We need leaders who listen, not shout.We need citizens who think, not follow.

Above all, we need to be human again—before we forget how.

By Dibyendu Maiti