Everything is politics.

The words of Thomas Mann, novelist and seer of the twentieth century, fall like a hammer upon illusions: “Everything is politics.” In this saying, he unmasks the truth that politics is not confined to parliaments and palaces, but seeps into every corner of human life. From the bread upon the table to the school where a child learns, from the freedom of thought to the silence of censorship—politics shapes, directs, and determines. To say “everything” is to declare that no act, no space, no soul is untouched by power.

The ancients, too, knew this truth. Aristotle called man a politikon z?on—a political animal—because he cannot live outside the community, and the community is governed by laws, choices, and power. Even the simplest matters—who tills the land, who may speak in the assembly, who is counted free or enslaved—are political decisions. Mann, who lived through the rise of fascism in Germany, saw that to ignore this truth is perilous, for even silence becomes a political stance when tyranny reigns.

Consider the story of Nazi Germany, when many artists, thinkers, and citizens claimed neutrality, insisting their work or lives were “above politics.” Yet the regime conscripted even silence, turning apathy into complicity. Books were burned, art was censored, voices crushed. Mann himself was forced into exile, his words carrying the weight of resistance. His declaration that everything is politics was born from fire: a warning that no one may stand outside the struggle between justice and oppression.

His saying is also a call to vigilance. If everything is politics, then every choice matters—the words spoken at a table, the stories told in a classroom, the art painted upon canvas. To dismiss these as “non-political” is to forget that power is always watching, shaping, and taking hold. The wise soul learns to see the political thread in every matter, so that they may act with awareness, not be swept blindly by forces they deny.

Let the generations remember: to live is to be entangled in politics, whether one chooses it or not. To eat is political, to read is political, to speak or to remain silent is political. Thomas Mann’s wisdom is thus both burden and summons: we cannot escape the realm of power, but we can choose to wield our part in it with courage. For when we see that everything is politics, we also see that everything is opportunity—to resist, to shape, to build a more just world.