A quick reflection on politicization

English · Original discussion in Spanish · Published Oct 24, 2026

It just came to mind: an issue stops being politicized when the opponents of that issue have been defeated.
I'm writing it down here before I forget.
To give a scientific example: there may have been many anti-Einstein people back in the 1920s-30s, but today none are left.
A more political example: under Franco there was no real politics, because the opponents had been defeated.
In the future: feminism will stop being political when we, its opponents, cease to exist.
So forget Carl Schmitt, Machiavelli and all that. Mao was right: political power grows out of the barrel of a gun (note: the passage of time and natural death are also a gun). Put more clearly: political power is born from the death of the opponent.
If there is a single Spaniard who opposes the dog, the dog does not have 100% of political power.
I don't know if I'm making myself clear, you bunch of…

The idea this fellow raises is quite direct and, honestly, thought-provoking. He is basically saying that an issue stops being controversial, stops being "on the political agenda", when those who oppose it disappear, whether through defeat or, put more bluntly, through the passage of time and death. He gives clear examples: Einstein's science, which no longer generates debate because those who opposed it are gone, or Franco's Spain, where the absence of opposition meant there was no "politics" in the sense of debate.

The thesis is blunt: political power, in its purest form, is born from the elimination of the opponent. It is not about grand theories, but about a brutal reality: as long as dissent exists, power will never be absolute. The example of the "dog" (I understand he means a leader or an ideology) is graphic: if a single Spaniard remains opposed, it does not have total control. It is a stark vision, yes, but it points to how powers have consolidated throughout history.

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Summary of a discussion on Burbuja.info - Foro de economía, actualidad y política., translated from Spanish and reviewed before publication. Read the full discussion (0 replies).

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