When is a statement that is implicitly advocating for a particular socio-political view even unjustified from doing so? Upon what basis? Scientific? But we are already lumping scientific statements as being political, so it's disqualified from being a grand arbiter. Religious? Ah, but then which one? Or "The Voter's Will"? Well, today we know that the latter especially is worth nothing, and is easily manipulated in as little as 140 character messages.
What, then? Simply this: a politician who wields the "you are politicizing the issue" stick is, in fact, browbeating the opposition while simultaneously providing no independent justification for their actions or viewpoints. They use the don't politicize attack as a way of negating the opponent's political standpoint over their own, i.e., they are precisely using it to politicize.
Why would you even do this? Well, if you lacked any scientific, economic, sociological, or any other rational basis for your viewpoint, you are perhaps best served by wielding the don't politicize stick. Which also explains why it is especially wielded frequently by right-wing types, whose views are increasingly on the wrong side of history (cf., slavery), on the wrong side of science (cf., climate change denial), and on the wrong side of common human decency (cf., views on abortion). Indeed, for such a one, there is almost no other tool than the *don't politicize* stick.
It's a particularly juicy form of doublethink.
It's blunt, it's unsophisticated, and it works. Why does it work? Because we don't stand up to it. We just report it in the news and don't say anything back. Politicize freely, yes, make every statement political, since otherwise, we capitulate to those who simply want to impose naked power over everyone else.
Scientists should politicize. Everyone should politicize. Not just the ones in power, the ones who are certainly not without their hidden agendas and who are in fact the least likely to care for the general welfare.
Politicizing is the basis of a democracy. When did it become a dirty word? Well, now we know why democracies have gone down the toilet. Their very fabric of existence has been sullied in a clever way: by forbidding their engine of expression.
[This was written in January 2017 but I seemingly didn't click Publish until September 2025]
