Flexibility, Advocacy, and the Politics of Care
If you say you don't want to be political, it's often because the system is already working for you. For those of us who've had to fight for flexibility, access, or equity—that's never been an option.
The Privilege of Silence
When someone says, "I don't do politics," what they're really saying is that they're comfortable with the way things are. That comfort signals that their own ease matters more than the discomfort others experience under the same system. For many people—including me—that kind of silence has never been an option.
Personal Experience
When I became a parent, I had no choice but to advocate for more flexibility in my work life. The traditional nine-to-five structure simply didn't accommodate what my family needed. My husband's self-employment gave us some breathing room, but it still wasn't an ideal solution. I had to push against systems that weren't built with me—or families like mine—in mind.
The Political Nature of Advocacy
And that's the thing: standing up for what you need, especially when it's outside the norm, is inherently political. Asking for flexibility, becoming a subject matter expert, speaking out publicly—these are all political acts. Women, in particular, have historically carried the burden of caregiving, yet we've rarely been the dominant power in politics. That makes our voices not just necessary, but radical.
Historical Context
We can't forget the barriers women have faced: being denied property rights, financial independence, even basic autonomy. These aren't ancient struggles—they've shifted within living memory. Cindy Gallup often reminds us, "Women are not the status quo because women have never been the status quo." That line sticks with me, because it captures how much work still lies ahead.
My Work and Its Political Nature
The work I do today sits at the intersections of real estate, technology, policy, and community—and all of those domains are deeply political. To engage in them is to challenge entrenched systems, to question who benefits, and to advocate for something better.
Conclusion
So when someone says they'd rather not be political, what they're really saying is that the system as it stands already benefits them. My own experiences—raising a family in both Canada while working cross-border with the U.S.—have shown me again and again the importance of speaking up, not just for myself, but for those who can't. Because silence may feel safe, but it also keeps things exactly as they are.
Key Takeaways
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Choosing to be "apolitical" often means the current system is serving you well enough to remain silent.
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Advocacy for time and location flexibility is political because it challenges norms and policy.
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Caregiving is structurally undervalued yet central to how work and communities function.
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Publicly sharing your perspective—interviews, posts, speaking—is part of political participation.
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Policy shows up in daily life: schedules, pay, housing, urban planning, and technology access.
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Individual comfort can conflict with collective progress; silence sustains the status quo.
Memorable Quotes
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"Standing up and asking for what you want when it's not the norm is a political act."
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"To be a caregiver is to be fundamentally political."
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"When you say you don't want to be political, it's because that system works for you."
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"Women are not the status quo because women have never been the status quo." — Cindy Gallup
Mentions
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Remote work, hybrid work, and time flexibility as levers for equity.
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Historical barriers to women's financial autonomy (bank accounts, credit, lending).
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Cindy Gallup and MakeLoveNotPorn (context: women, power, and status quo).
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Corporate context: Canadian company with U.S. market dynamics and reputation considerations.
Listener Reflection Prompts
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Where does your ability to stay "apolitical" rely on comfort or existing structures?
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What flexibility would materially change your capacity to care for others and do your best work?
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What is one small public action you can take this week to align your values and voice?
Call to Action
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Share this episode with someone navigating caregiving and rigid work norms.
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Send your story or question about advocating for flexibility to be featured in a future episode.
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If this resonated, rate and follow Hope and Possibilities to support more conversations like this.
Episode Tags
Caregiving, Flexible Work, Remote Work, Hybrid Work, Privilege, Gender Equity, Policy, Workplace Culture, Urban Planning, Reputation Risk, Leadership, Advocacy
0:17 Find yourself in. Hi, thanks for joining me. I'm Nola Simon. I'm the host of the Hope and Possibilities podcast, and I wanted to just talk about the fact that somebody told me the other day that they preferred not to be political, and I get where they're coming from because. Especially if you're talking about politics or anything political online. If you get into an algorithm and people are engaging in outrage and shaming and all of that stuff, it actually seems pretty scary.
0:59 And you're worried about reputation. You're worried about how it could affect your business. You're worried about all of that stuff. But the thing that. I have about that statement is it's coming from an area of privilege. You feel safer not saying anything than actually saying something, which means that honestly, in effect, you're okay with the way the world is working. You're okay with the way things are shaking out, and you are comfort. Is more important than your discomfort. So that's not my reality, and it has not been my reality for a very long time.
1:44 I'd say actually ever since I became a parent, that has not been my reality because the world of work in particular was not working the way that I needed it to. And so that's where I started advocating for. More flexibility in my work. So work from home, remote work, hybrid, or whatever you wanna call it. I needed more of that. Honestly, if they had been able to work with me and give me time, flexibility. Time flexibility. I could have worked around and I wouldn't necessarily have campaigned for location flexibility, but there was an absolute insistence that I had to have set hours.
2:27 And in particular, once I had my kids, my hours were 10 to six, so that was okay in the morning. I could at least drop my kids off at daycare or school or whatever it happened to be, but it didn't work well in the evenings. And we were able to adapt to it for a bit because my husband got laid off and he became self-employed and he therefore had that time flexibility because he didn't have a boss he had to report to. But ideally, that's not the parent that I wanted to be. And also moms take care of everything, or at least that has been my reality is.
3:09 I needed to be there because I, my kids needed me, right? And that was the mother I wanted to be. And so standing up and asking for what it is you want when it's not the norm is a political act and advocating and becoming a subject matter expert and, changing your job to have better opportunities to do what it is you need to do for your family. Those are political acts. Speaking about it publicly, that's a political act. Being interviewed in media to share your perspective, your point of view, your agenda, those are political acts.
3:50 So somebody who says they don't wanna be political. Congratulations. You are able to navigate the world in a way that a lot of us can't in the current system as it exists right at this moment. So women historically have been caregivers, but women also historically. Have not been the dominant power in politics. And so speaking up is a radical act. For years, we didn't have property rights, we didn't have access to financial systems, we didn't have access to lending, we didn't have access to even create bank accounts.
4:34 That financial independence, that ability to stand on your own two feet, nevermind, speak about what it is you needed to be able to stand on your own two feet. That was. Forbidden. And that's within my lifetime, right? The bank account thing, the lending, the credit products, all of that's within my lifetime. So women, Cindy Gallup is a marketer. She has a company that she advocates for, which is called Make Love not Porn, and. She has a quote that she mentions quite frequently, which is women are not the status quo because women have never been the status quo.
5:14 So to be a caregiver is to be fundamentally political. What I do involves real estate. It involves the way things work. It involves compensation, it involves technology, it involves process, procedures, policy, how you are in community, how that impacts urban planning, how that impacts commuting. All of that is political and fundamentally, it's a part of my work. When you say that you don't wanna be political, it's because that system works for you in lots of ways and you don't wanna jeopardize that.
5:57 Now, I also came from. A Canadian company that owned a US division. And so my customers, for the longest time I was there 16 years were actually in the States. Fundamentally, I know what that's like to behave in a way when your politics, your beliefs don't match those of your clients. So I believe in universal healthcare. I believe in gun control. I believe in. Employment rights. I believe in pay equity. I believe in paid time off. I believe what I believe is really in direct contrast to a lot of the things that Americans think they're fundamental rights.
6:47 And for 16 years I had to. Work with people who fundamentally had different beliefs than my own, and work with them in such a way where you were helping them, but at the same time not completely undermining your own beliefs. And that is a dance. I can tell you that is a skill that. It can't really be taught unless you're actually working within that environment. You have to live it. And so I know what that's like to work with people who don't wanna be political, who work who think that their political view is the dominant view and they don't want that threatened.
7:37 I've learned that I've lived that from the inside out. Now, add into the fact that. My parents were born in World War ii. My mom was born in 1930. My mom, my dad was born in 1932. My mom was born in Glasgow. My dad was born in Burg, west Germany, so they were on opposite sides of World War II, even though they were children When the wars started, my dad was seven, my mom was nine. My mom was evacuated up north to Scotland to stay safe from bombing, and my dad. Lived through the Nazi regime. I don't talk about that a lot because people fundamentally don't understand what that's like.
8:22 I never knew my grandparents. I met my grandparents once when I was seven. I don't speak German. I don't know a lot of the history. My dad doesn't like to talk about his childhood. He's not a Nazi. He lived in Germany, so he was one of the millions of regular Germans who learned how to survive in an environment where you don't agree with the politics. Now, I don't know the full story, I gotta tell you, I don't fundamentally I don't agree with fascism. I have always been exposed to history.
9:04 That's actually why my minor in university was history, because from the very, my very earliest memories, I remember debating World War II from both perspectives, right? And again, it's not that my dad ever believed in the Nazi cause, but he lived through it, right? How do you survive something like that? Especially as like in that family, they had six kids, so what are you risking if you don't comply? It's a very delicate thing. And then of course, what it is to be German after the war when you were on the losing side and the comp, the country is paying.
9:52 Penalties worldwide. Not just in, financial cause, but also in reputation and what it is to be German. It's been an interesting education and that's actually having that ability to see both sides of that allows me to navigate politics in a way that not necessarily a lot of other people do. And I wanted to say that it is not a bad thing to be political because what you are doing is advocating for the type of life that you want to live now and in the future. And if what you're seeing doesn't represent the future that you want, it behooves you to get comfortable with speaking up.
10:40 Now, should you do this in such a way where you're not constantly debating. Political beliefs on online with random strangers who have no idea who they are. Yeah I don't think you should do that. It's not productive. You're not gonna shift their beliefs. How do you show up in a way that's going to have the most impact and make the most change to help you create the type of future that you want for your life and your work? That's really what my goal is personally. And so I thought that was important to do a podcast about because politics are not inherently bad.
11:20 They have a bad connotation, and the loudest voices, the people who are. You benefit from making politics uncomfortable. Those are the people that you wanna watch for because debate and discourse have are a fundamental human. And if you go back thousands of years of human history, debating and discourse is at the heart of what it is to negotiate and navigate life. And so the people who are allowed and basically tell you that you shouldn't be political and you shouldn't express your opinions and you should play it safe.
12:07 Those are the people who benefit from silence and silence. Nature does not like a vacuum. Neither does power. They will fill it with what that is that you want. They want to hear, do you benefit from silence? How does that actually help you create the impact that you feel you need to have to create the life and the work that you want? And I personally don't feel that silence. It benefits me. So thank you for listening. I'd love to hear your thoughts. Rules of engagement are respect and concrete facts and polite discourse.
12:50 If you care to comment, I'm more than willing to hear your comment. I will not tolerate trolling, abuse, shame, anything like that because I've been very clear in terms of what my views are and what my goals are. And if your comments don't help me achieve those you're entitled to what you believe, but at the same time, I don't have to amplify your reach. So that's the way it works on my. Social accounts, which includes a podcast. Anyways, thanks. Love to hear from you and have a great day.
13:44 Find yourself in.
