Indulge me, my readers. When I saw the movie Fiddler On the Roof 43 years ago with my now-wife, there was a line that made me laugh for it mirrored conversations that we shared about my nose always being buried in a book about history, economics and probably politics. In the movie, the young radical Perchik wishes to ask Tevye’s daughter, Hodel, to marry him. The question takes place in this dialogue:
Perchik: Hodel there’s a question, a question I … I wish to discuss with you
Hodel: Yes?
P: It’s a political question
H: What is it?
P: The question of marriage
H: Is this a political question?
P: Well, yes. Yes, everything’s political. Like everything else, the relationship between a man and a woman has a socio-economic base. Marriage must be founded on mutual beliefs. A common attitude and philosophy toward society.
H: And affection?
P: Well, yes, of course. That is also necessary.