My personal favorite aspect of Star Trek (besides watching with my father) was the Vulcan people, a fictional extraterrestrial species. Each time one was in a scene, their characteristic strict adherence to logic and lack of emotional connection, was reminiscent of my mother. She is logical to a tee, and always there to provide an analytical analysis.

Other than the Star Trek species, a Vulcan is a categorization of a person’s political persona. Political thinker Jason Brennon came up with three political personas: Hobbits, Hooligans, and Vulcans.

In these chaotic political times the balance of these political characters is off kilter. We need more Vulcans – and fewer Hobbits. Hobbits are people who have no interest in politics and are therefore uninformed and lacking passion for any political party. They pose a danger since they are often easily influenced by the next group, Hooligans. Hooligans, in contrast, are extremely passionate about their political association. They are well informed on their side, much like a sports fan is informed on their team’s statistics. Still, like any sports fan, they hold biases and are often so passionate that they become unable to see alternate perspectives making them dangerous and uninformed by default.

Vulcans, Brennon states, are the unattainable ideal. They are extremely well informed about all perspectives and therefore are dispassionate, not having allegiance to any side. Their role is to politically inform the Hooligans and Hobbits, and therefore influence politics from the outside since they themselves lack the passion.

To be truly informed is quite difficult especially in today’s world, given social media’s tendency to form political echo chambers: media pushed to people by algorithms based on political alignment re-enforcing certain opinions while blocking out others. Still, while being informed is not unattainable, a Vulcan’s characteristic lack of emotion and passion is an unattainable state. Humans are not an extraterrestrial species. They cannot completely block out emotion and be entirely unbiased and logic-based. Still, this Hobbit, Hooligan and Vulcan categorization is a spectrum, making each categorization attainable.

I propose that we delve into this idea of a spectrum further. It could be said that this spectrum is actually circular in nature, meaning that people can shift their position and cross over from one character to another. If a Vulcan becomes too informed, they may become overwhelmed and switch to a Hobbit. If a Hobbit gains passion, they may become a Hooligan, not properly informed, but loud.

Today, I note a problem. With politics becoming so extreme, I am seeing the political Vulcans shifting in the circular spectrum. They are unable to remove themselves from the emotions, as they are so horrified by the extreme nature of today’s politics.

Vulcans that I know personally are disappearing and becoming Hobbits. They can’t bear to look at the news and stay informed. My mother, who used to read every news article from all different perspectives and even fully annotated the entirety of Project 2025 to learn about the opposite side, is closing herself off from the media. This phenomenon is gaining prevalence.

While this shift in the political character spectrum is natural, in such extreme and polarized conditions, society is left unbalanced. Missing are the Vulcans who are integral, for though they do not participate in politics, as they lack the passion, they are necessary to inform others in society like Hobbits and Hooligans.

Hooligans, having passion to a fault, often participate in politics. They are the ones who will go to the streets in protest, explore the data, make the phone calls, send the emails and even engage in civil disobedience to beam light on issues. As a society, we rely on Vulcans to do their duty and inform Hooligans of facts regarding politics. Further, Vulcans can often see what others cannot. They steer society away from calamity.

We need a refresher and integration of groups. Vulcans should spend time with Hooligans and, inversely, Hooligans should hang out with Vulcans. Doing this allows Hooligans to learn about political facts and varying views, and helps Vulcans to develop passion. If you need a break from entrenchment in politics, maybe go into a Hobbit hole for a bit. Society cannot stay unbalanced for it risks further polarization and political ignorance. It is necessary that people inform themselves about their political character and explore these three personas in order to stay informed while also maintaining mental health.

This story was originally published on Tower on March 5, 2025.