Krist Novoselic column runs every Tuesday on the Daily Weekly.I often get asked: Are you ever going to run for office? For real, this time? It almost drives me crazy. It must be a combination of the celebrity and my activism that drives this question. Politics are organizing people towards shared goals. And you don’t need to hold elected office to do this.I often write about associations in my columns because I recognize it as a fundamental element of politics. I don’t need to run for office, because I’m already associating with folks towards goals. I work on making elections more competitive, volunteer with my local political party, and help run a farmers market.I’ve always been associating. Nirvana belonged to the punk scene – a community that built its own media of fanzines and live shows. We then became part of the Seattle Grunge scene, musicians coming together with a shared interest in loud rock music. A culture of live shows with the sound of big riffs and rhythms, sweaty flannel and beer suds was like a ritual, and probably the result of some kind of primitive instinct. I don’t know anything about sociology, but I had a blast!Eventually the music scene became involved in public policy issues. We kept our ties in music to advocate for more inclusive laws for live performances, where people of all ages could attend (remember the dreaded Teen Dance Ordinance?). We fought censorship attempts by our state government. We even had an official group – JAMPAC – the Joint Artists and Music Promotions Action Committee.Our shared goal was to keep bad government policies from harming our great music community. And this need brought people in. Eventually we influenced government policies that fostered music.Last week I had the great opportunity to speak at the Washington Secretary of State’s office. Secretary Sam Reed is supporting an effort called Find Your One Thing. His message says it all: “In this economy, no one can afford to sit back and wait for others to do the work and bring about change. It’s time to get involved in your community and state. Whether it’s donating that old sweater or taking two minutes to register to vote online, it doesn’t take much to become part of the solution”.Yes, donating a sweater to the clothing bank is a political act. You’re supporting the program of a local private group whose goal is to help people in need. And you’re making a choice.Jonathan Kauffman made a nice correlation in last week’s Seattle Weekly regarding the culture and politics of food. An individual can choose processed “industrial” food or go for the Moskvits tomato. If you choose the latter, you’re plugging into the whole scene with your financial support. Instead of throwing vegetables at the whole centralized food paradigm, like being in the indie music scene, you’re making a statement by participating in decentralized structures. The 21st century is making opportunities for humanity to connect in one big social network. At the same time, consciousness of the value of local structures is growing back. So, speaking of food, we can have our cake and eat it too. If we want it.