Personal = political, economical, social, spiritual, etc.

In our current economic paradigm, an activity that does not generate economic growth is not seen as valuable. For example, growing food to take care of one's community; taking care of the earth; raising and teaching children; taking care of elders - all fundamental activities, are non-growth generating and therefore not valued or properly remunerated in financial terms. As Vandana Shiva says, a healthy forest, that cleans our air and keeps us and the ecosystem healthy is not valuable; but cut it down for timber, and now you're generating growth. This is a model of exploitation of resources, which leads, as we see clearly now, to environmental destruction, impoverishment of most people and enrichment of a few, and many other social/political ills.

Many of us have been taught to dissociate the personal, political, economic, spiritual spheres, but in reality they are intricately bound together, at an every day, nitty-gritty level of our lives. All of our actions have implications in all these spheres, and so the good news is that we don't have to go out there and be a revolutionary in an upfront kind of way, we can quietly and thoughtfully make a huge difference just by the way we live our daily life.

So what can we do?

One - realize that our current socio-economic-political system is failing most of us, (I want to say all of us if you account for environmental damage), and that taking care of the earth, our families and our communities are essential acts.
Two - realize that every time you pay for something, you are supporting everything that led to getting that thing to you. For example, every time you eat, you're supporting the entire food production system behind the food you put in your mouth. That is huge. You may be supporting something destructive, or quite the opposite. I know we all have too much going on (which I would say is another consequence of our current system), but we must live with awareness, and make conscious choices aligned with our values. We all have great power to change things by voting with out dollars.

For a more eloquent insight into this, Vandana Shiva wrote a great article in The Guardian a few years ago.

Peace