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This. I care about the wellbeing of our society and its health via policy. I’m not interested in having conversations about it.
There’s no involvement without discussion.
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💯💯💯
‘Hey I need some advice about this situation at hand’ is a discussion
‘I want to impose my unsolicited opinion on someone else so I can feel valid’ is an unwelcome sales pitch
People don’t want to discuss because rational, reasonable takes on politics are met with vitriol and anger. Those attacking don’t actually want a discussion, they want to insult and feel morally superior.
I talk politics with those I’ve felt out first, who can come up against ideas they don’t agree with and are willing to keep it as a discussion rather than an emotional, shit-slinging argument.
Just because people don’t want to discuss politics with YOU doesn’t mean they don’t discuss it with others, and no, not just with people they agree with.
Yeah as it can be a way to have an argument that can taint a good social time when there are other aspects at play. Like ok we’re having an outing for kids to play is that really where you want to air your grievances about how you feel about reproductive rights? Is that the situation that presses this needs to be discussed right now?
There are times and places where it’ll be applied accurately to the point when that the primary goal. But too often it’s introduced as a ‘talking point’ just to have some bullshit drama and feel right about something while someone else can feel bad. That’s not delivering the same message, goal or intent as OP.
I’ve totally done this and not just about politics. Some people are not very fun to talk about food and cooking with.
99% of people who say this simply don’t want to have their preconceived notions challenged.
Precisely.
In the age where having a social media account means I have to hear about politics all the dang time, maybe just let me chill if I indicate that’s what I want.
Shocking observation: not everyone wants an unsolicited opinion shoved down their throat while they are just trying to live in their space and manage their own brain at that moment.
Sir, this is a Wendy’s.
Do you have a few minutes to talk about our Lord and Saviour, Ronald McDonald?
Not at all true. They pick and chose based on those who remain calm when their ideas are challenged, vs. those who get angry and emotional.
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On the flip side, some really stupid people are really into politics and we’re all worse off for it
Fun fact: many of them only pretend to be stupid, and are actually completely malevolent, evil beings!
I did not ask you to describe Congress
For this fantomatic group of stupid people, you are probably the stupid one. It’s no use to call each other names.
I’ll just point to GOP voters that aren’t multi-millionaires - no reason.
But what they are is successful voters. (At least every once in a while.)
Success isn’t an indicator that you’re any less stupid - just look at Elon Musk.
I hate that I have to pay attention. Sometimes I feel like if I took a ball peen hammer to my prefrontal cortex I’d be so much happier.
A just world wouldn’t require us to exert so much mental energy on securing our basic needs. It’s exhausting. Just remember to step away now and then to avoid burnout
If I do that then I’m being bad and letting fascism win.
I just want one election where the fate of the world doesn’t hang in the balance.
I understand what you mean. Just remember that beating the fascists requires all of us. No single person can defeat fascism. As long as you still show up when needed, mental breaks are ok.
When do I get a break, though? Fascism is on the rise everywhere. Climate change will just make it worse. I’m going to be dealing with this shit until I die. I’ve taken breaks and when I start paying attention again it’s just worse than before. It’s like I’m the only one who read the rubric for a group project.
Where’s my hammer…
Move to Australia. We vote on every’fucking’thing and its rarely end of the world type shit.
I’m thinking that’s my way out. Find a country that’s not an empire and move there. Then my actions won’t allow a hospital to be bombed with impunity.
Remember: It’s okay to check out for a little bit and take a break. Just don’t do it for so long that you come back not being able to catch up.
Exactly. People that get fed up with politics are usually the empathetic, moral people we literally need running, voting, volunteering, and donating! So take care of yourself, but please come back when you can…
Then they’d have you exactly where they want you to be. The people who are working against your interests are using the divisiveness precisely to make people look away. Once you look away they’re free to pull their nefarious shit.
“Non-voters” vote too. They vote for what everyone else chooses for them, then they complain when they don’t get what they wanted.
They complain because, thanks to you and I, they can’t afford to miss a day of work in order to vote, and that isn’t changing no matter who we elect.
Here in Australia we have a public holiday for voting, mandatory voting, preferential voting, and every school, and hundreds of other community locations become polling locations. I can walk to 3 from my house in less than 10 minutes.
Why did Americans vote for the system they have? Americans voted for first past the post, gerrymandering, the right to throw away their only voice. That’s not a great electoral system to vote for.
Canada requires employers to give a few hours to vote and also makes seemingly every school a polling station. Every time I’ve voted, the polling station was walking distance. Notably, though, we don’t have mandatory voting. And our turnout is horrendous.
We were also going to have electoral reform, but it got canceled and so few people cared that the party that cancelled it got reelected. It’s frustrating the level of apathy many Canadians have. Provincial elections are even worse, despite the fact that healthcare and housing are big, big issues that are under provincial jurisdiction.
I’ll always support mandatory voting, the fine is $50 if you don’t, but we get a day off, voting booths are close, we have pre-polling locations for a week beforehand, and nationally accessible postal voting, just for that added convenience. It really is more of a hassle to not vote than to vote and the process rarely takes long.
When your system is built around mandatory voting it becomes mandatory to make it easy to vote.
And you’re right, apathy is a problem, but it’s a carrot and stick problem with plenty of viable solutions. You tell someone they have to have an opinion or lose $50 they can come up with one pretty easily. Then it becomes an education problem.
But those trying to subvert power don’t want fair elections where every voter has to give their 2c, or $50, whichever the case may be, because every non-voter is already on their team, they just have to win the rest.
You’re right. It’s not.
The short answer is that most people who vote care more about who wins elections than what our legislators actually do. Look at Biden, who hasn’t fulfilled hardly any of his promises and we’ve even regressed significantly under his leadership, losing abortion rights and seeing increasing scarcity of housing, but 49% of voters will loudly and proudly argue that re-electing him is a moral imperative rather than demanding better from the Democratic Party.
And the fascists won’t have to lie about what a shitty president he is, so his inaction is going to pave the way for us to become an overtly fascist state.
I’m not even American, but don’t blame Democrats for the failures of the other voters. They at least vote for progression rather than regression of Republicans.
That would be like me blaming superman for not being enough superman when there’s 9 lex luthors in the room. Fuck off with that disingenuous bullshit.
most people who vote care more about who wins elections than what our legislators actually do.
He says right before blaming Biden for the actions of the Republican senate, house, and supreme court.
They at least vote for progression rather than regression of Republicans.
How exactly?
Minimum wage / Living wages, Abortion, Housing Scarcity, War Spending, Health Care, Education, Fascism, Police Violence
Every single one of these has worsened and Biden had total congressional control for the first two years of his presidency.
He says right before blaming Biden for the actions of the Republican senate, house, and supreme court.
The presidency and Congress were both Dem-controlled. I am, in fact, blaming them for their inaction.
It doesn’t matter what they say they support if the end result is conservative rule regardless of who’s in power.
You’d shoot an ally rather than an enemy. You are the problem.
You think yourself uniquely cognizant, you’re not, you’re the typical American voter, and we all know how cluey they are because non-Americans know the failures of the American electoral system and their politics better than they do.
Thank you for sharing your perspective.
In the Netherlands the voting stations are open between 7:30 and 21:00 to somewhat mitigate the work issue.
Voting is made harder in many states on purpose, sadly, but when you’re a wage earner and you know both candidates aren’t going to do anything to help you, why miss work?
We should really hold elections on Sundays though. Open up mail-in for the bible belt.
I guess that mail-in votes are still considered being active on a resting day though (by the SGP crowd), so they might still be against sunday voting.
I know quite a few people who say this because they don’t want an argument. People can care about politics and not want to talk about it with you.
Very true, and those more inclined to engage should be respectful. But the refusal and shutting down of the dialogue is damaging in itself.
It turns people into lone rocky outcrops buffeted by an ocean they inevitably fall to.
Wonderful imagery. Talking about politics with your peers and creating a community of ideas is how good grassroots movements are able to take hold. The more we avoid doing that, the easier it is for fascism to thrive.
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To be fair, I think what they’re really saying is “I don’t want to talk to you about it so i’m shutting this discussion down as politely as possible”
So I feel like if you actually responded to someone saying that with this, they would just walk away. Cause most of the time I don’t think it’s actually the politics, it’s the person they’re talking to about it with.
I’m sure this is the case for some people, but I personally know many people that actively avoid all politics. It’s difficult to get them engaged with it, but I’m slowly seeing success
Around you, maybe. Maybe you’re the reason why they don’t want to talk politics… with you
No actually, they don’t like politics at all. I’m managing to get them to engage and realize that a lot of their problems aren’t individualized. They aren’t just a bunch of strangers, they’re my friends and family. I know them enough to know how they feel about politics.
Who is “they”?
My “they” simply adore complaining but last thought in their mind is to try to practically change something.
Who is “they”?
The people saying
“I don’t want to talk to you about it so i’m shutting this discussion down as politely as possible”
I’m not sure what you’re confused about - this seems pretty straightforward.
I understood what you wrote. I was pointing out that you are speaking for anecdotes. You have no way of knowing what “they” actually think, as “they” is no definite group.
You have no way of knowing what anyone other than you is thinking - you need to infer it. I’m not sure what point you think you’re making here.
I’m not interested in playing the game they made to convince me I’m well represented.
Electoralism only serves to prevent the worst-case from playing out. Actual, meaningful change happens at the grassroots level. Read, educate, unionize, organize, participate in charity, and build your community.
Actual meaningful change happens after humanity is gone. We are the problem. We can’t help ourselves.
We did just fine back in the day. We just need to return to monke
No we didn’t.
Strong disagree on that. The base determines the superstructure, which reinforces the base.
You don’t get to choose to not be involved in politics.
Moral outrage against corrupt leaders is not an isolated historical phenomenon but a common precursor of change. It happens again and again whenever one era gives way to another. . . . This widespread revulsion comes into evidence well before people develop a new coherent ideology of change. As we write, there is as yet little evidence of an articulate rejection of politics. That will come later. It has not yet occurred to most of your contemporaries that a life without politics is possible.
Image Transcription: Text and Image
A grayscale image of Martha Gellhorn is shown with a quote under it.
People often say with pride, “I’m not interested in politics.” They might as well say, “I’m not interested in my standard of living, my health, my job, my rights, my freedoms, my future or any future.” … If we mean to keep any control over our world and lives, we must be interested in politics.
Martha Gellhorn
novelist, journalist, war coorespondent
(1908 - 1998)
France is Bacon
Here you are, was gonna post this if I didn’t find you.
Fuck yes.
I sometimes use this when I dont want to to talk to someone. I have a co worker who still brings up covid and how we’re going into a lockdown again any day now. I just say in not interested in politics and she will usually drop it. She one day pushed it and I just said your style of politics is unappealing to me and she pushed more I said your coming off as a looney. She took it personally and I said well you should listen when people don’t want to talk about politics.
To be honest, if it were just me, I might not be so interested in politics. I honestly want everyone else’s life to improve so maybe we can all enjoy each other just a bit more.
I’d like to know if she had the same opinion today. Post citizens united and our orangutan ex-prez
