to counter, if you don’t think about / or want to think about politics at all, you’re probably a willfully ignorant, selfish, asshole.
politics may not be everything, but everyone is affected by them, whether or not you like it or acknowledge it.
Comment on Why is lemmy so political?!
Gorilladrums@lemmy.world 3 weeks agoOnly zealots think like this. Politics is not everything, it is a topic like any other. If you can’t have a conversation with another person or enjoy an activity without thinking about politics, then you’re spending too much time online.
MangioneDontMiss@lemmy.ca 3 weeks ago
Gorilladrums@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
That’s a wild assumption to have based on nothing. The reasons why someone spends so much time or very little time thinking about politics could be radically different. There are a lot of people who make politics their lives but are willfully ignorant, selfish assholes. This site is a prime example of that. At the same time there are very kind, well meaning people who don’t think about politics. This isn’t something that’s black and white.
MangioneDontMiss@lemmy.ca 2 weeks ago
Those very kind / well meaning people would take more of interest in their civic duties if they were truly well meaning.
Gorilladrums@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
The issue with this take is that you assume that there is a direct correlation between kindness and civic engagement, which is not true. Someone can be genuinely kind but disengaged from civic duties due to a bunch of reasons ranging from personal to societal. Your take also equates passivity with malice, suggesting that if someone isn’t politically active, they’re morally flawed, which again isn’t true. The people who are the most politically obsessive, engaged, and vocal in the country are MAGA Republicans, and they are clearly not people who are kind… especially when you compare them to someone who’s apolitical but spends a lot of their time volunteering in their community.
But that’s the issue, your take is inherently flawed because you draw your moral superiority from two assumption. The first is that you assume that your views are objectively correct and are superior to others, and the second is that you assume people who are politically zealous or choose to be as such will end up having your views… Both of which are absurdly arrogant assumptions to have. Your views are neither objectively moral or superior, nor do politically active people share your views. In fact the vast, vast majority of people do not see things the way that you do.
There’s really no way you can justify your take because your digesting the world in absolutist terms. To you people are either politically active and share your views, thus are morally correct, or they’re inactive and are intentionally because evil or hostile. It’s such a polarizing and out of touch way to look at people and the world. If you are an example of the chronically online person who obsesses about politics 24/7, fine, but you have to acknowledge that the vast, vast majority of people do not think about politics 24/7, and that’s perfectly okay. Not only that, but just because most people aren’t zealots that does not mean they’re morally flawed or inferior. This holier than thou attitude is shows that your worldview is quite myopic.
Vinstaal0@feddit.nl 3 weeks ago
Calling people an ignorant, selfish asshole is really going to help see the light and day of why politics are important and/or make them see why your opinions are good.
gamermanh@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 weeks ago
If they’re too stupid to see it already then they can die with the rest of the idiots, we don’t care about convincing them anymore
Feathercrown@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
“Politics is not everything, but anything can be politics.” - Chef Gusteau, Ratatoullie
gaja@lemm.ee 3 weeks ago
It’s weird to be called zealous.
Like, I’m just a normal fucking person in a time where people (including children) are getting kidnapped by the government for being brown. Trump pardoned violent criminals and their ring leaders as well as corrupt billionaires while pissing away our tax money into carpet bombing a nation of 48% children.
Fucking good for you if don’t mind the taste of boot, but I’m watching our way of life begin to collapse. Slapping the ‘politics’ label on it and feels like a load of bullshit.
Gorilladrums@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
You’re not a normal person, literally go outside and touch grass.
Normal people have political opinions, they do discuss politics, but that’s not their every thought. It might be shocking for you to hear, but people actually have lives outside of arguing about politics. This is true for people all around the world, rich or poor, old or young, male or female. Even in the most dire of circumstances, people find ways to enjoy life and not think about stressful things all the time. Otherwise they would be miserable all the time… like you.
Pointing out the reality is not “tasting the boot”, that’s just a cop out made by people on this site whenever their shitty opinions get exposed or pushed back. It’s a lazy way to dismiss criticism or opinions that contradict their extremely narrow and out of touch worldview. Come back to me when you actually go outside and talk to people from different backgrounds. Until then, you’re a zealot.
gaja@lemm.ee 3 weeks ago
What the fuck are you on about? Touch grass? Come off with that shit man. You don’t know if I need an abortion or if my Medicare or Medicaid has been stalled by the government. You don’t know if I started carrying my birth certificate and passport everywhere I go just so I don’t get deported to El Salvador. You don’t know how many of my health insurance claims have been denied.
It’s like telling a soldier to ignore the war that things could be worse and they should enjoy life. I don’t think it’s a shit opinion to say that carpet bombing children is wrong. I think you’re projecting. You don’t know what life is like for most. You don’t know how bad things have gotten for most. You just know that things are good for you and your social circle and that everyone should make you feel comfortable and happy about it. Go find an echo chamber if that’s what you want.
Gorilladrums@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
You’re so dishonest it’s unbelievable. Nobody is arguing with you on your political opinions, that’s not the point of contention. You can think whatever you want, that’s your problem and right. What I was saying is that normal people don’t think about politics 24/7 like terminally online Lemmy users. People treat politics like they do any other subject. There are times when they think about, talk about it, and take action on it, and times where they don’t. It’s really simple as that.
This idea that people you deem as non privileged think about politics all day everyday is not reality. That’s an out of touch assumption that you made up to justify an inaccurate worldview you have. People not thinking about politics 24/7 doesn’t mean they don’t care about politics or that they ignore politics, it means that there’s more to life than politics. People who do spend all their time talking and thinking about politics aren’t normal, those are zealots, they’re fanatics. This is not a new or controversial, this was literally always the case.
prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 weeks ago
This is the privileged take. So many people don’t have the luxury of not paying attention to politics because their very identity and public existence is being outlawed.
Gorilladrums@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
I literally lived in Iraq and Syria for a big portion of my life, and I spent even more time living in the inner cities of the US. Some braindead Lemmy user trying to accuse me of being privileged from their mother’s basement is exactly the type of ignorance that I expect from users on this site.
If people in literal warzones and in poverty can distinguish politics from everything else, then so can everybody else. This idea that people in bad circumstances think about politics 23/7 is not reality. This is an ignorant idea made by ideologues for ideologues. Even during the war in Iraq, people had weddings, they went to visit each other’s houses, they celebrated holidays, they talk about trivial things, and so on. Do you know why that’s the case? It’s because they’re people. You clearly don’t view them as such, hence you hold on to such an out of touch belief.
prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 weeks ago
I love when people say this shit to me because it could only really ever sting if it’s true. When you’re a grown-ass adult who’s lived alone for over a decade, it kind of rings hollow. Nice try though.
Gorilladrums@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
It’s ironic how everything you said here applies directly to you.
sandflavoured@lemm.ee 3 weeks ago
Hey there, I too lived in one of the poorest and most densely populated regions in the world for half of my life.
Politics is unfortunately not a topic like any other. Unlike other subjects, this one materially affects all people in the relevant country, and often other countries too.
Governments work all the time to keep systems running, whether people think about them or not. But it is only by being aware of what is going on that people can make better choices when the time comes to choose new leaders.
Without political awareness, a person gives up their right to a say in how their country should be.
Gorilladrums@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
But you’re conflating two different things. Someone who doesn’t think about politics 24/7 isn’t necessarily politically unaware or politically unactive. It just means that they understand there’s more to life than politics. You can recognize that politics has more influence on your life than other things, but it’s not the only influence on your life nor is it everything in life. I mean you lived through it, you should know as well as I do that even during blackouts and war, people still find ways to do things life that isn’t politics.
Something this basic seems to be beyond comprehension for Lemmy users for some reason.