This is a question I’ve been pondering a lot lately
I don’t really care about US politics, but I keep getting dragged into it
The latest president was elected, and it’s been on everybody’s minds.
Normally the news cycle doesn’t affect me so much when I’m outside of the country.
Whatever disaster of the day is going on, I can scroll over the social media posts and wait a week or two, until people are onto the next thing.
However, everyone’s been asking me
- How do you feel?
- How could this have happened?
- What does the future look like for the US?
I usually reply irreverently with something like “I really liked the demented guy before, he made me laugh” (referring to Joe Biden)
But after so many people have brought it up to me it makes me wonder.
Should I give a shit about politics back home? Does it actually matter?
My initial reaction is no I shouldn’t.
Our previous president was very clearly in the late stages of dementia, if I saw him greeting people at a grocery store I would question the manager who placed him there.
But he was “running the country”.
Watching him struggle to put together sentences and navigate off stages tore the final thread of faith I had in my country’s politics.
It’s all bullshit man. It’s obvious the presidency doesn’t matter.
So I Gave up on US Politics
Hell I’m not even in the country
For this reason, it’s uncomfortable talking to people who are so glued to it all.
The Sports Fanatic
Photo Credit – Bleacher Report
Talking to most Americans (and people in general) about politics feels like talking to a middle-aged drunk fanatic of a football team.
The game ended, and he’s sitting there in a rage about how his team should’ve won, how the referees cheated, ‘the game was rigged!’
He’s mad about the game, but beneath the surface you realize that he’s got some real struggles in his life. He’s mad that he’s getting older and there’s nothing he can do about it. He’s mad about his economics, the future of his children, and he’s struggling to keep it together.
His life is complicated, and the solutions to his problems aren’t clear. Regardless of what decisions he makes, there will be negative consequences.
But when he’s at the field all ambiguity is gone. There is a singular, unequivocal outcome that both he and his entire tribe are fighting toward.
He can lose his worries in something that’s bigger and far more significant than him. Something that has been going on long before he was born, and will carry on long after he’s dead.
However, the game is over and his team lost.
He keeps trying to get me to sympathize with him “Don’t you see it’s bullshit? We clearly should’ve won, we’re the better team everybody knows that”
I sit there struggling to sympathize with this pitiful soul.
I want to shake him and let him know that it’s just a game man, it’s not the end of the world. How about you work on yourself, take responsibilty for your part in the issues you have, fix what you can. Be a fucking adult for heavens sakes.
But I’m afraid of the response this will elicit, and I don’t really want to argue with a maniac.
To be very clear, I feel this same way toward followers of both political teams.
A picture of me at 19 in Washington DC on a hitchhiking trip. Back when I had far more faith in politics.
Then The Thought Strikes “Maybe I’m Missing Something”
Surely if everyone wants to talk about it, it’s gotta be important.
Maybe I’m missing something
What about all of the important legislature that was passed before, that truly changed the country?
- Roe V. Wade being passed, then being overturned
- Civil rights
- Hell even the abolishment of slavery
All of those things came from the federal government, right?
I’m not so sure
My theory is that organizations, like people don’t actually make changes until the circumstances are pretty dire.
If it hadn’t been for all of the activists and movements that sprung up and pressured the system, I don’t think the government would have ever implemented any of those changes.
It seems to me like I’m better off supporting movements / organizations / interest groups that I agree with, groups that are pressuring the government to make changes I want.
After all isn’t that what the best manipulators of governments do? They use lobbyists / movements / interest groups to get their agendas across.
Feels like politicians are far more influenced by these groups than they’ll ever be influenced by a single constituent.
Get to the source of decision-making and try to play my role there.
Right?
I can hear the outcries from the politically-glued individuals now.
“Maybe that’s true – but if you vote for [insert political team] they’re never going to actually implement any positive measurements, they’re going to ruin our country.”
And that’s where I start to tune out again.
Any time I hear black-and-white narratives about how our team is going to make things better, and the other team is only going to make things worse I suspect I’m no longer to talking to a rational human, I’m talking to that sports fan again.
I have a hard time believing that half of the country is right and half of it is wrong.
Maybe I’ll be proven wrong though, maybe in the future it will be crystal clear one team was good and one team was bad, and that I sat on the fence allowing the bad team to continue doing bad things.
There are plenty of historical examples that seem to consist of good and evil. Slavery, Nazi Germany, etc.
But I’m Not Making Choices On What I Believe The Future Will Think of Me
Maybe future generations will look back and be appalled by what we’re doing. They’ll be angry people like me didn’t do more.
Then I’m reminded of the quote from Frederich Nietzche
“Don’t let your virtues knock on eternal walls”
A photo of Frederich Nietzche – interesting ideas and great moustache!
While this was a criticism of Christianity, I think it can be applied to many dogmas that claim to be morally superior.
I’d rather my virtues be focused on what I’m living today, on the things that stir me now, not some guess on what I think future generations will think of me.
Even if I’m right about what future generations think is “correct” does that mean I should match my values to what I think future people will think of me?
That hardly seems virtuous, seems a bit more like the half-hearted Christian who baptizes himself not out of conviction, but just in case Jesus was right.
If Jesus was right than he just got himself a pass to heaven, if Jesus was wrong than hey, no worries at least he covered his ass.
My Time In France Does Make Me Think Though
I’ve been staying in Paris for a while now, and anyone who knows France knows that protests are a pastime here.
Politics isn’t a taboo subject – it’s something you discuss freely with anyone.
I recall one French guy who really epitomized the French fervor.
“If we don’t constantly fight for our rights, then they will be taken from us.”
I think this is an admirable position to have.
Furthermore, I think that healthy democracy requires that the citizenry constantly fights to retain and expand it’s rights.
As a member of a democracy you must fight for the rights of your fellow citizens, and the generations that will come after you.
I can’t find any logical issues with that perspective.
A call to protest on the 23rd of November. This was spray painted into the sidewalk, just outside my house in Paris. ‘Pour Nos Droits’ = ‘For Our Rights’
But I’d like to enjoy my life
I’m selfish I know, but I don’t want to spend X hours a day arguing with myself and others about the state of things.
Getting angry about things that I have little to no control over.
I’m only going to live once, and I don’t want to spend most of my time ruminating on realities that I have little control over.
I shared this with a French friend, and he mentioned that many peasants in the middle ages likely had the same ideas.
Peasants that thought to themselves “Life is pretty good, and I should be grateful, no need to rock the boat”
He told me “You should be grateful so many people came before you and fought against the system so you could live the life you do.”
“You owe it to future generations to fight for a better life!”
A bust of Seneca one of the major figures in Stoicism, who taught about self-mastery & relying on changing what you can, and not focusing on things you can’t change. Seems like he made a pretty big effect in the world without every tying himself to any political movement.
So Maybe I Just Don’t Care Enough
I’m sorry
Like a body-positive chubby woman who can’t put down the cake, I’m not going to change my lifestyle, and I’ve accepted that.
While it’d be ideal to be more politically involved – I just don’t care enough.
I’ll continue supporting local movements and people who I think are doing the right things. However, I won’t commit myself to struggling against a massive system that’s unlikely to change much in my lifetime, if at all.
I’ll also focus on being less of a shitty person to the people I interact with. That I can change and that feels like a better choice.
It’s up to you to make your own choice, I could easily be wrong about all of this and change my mind in a year or two.
Whatever I do, I’ll retain the freedom to change my perspective as new info comes in.
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