I was listening to the latest Hidden Brain podcast today at the gym. It was talking about politics and a book about political hobbyism. And it was fascinating.
And enlightening.
It gave me one of those Ah ha! moments.
Which was sort of weird because I've been dancing around the idea for awhile and have even bitched about it multiple times, but I wasn't getting it as a full blown concept, just as a THIS IS BUGGING THE SHIT OUT OF ME!
It's all about how people are treating politics like sports. My team vs. your team. Your team sucks, mine rules. And they think that this partisan meme posting bullshit makes them politically informed and active.
It doesn't.
It just means you like the spectacle of it all. You like the tribalism. You like feeling like part of a group. You like the pat on the head when your group agrees with you.
And all of that is perfectly normal.
But it's really dangerous for our system.
I've been politically aware for a long time. I've enjoyed watching politics and trying to understand them. And then I take that information and talk about it. And my objective is to get you to see the world in such a way that you help me change it into a better one.
That's the step that has been missing lately with most people and the part that has frustrated the hell out of me.
I don't want a meme.
I don't want a BUT HER EMAILS response to a question.
I don't want any of that.
I want you to talk to me about why you think what you do and I want you to actually listen to what I am saying. Don't do the Amazon argument of "people who have made this argument have also made this one" and then try to argue with me over something I never said. Don't talking point at me. Actually listen to me and actually tell me what you think. Not what your team has told you to believe.
I can't enjoy being politically aware right now because there isn't actual political engagement from most people anymore. I don't want a lot of meme posting, I want idea exchanging. I don't watch opinion TV even if I could find a lot of people that speak to what I agree with, I've never found that helpful. I do read some opinion pieces in publications by people who I know from past experience have facts to back up what they are saying. But I want that to see what they think and why they think that. If it's just a bunch of cheerleading or bashing then I don't want to see it.
I want to see things that make me think about what I believe and why I believe it.
But because we are so tribal right now. Because we are so split into teams. Because I see a lot of people who like to say "both sides are bad" but never seem to point out when their side is being awful but are quick to do the other. Because people just want to tell me why I'm not progressive enough or I'm basically a socialist or I clearly don't understand the way the system works or that I clearly put too much faith in the system...
Because of those things I'm frustrated.
And at least today I got to listen to someone explain to me that I might be frustrated but at least I'm frustrated for a reason. It's really happening.
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Now there are those of you who might be getting ready to say BUT wait a second! You keep saying you are blue no matter who this November so how does that fit with what you just posted up there?
Well, it's because I don't view another four years of Trump as a political thing. I view him as an actual danger to our country. He's not a Republican. He's not a Democrat. As Blagojevich said about himself on the evening of his pardon he is now a Trumpicrat. I've called the group voting for him Trumplicans. It's the same. Trump is a different beast who demands different action. I do not care who is running against him I will vote for them. In a normal year I wouldn't consider Sanders or Bloomberg but this year I would vote for either of them without hesitation. This isn't a team thing for me. It's a Trump needs to go thing. And I hope that there is a lot of aisle crossing and independent agreement in this one. No memes, no teams, just get rid of Trump.
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