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[–] 41 points 6 days ago (21 children)

I mean, not everyone wants to discuss politics all the time, and that should be an acceptable position to have.

Just because you don't espouse your beliefs at every conceivable moment doesn't mean you don't have beliefs or don't participate in the political process.

I live in a red state, and I'd definitely say something similar if a magat tried to strike up a conversation about politics. Most of the time I just don't have the mental energy to get into a discussion about it.

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  • [–] 24 points 6 days ago (12 children)

    It should be noted that the comic is very purposefully using a woman of color for a reason. To say you are not political to someone whose entire existence is ruled by politics is to lay bare that you are privileged enough to be apolitical.

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  • [+] -22 points 6 days ago (11 children)

    BS

    You're assuming we have any actual power, whether POC or not.

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  • [–] 22 points 6 days ago (3 children)

    You’re assuming we have any actual power,

    I did not specify much in my comment. Can you share who the "we" is in your sentence here?

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  • [–] 4 points 6 days ago (2 children)

    I'd guess ‘general populace’ and while I agree to some extent, I don't think people have no power at all, especially privileged ones

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  • [–] 6 points 6 days ago (5 children)

    Did you actually read what they wrote, or were you just looking for an excuse to jump down somebody's throat?

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  • [–] 14 points 6 days ago (3 children)

    Totally agree. And especially when I know it's just going to upset me and won't change anyone's mind. It's a waste of my energy and happiness to constantly and pointlessly engage. Responding with silence often works pretty well, at least in person.

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  • [–] -1 points 5 days ago (2 children)

    I think there's distinction between: “I am completely ignoring politics, because I'm privileged so it doesn't affect me or it does, but I'm dumb to realize it" vs “I am paying attention to politics, but I believe taking to you is a waste of my time".

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  • [–] 1 point 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) (1 child)

    This particular subthread started by village604 is about having political opinions and then choosing whether or not to engage in political discussion. Perhaps your sentiment here would be more applicable to a different thread?

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  • [–] 10 points 6 days ago

    I mean, not everyone wants to discuss politics all the time, and that should be an acceptable position to have.

    This is probably true. I mean, if I started going off about how the workers are entitled to what they produce and fucking Joanne doesn't do shit, so why does she get a fat salary while we don't even get paid for thanksgiving, I'd be fired. Wouldn't even move the needle.

    I live in a red state, and I’d definitely say something similar if a magat tried to strike up a conversation about politics. Most of the time I just don’t have the mental energy to get into a discussion about it.

    But sometimes the smaller conversations can change people. It takes a lot, and it can be infuriating when they just don't get it, or relapse after another bender on fox news, but interactions with people they see as in-group change minds.

    I had a coworker way back that was a big homophobe, and over the months we worked together I got him from "we should just kill the gays" to "i guess they're not hurting anyone i just think it's gross". I understand that there's not always energy in the budget for that, though.

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  • [–] 3 points 6 days ago

    It's common sense that it's terrible for your mental well-being to obsess over things your have little-to-no-control over.

    Politics makes that a bit messier because there's the idea that we all need to pull together if we want change to happen. But ultimately you're only 0.0000006% of the vote, and online political discussion is usually just in a echo chambers where no one's mind is being changed. On the other hand you have a huge amount of control over what you expose yourself to online. If you're choosing to doom scroll though content that makes you depressed and miserable, I feel like that's a terrible trade off for how little (if any) difference it's going to make.

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  • [–] -4 points 6 days ago

    not everyone wants to discuss politics all the time

    Like, if you have a serious mental disorder maybe?? I've never met a single person who didn't like politics. I've met octopuses who don't like politics, though. Octopuses don't work together to make decisions, they don't have a society. They're about as smart as humans, but their apoliticism makes them weak. Being the most political animal is literally the main thing that separates humans from other animals. Not even ants are as political as humans.

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