Current Events > "I try to avoid politics"

(+) Yeah! (+)

GeraldDarko posted...

I don't often agree with VeggetaX, but I think he pegged TC

I'm starting to see that these kinda people don't care that they have this reputation. I see it everywhere, including here. I think it might be because they feel those actions or emotions are justified to what they're saying or doing so they don't care if it makes them look bad. A strong reaction even if it comes off insulting or mocking means strong conviction. Being an asshole shows strong conviction. Thoughts?

TC truly does have the moral high ground, but again, he's operating on such a narrow slice of reality. This would be so bad if he would reflect and understand that notions of morality are rarely simple or a dichotomy, where he goes really wrong is to call anyone that doesn't only see his narrow view as immoral or delusional. Shitting on people doesn't elevate you above others. Many people in this topic have beliefs that seem to be damn close to his, but he shits all over them. Seriously, man. Be cool.

If someone agrees with me, then why does it matter how I speak? People don't have strong beliefs if they can be turned off by someone else with those beliefs sharing them the wrong way.

I've changed throughout my life, but never just because someone was too aggressive or annoying with sharing beliefs I agreed with.

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No. My general political views are that politicians should work to eliminate as much strife and misery as possible, and shouldn't serve self interest at all, which is extremely idealistic and unrealistic. My views are that we(in the US) need to spend far more time bettering our education system and investing in technologies to improve the medical field quickly as to meet the needs of the rapidly changing world, and less time bickering about how scary things are.

Change is eternal and inevitable, and we spend far too much time making sure it's as slow and painful as possible for anyone not in the upper echelons.

So, I vote for people who I think can best inch that forward. I don't generally bother trying to argue my viewpoints because these days politics is largely about trying to take the other party down a peg, which doesn't interest me in the slightest. Or the people that want to argue politics so they can feel smart, which is also not worth my time.

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I dont think people think their own beliefs are bad so I don't see why they would try hide them

Kombucha posted...

People that say this just want to change the subject. They actually have political views that they don't want to share with you.

And there's nothing wrong with that.

You don't need to talk politics with everyone who wants to. To be honest, I don't want to hang around someone who brings politics into a conversation often. It just ruins my image of a person I'd normally be cool with.

Aside from Gamefaqs and certain family members, I'd rather avoid talking politics all together.

Also to people who go with the bad logic of, "if you have nothing to hide, why hide it" it's none of your business. I'm not a criminal, that doesn't mean I want cops or the authorities up my ass. Same to politics. Not having anything to hide doesn't mean I should be an open book about myself to satisfy one's fancy.

I honestly don't know a better way to describe political discussion on here (on the internet in general) than toxic waste dump.

I am interested in politics but I have zero interest in discussing them online.

All I read was the opening post. How is this at over 150 comments? Jesus Christ, CE.

SimulationSwarm posted...

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/9/7/8/AAfXmyAAEVlS.jpg

yeah, this was a Drake topic

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I said what I believe, perhaps you should evaluate how jaded you are that it's so hard to believe.

I admitted my views are unrealistic and idealistic. I also admitted that I simply vote the best I can towards them. I've accepted they'll never be realized in my lifetime granted.

AloneIBreak posted...

All I read was the opening post. How is this at over 150 comments? Jesus Christ, CE.

Not sure about the TCs intent (didn't care honestly).

But to what the TC said, in general there are genuine people out there with the ridiculous "if you got nothing to hide, you should be an open book" mindset.

People outside of the Internet aren't usually hyper-obsessed with politics to an insane degree where it's the only thing they're capable of talking about. It gets exhausting. And most people just want a friendly co-existence and not a constant frothing politics battle where neither side is going to change their views anyway. Especially if you're in a professional setting or a big group get-together.

t5yvxc posted...

Not sure about the TCs intent (didn't care honestly).

But to what the TC said, in general there are genuine people out there with the ridiculous "if you got nothing to hide, you should be an open book" mindset.

People like this are bullies. If you don't tell them your political views they will obviously insult you, but if you do they will find what aspects of your views they disagree with and insult you for those.

I don't know what they get out of it but the only proper response to them is to disengage as smoothly as possible.

Damn_Underscore posted...

People like this are bullies. If you don't tell them your political views they will obviously insult you, but if you do they will find what aspects of your views they disagree with and insult you for those.

I don't know what they get out of it but the only proper response to them is to disengage as smoothly as possible.

I feel this way about discussions on video games I enjoy that might not be perfect...

Damn_Underscore posted...

People like this are bullies. If you don't tell them your political views they will obviously insult you, but if you do they will find what aspects of your views they disagree with and insult you for those.

This.

Even when you agree with someone, if you aren't lock-step 100% in agreement, they treat you like you're 100% opposed.

hockeybub89 posted...

If someone agrees with me, then why does it matter how I speak? People don't have strong beliefs if they can be turned off by someone else with those beliefs sharing them the wrong way.

I've changed throughout my life, but never just because someone was too aggressive or annoying with sharing beliefs I agreed with.

What? People aren't agreeing, then changing their opinion because you insult them. It just makes them not want to interact with you. You push like minded people and potential allies away for what? If it's important to do the right thing, what good comes from treating like-minded people away?

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it probably went over your head

You know what I hate most of all?

This type of shit:

"Well one side says that we should all get along and try to respect each other's beliefs, but the other side says all non-Christians are evil and should be made to suffer. Maybe we can compromise and find some middle ground here?"

That's where moderates are landing for me. Trying to treat the current Republican party like they have legitimate opinions. They've shown you who they are over, and over, and over, and over again. They don't want negotiation and they don't want compromise. They want the US to become a Theocracy ruled by their PARTICULAR branch of their PERSONAL religion. And fuck anyone who doesn't agree. The GOP in a nutshell.

Anyone who identifies as a member of that party AT BEST accepts and enables these loonies.

Are the people that want to hurt you in the room with us right now?

t5yvxc posted...

Not sure about the TCs intent (didn't care honestly).

But to what the TC said, in general there are genuine people out there with the ridiculous "if you got nothing to hide, you should be an open book" mindset.

TC could post a black and white picture of a tumbleweed and the topic would for some reason take off.

SilvosForever posted...

You know what I hate most of all?

This type of shit:

"Well one side says that we should all get along and try to respect each other's beliefs, but the other side says all non-Christians are evil and should be made to suffer. Maybe we can compromise and find some middle ground here?"

That's where moderates are landing for me. Trying to treat the current Republican party like they have legitimate opinions. They've shown you who they are over, and over, and over, and over again. They don't want negotiation and they don't want compromise. They want the US to become a Theocracy ruled by their PARTICULAR branch of their PERSONAL religion. And fuck anyone who doesn't agree. The GOP in a nutshell.

Anyone who identifies as a member of that party AT BEST accepts and enables these loonies.

There are many beliefs and opinions on each side. Being moderate doesn't mean compromising and meeting in the middle, it isn't that "genocide, no genocide, some genocide" argument. It just means your beliefs have a tendency to be closer to the middle of a political spectrum.

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You're railing against people in here that AGREE with you because they don't agree with you 100%.

You got a lot of nerve calling people out about having "productive conversations".

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I mean, my experience with you has basically been you assuming my political views are unsavory, me saying them, and you attempting to say they're invalid because they don't meet the current political climate, simply put.

Not sure what you view as "productive conversation," unless just being contrarian or dealing only with absolutes(haha, star wars) in an argument is the only way to be productive.

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]

lots of things don't make sense to you, i can't control that

SilvosForever posted...

You know what I hate most of all?

This type of shit:

"Well one side says that we should all get along and try to respect each other's beliefs, but the other side says all non-Christians are evil and should be made to suffer. Maybe we can compromise and find some middle ground here?"

That's where moderates are landing for me. Trying to treat the current Republican party like they have legitimate opinions. They've shown you who they are over, and over, and over, and over again. They don't want negotiation and they don't want compromise. They want the US to become a Theocracy ruled by their PARTICULAR branch of their PERSONAL religion. And fuck anyone who doesn't agree. The GOP in a nutshell.

Anyone who identifies as a member of that party AT BEST accepts and enables these loonies.

I think a lot of people who want "moderates" judge political parties by the crap some of the crazies say on Twitter or think "the left" is someone who act like the new Velma when the majority of leftists don't act like that

epik_fail1 posted...

I think a lot of people who want "moderates" judge political parties by the crap some of the crazies say on Twitter or think "the left" is someone who act like the new Velma when the majority of leftists don't act like that

From what I've seen, most people seem to drift more towards "moderate" territory when not trying to puff up online, it's just that the news and the loudest folks on social media have completely normalized the extremes to the point it's nauseating to even touch politics.

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]


No. I was answering the reason why many avoid talking politics. And it's mainly because of people like you and hockeybub (maybe not you, but definitely hockeybub) that take the stance of "you're either 100% in agreement with me, or you're the enemy".

Talking politics tend to become a "pushing at a wall" exercise, even when you discuss it with people you mostly agree with. Like the post I made earlier. You can be for sensible gun control laws, attempt to talk about your stance, and the only thing it'll get you is the "ban all guns" people telling you your "50/50" viewpoint is the reason nothing gets done.

A Lot of people are just tired of being told they're wrong, especially when it's by people that you're supposedly on the "same side".

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]

What is productive about insulting people that agree with you? Effective communication can challenge peoples beliefs, but it isn't insulting and isn't othering.

I now avoid talking about avoiding politics.

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]


You didn't ask me to do any of that initially, you just assumed my beliefs were "uncivil" as you put it.

That said, I'm not avoiding it particularly. I'm just not beholden to you(and admittedly, on pain killers at the moment so I really doubt I could get to intricacies and not become a jabbering mess). You're not important to me, and everything I've seen from you here just points to any political discourse being a futile back-and-forth with moving goal posts so you can try to convince yourself you came out on top, so I don't really want to.

You're basically being so unapproachable that even your allies don't really want to deal with it here.

GeraldDarko posted...

What? People aren't agreeing, then changing their opinion because you insult them. It just makes them not want to interact with you. You push like minded people and potential allies away for what? If it's important to do the right thing, what good comes from treating like-minded people away?

How can I drive them away if they are like-minded? My actions should be incapable of doing so if they truly believe the same. Decorum and etiquette should not matter more than content.

I know I can be very blunt. I can't help that, but I also don't see why it should matter

I would never ever change my opinion just because someone with said opinion was rude. That's asinine.

Comfy_Pillow posted...

Are the people that want to hurt you in the room with us right now?

I'm pretty sure we have people that vote Republican on this board

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...I think there's only one person doing that in this topic, honestly.

hockeybub89 posted...

How can I drive them away if they are like-minded? My actions should be incapable of doing so if they truly believe the same. Decorum and etiquette should not matter more than content.

I know I can be very blunt. I can't help that, but I also don't see why it should matter

I would never ever change my opinion just because someone with said opinion was rude. That's asinine.

No one is changing their opinion. You can agree with somone, but be put off by their behavior. What good do you think comes from from vitriol?

Comfy_Pillow posted...

Are the people that want to hurt you in the room with us right now?

Real shitty thing to say when tc is a gay man and republicans are actively trying to legislate his rights away. So yes, people in power are actively trying to hurt him.

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]

Frankly Ive never seen them post before. Waste of a good username though

I try to avoid politics because I don't really care to argue with strangers on the internet about it anymore. World has gone too crazy and it'll just lead to more hate/sadness/cringe/other negative emotion. Rest assured, I still vote and pay attention to what's going on.

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]

Why do you think it's "productive" to engage in the first place?

I'm not on some mission to change my coworkers mind of the Democrats, and my coworkers profound love for dear leader Trump. Nor is it productive for me to engage in a conversation with them about it.

Same to my friends and family who are passionate into their beliefs.

It's not always productive to be combative, or contrarian, or argumentative, or eristic. It just isnt.

For example, my sister is a conspiracy theorists who believes is astrology, the illuminati controls the world, that sleeping facing the North pole causes headaches. Thats not even getting into the fact that shes jobless, disrespectful brat to my parents while living rent free contributing to jack shit in their house. Talking about some, "I'm 26, you're not going to tell me what to do."

There is no productive conversation to be had with a grown ass woman down that hippy drippy trail. At least not with me lol.

I value my sanity. At least on a message board I can discuss it on a message board and just ignore the topic when I grow bored.

hockeybub89 posted...

Must be nice to be that privileged and blissfully unaware of the reality of the world around you that you can do such a thing.

I'm aware of reality and the world, that's why I pay it no mind. Especially politics which are useless and a detriment to your happiness.

GeraldDarko posted...

Word, man.
It just as important, if not more important, to be critical of your thoughts and feelings. We all have our cognitive biases, if we don't attack them, we fall further from truth. It doesn't matter how well intentioned we are. I believe knowing this is how we ALL are really allows a person to be bit more empathetic.

I find tye way to be empathetic towards others is to imagine everyone else is just a version of you living under different circumstances. It's easiest to be empathetic towards ourselves. So, this is using that to transfer the same empathy you have for yourself onto others. I guess if you don't forgive yourself for anything or have empathy for yourself, it might not work lol. Either way, if you can, it feeds off each other and everyone wins. The more empathy you feel for others, the more room you give yourself to leave room for growth without self esteem dropping. And when you learn empathy for yourself it teaches you that others deserve that same empathy you afford yourself. So, it only doesn't work if you hate everyone including yourself. Cause both lakes would be poisoned and they couldn't remedy each other.

MedeaLysistrata posted...

except this is nothing like weimar germany

In that most of our Nazis dont speak German, sure.