There are 3 possible paths to take in your political life;
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Sineã®mine
Soba-Scans Staff
Everyone starts at the same point regarding politics...well, regarding all things I suppose. Ignorance. You are born ignorant and spend a long time being completely unaware and ignorant of all things political. Eventually you start to get a very basic awareness of politics. Usually we first pick up on it from our parents, but for some it is their friends, or even learning about it first in school from a civics class.
You start to form political opinions slowly, and molded entirely off the views of those closest to you. Things you believe to be true, ways that you wish the world was, etc.
But as you learn more and more, and perhaps start to become aware of very specific people in the government for the first time, you also learn that politics isn't some rational discussion about the right thing to do. You learn of the corruption and greed, of the pandering and lying, and perhaps the hardest part to accept for a large amount of people: compromising.
Usually around your teenage years, though sometimes later, you begin to develop a cynicism about the entire world of politics. What possible use is it? It's just a bunch of old men arguing over who can get the credit for further destroying the country! You might even wish that they would all just shut up and go away for good and stop trying to ruin your life.
Well, as you develop more and more cynicism about politics eventually there is a bit of a crossroads where people split off and take different paths in the face of the mounting cynicism.
The first path is the path of least resistance; You give up and become an Apathetic. Politics as a whole loses its luster and you simply don't care anymore. Your vote doesn't even matter, no politicians really support your views, so why should you invest any energy into the whole thing? It's just really stupid. You may complain about the government doing certain things, but eh, it's always going to be that way. You don't really like conversations about politics because they are just a way to hear a bunch of people yelling at each other for no reason with no solution.
The second path is the path of most resistance; You decide to become a Crusader. The problem with politics is exactly BECAUSE people don't care. You know that with the right changes, your country could be perfect. In fact you KNOW that everything could be fixed, if only people got their head out of their asses. The answers are just sitting there, waiting to be taken, and it is up to you to do it! You LOVE talking politics because you feel that if people would just sit down, shut up, and listen, they would agree with you. You would be glad to explain exactly what should be done, and are sick of people who don't know what they are talking about filling up the airwaves with misleading crap trying to get their own way. Especially in the internet age, Crusaders are drawn to smaller parties, although there are plenty of Leftist Crusaders and Rightist Crusaders in the main parties.
The third path is the middle path of sorts; You chose to become a Politico. Politics is a game of sorts to you. Mind you, a game with HUGE stakes, and one that shouldn't be taken lightly, but more important than beliefs and feelings are strategy and tactics. You will gladly discuss your own views, but you are also most likely to try and argue politics without revealing your own beliefs when you can, simply because your own beliefs aren't central to the arguments you want to make. Things like pandering and compromise are par for the course and just tools in the toolbox of politics. You probably find talk of voter bases and polling interesting, and although it may offend some people, voters as a whole are seen more as means to an end than actual people at times, an aggregate of their own collective beliefs. And what politicians do and say are interesting in how they affect the larger whole, not in the inherent meaning of their actions or words.
So the question is this:
Where do you feel you are in your life right now? None of these is a permanent condition, and like many things in our lives, we tend to vacillate between them at various times depending on many factors. Do you feel like one of these three describes how you feel NOW? Or are you still stuck on the hill of cynicism and haven't gotten to ANY destination yet? Or do you feel there is another option where you are, that I haven't mentioned? I suspect there might be, some sort of "Swing-Voter" between Apathetic and Crusader, not cynical, having given up yet, set in their very strong beliefs, or care about strategy. Thoughts?
You start to form political opinions slowly, and molded entirely off the views of those closest to you. Things you believe to be true, ways that you wish the world was, etc.
But as you learn more and more, and perhaps start to become aware of very specific people in the government for the first time, you also learn that politics isn't some rational discussion about the right thing to do. You learn of the corruption and greed, of the pandering and lying, and perhaps the hardest part to accept for a large amount of people: compromising.
Usually around your teenage years, though sometimes later, you begin to develop a cynicism about the entire world of politics. What possible use is it? It's just a bunch of old men arguing over who can get the credit for further destroying the country! You might even wish that they would all just shut up and go away for good and stop trying to ruin your life.
Well, as you develop more and more cynicism about politics eventually there is a bit of a crossroads where people split off and take different paths in the face of the mounting cynicism.
The first path is the path of least resistance; You give up and become an Apathetic. Politics as a whole loses its luster and you simply don't care anymore. Your vote doesn't even matter, no politicians really support your views, so why should you invest any energy into the whole thing? It's just really stupid. You may complain about the government doing certain things, but eh, it's always going to be that way. You don't really like conversations about politics because they are just a way to hear a bunch of people yelling at each other for no reason with no solution.
The second path is the path of most resistance; You decide to become a Crusader. The problem with politics is exactly BECAUSE people don't care. You know that with the right changes, your country could be perfect. In fact you KNOW that everything could be fixed, if only people got their head out of their asses. The answers are just sitting there, waiting to be taken, and it is up to you to do it! You LOVE talking politics because you feel that if people would just sit down, shut up, and listen, they would agree with you. You would be glad to explain exactly what should be done, and are sick of people who don't know what they are talking about filling up the airwaves with misleading crap trying to get their own way. Especially in the internet age, Crusaders are drawn to smaller parties, although there are plenty of Leftist Crusaders and Rightist Crusaders in the main parties.
The third path is the middle path of sorts; You chose to become a Politico. Politics is a game of sorts to you. Mind you, a game with HUGE stakes, and one that shouldn't be taken lightly, but more important than beliefs and feelings are strategy and tactics. You will gladly discuss your own views, but you are also most likely to try and argue politics without revealing your own beliefs when you can, simply because your own beliefs aren't central to the arguments you want to make. Things like pandering and compromise are par for the course and just tools in the toolbox of politics. You probably find talk of voter bases and polling interesting, and although it may offend some people, voters as a whole are seen more as means to an end than actual people at times, an aggregate of their own collective beliefs. And what politicians do and say are interesting in how they affect the larger whole, not in the inherent meaning of their actions or words.
So the question is this:
Where do you feel you are in your life right now? None of these is a permanent condition, and like many things in our lives, we tend to vacillate between them at various times depending on many factors. Do you feel like one of these three describes how you feel NOW? Or are you still stuck on the hill of cynicism and haven't gotten to ANY destination yet? Or do you feel there is another option where you are, that I haven't mentioned? I suspect there might be, some sort of "Swing-Voter" between Apathetic and Crusader, not cynical, having given up yet, set in their very strong beliefs, or care about strategy. Thoughts?
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I just check wich parties are pro-weed and anti-rentraising.
And then out of what's left, I pick the party with the most charismatic leader.
I'm shallow. I'm sorry. I do vote though, so that's more then most people my age do, I think. :)
And then out of what's left, I pick the party with the most charismatic leader.
I'm shallow. I'm sorry. I do vote though, so that's more then most people my age do, I think. :)
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I'd say I'm the politico. Since I'm not constantly on top of the latest information, i have opinions and ideas that I would rather set aside in favour of a discussion where I might learn more about other people's positions and/or perhaps incite them to ACTUALLY VOTE instead of sitting around being wastes of space that claim things like "democracy is dead," without really revealing a platform they would rather work from. Buncha defeatists.
^crappy teamfights SUCK
^crappy teamfights SUCK
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Even though I don't like politics all that much... One has to at least keep up with the news to know what is going on, such as voting for a law, what kind of law is trying to be passed, who are your elected officials, etc. From the Federal and State levels, all the way down to your local community.
I am in-between a Crusader and a Politico.
I am in-between a Crusader and a Politico.
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I think your perspective on socio-political trends is rather narrow and only accounts for those born into a specific suburban, middle class mold.
I can think of one example in particular right off the top of my head; people that immigrated to the United States (or any country). When someone immigrates to a country, that is, they choose to become a citizen and renounce their previous citizenship, they are almost always invested and involved in that country's politics; at the very least becoming involved on a state/prefecture level. See: early 1900s New York, plantation era Hawaii (early 1800s - mid 1900s), and even modern-day Latino-American immigrants.
I point out these specific examples because when they occurred, they occurred en mass. The closest one of the 'paths' this relates to would probably be the second you listed, but the second heavily implies that those who take that path are a part of fringe parties. Not only that, but the way you described the second path makes it seem like those that follow it view their fellow citizens that don't participate, politically, disdainfully to an almost misanthropic level (or perhaps that was your personal bias leaking out). I feel by that description, your use of the word 'crusader' become empty (ignoring any positive/negative connotation of the word) and almost revealing of your personal distaste for those in that 'path', yourself.
Your perspective is very much jaded and it shows. And as a Political Science major, I can understand how you came to that position; I, in fact, once wholeheartedly would've agreed with what you've put forth here not too long ago. But I decided last year to take a trip around the country I live in; visiting small towns and big cities of varied socio-economical stratifications. I must've visited at least 12 universities and over a fifty bars. And I've had serious discussions with a multitude of folks (professors, heads/members of political parties/lobbies, and everyday people) about their political views over a cold one or, in at least two cases, a pair of fancy champagne glasses. Sure enough, I've heard from a lot of people that would fall into the three 'paths' you listed, but I've also heard from a lot more people that walk completely different 'paths'
If you're going to generalize people into groups, it's only fair that you actually go out and meet the people you're lumping into groups.
I can think of one example in particular right off the top of my head; people that immigrated to the United States (or any country). When someone immigrates to a country, that is, they choose to become a citizen and renounce their previous citizenship, they are almost always invested and involved in that country's politics; at the very least becoming involved on a state/prefecture level. See: early 1900s New York, plantation era Hawaii (early 1800s - mid 1900s), and even modern-day Latino-American immigrants.
I point out these specific examples because when they occurred, they occurred en mass. The closest one of the 'paths' this relates to would probably be the second you listed, but the second heavily implies that those who take that path are a part of fringe parties. Not only that, but the way you described the second path makes it seem like those that follow it view their fellow citizens that don't participate, politically, disdainfully to an almost misanthropic level (or perhaps that was your personal bias leaking out). I feel by that description, your use of the word 'crusader' become empty (ignoring any positive/negative connotation of the word) and almost revealing of your personal distaste for those in that 'path', yourself.
Your perspective is very much jaded and it shows. And as a Political Science major, I can understand how you came to that position; I, in fact, once wholeheartedly would've agreed with what you've put forth here not too long ago. But I decided last year to take a trip around the country I live in; visiting small towns and big cities of varied socio-economical stratifications. I must've visited at least 12 universities and over a fifty bars. And I've had serious discussions with a multitude of folks (professors, heads/members of political parties/lobbies, and everyday people) about their political views over a cold one or, in at least two cases, a pair of fancy champagne glasses. Sure enough, I've heard from a lot of people that would fall into the three 'paths' you listed, but I've also heard from a lot more people that walk completely different 'paths'
If you're going to generalize people into groups, it's only fair that you actually go out and meet the people you're lumping into groups.
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to be honest I didn't read to much of your post, as I know were I stand politically, at least I think I do. I understand enough politics, and the way i see it is that its a loosing battle, anyway you go the nation [assuming were talking about america here] is past the point of no return. we could bring her back from the brink, but the american people as a whole dont seem willing to commit the effort required to do so, we want a quick fix instant gratification, when none exists. everything is so corrupt, this nation has become a rotting husk of what it was supposed to be. which is why as soon as i can im getting the hell out of it. dont get me wrong, im a patriot and i love my country but i also see a loosing battle, and im sorry but im not about to sit around and fight a hopeless battle. and i certainly dont wana be here when the shit hits the fan, which it will. once we as a whole realize the direness of the situation. its gonna happen soon, and you know something alone the lines of a national tantrum is going to occur, which is why i dont want to be in the country when it happens.
idk if this is entirely accurate but its what i believe. and its why im getting out when i can.
idk if this is entirely accurate but its what i believe. and its why im getting out when i can.
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I'd have to say that I'm a bit of an Apathetic and a Crusader.
I believe that with the right push the government can achieve great things, but for that everybody would need to help and I definitely know that my countries people don't give a crap about politics, so I just don't bother and only talk about politics as a way to make conversation with people or to even educate some of my dim fellow class-mates.
I believe that with the right push the government can achieve great things, but for that everybody would need to help and I definitely know that my countries people don't give a crap about politics, so I just don't bother and only talk about politics as a way to make conversation with people or to even educate some of my dim fellow class-mates.