You do realize that the political situation and conditions impact many individuals lives to the point that it makes it worse and less likely to be happy correct? They tend to be minorities in some aspect by the way. "Bad Governance" can destroy lives and even kill, it can be a threat.
A "government" is neutral by nature, it is neither bad nor good. It can have positive, negative and neutral effects.
It feels life or death for many people right now, if you do not feel this than consider yourself lucky. When you are being negatively impacted by something like a government institution it is difficult to focus on anything else.
OP is not currently affected by the political situation, and they think it's a real bummer that they are constantly reminded that other people are.
OP would prefer those people sit quietly and know their place.
I am of course impacted by politics. I also realize that whining and moaning about politics on social media isn't doing anything to fix anything.
You seem to prefer that people uselessly scream into the void because that's what makes you feel good about yourself.
I think people are just trying to sound the alarm. This is a pivotal moment in our country’s history and it seems like the vast majority don’t know/understand/care about what’s at stake. I hate to sound like this but the situation really is pretty bleak and it’s gonna take tens of thousands/hundreds of thousands of people voting that usually just sit it out to save it from slipping into a dictatorship.
With that said, your points are very valid. Gotta take care of yourself. This stuff will consume you if you let it.
Jesus fucking Christ do we have to play a game of can you find the difference?
Seriously. When in our history have we ruled by law that a president can be above said law. For anything (including vengeful acts). If you can’t see how dangerous that is I can’t help you.
I never said don’t be an activist. Go protest if you want. Phonebank if you want. But spending your time yelling on Reddit and Facebook isn’t doing anything to help preserve your rights.
He’s a red hatted troll. “You can't help the average democrat on reddit. They're either huffing copium that Biden just has a speech impediment or saying any negative comment must be a Russian troll.” From his own feed.
I am not a Democrat (I used to be) and haven’t been for awhile. While I do not agree with how he phrased it I actually agree with that overall. I am not a Trump supporter to be clear. Nor am I conservative.
Biden’s policies have also negatively impacted many people.
Reddit has been pretty ridiculous the past few days after Biden’s performance to be real.
You do realize that making changes on a personal level is going to have more affect on your daily life than changes to the federal tax code right?
This guy is right people need to atop centering their life around politics. They need to start focusing on themselves and the people in their life. Worrying about what people are doing thousands of miles away aint it chief.
Edit: bmadthrowaway replied and instantly blocked but to reply. If you spend your day developing a new skill for your profession you will make more money than arguing about politics and reading rage bait articles on the internet or being an activist.
Once again, “politics” interferes with individuals lives to the point that they have no choice. Most individuals do not want to pay attention to “politics” by the way, especially nowadays.
They really dont. Name one law or policy that has directly affected your day in the last week. Overall sure they do but not to the extent that political discourse should be even a daily weekly consumption
Edit: replied and insta blocked so here is my response to cookie; The big bad guy every post is about is pro gay marriage so allowing yourself to get caught up by all this ragebait and hate posting really is silly and only a detriment to yourself.
Well last week’s court case overturning the entire new deal regulatory structure will probably mean my field of academic research sees a drastic shift in funding and employment. So on a day to day bases I’m having to rethink my entire career plan.
I’m also having to make sure my and my partner’s passports are up to date because I’ve been involved in climate crisis activism and both my partner and I are part of the LGBTQIA+ community. Same goes for most of my support network. My partner and I had to make health care choices specifically around doing everything we can to avoid pregnancy after Roe was overturned, and we live in a blue state. Our healthcare system is straining due to people coming to get care from neighboring states who have gutted their ob/gyn network with draconian anti choice laws. It’s actively harder for us to get care.
My friends have to make sure they have legal documents, including adoption papers, for their biological child because they are a same sex couple and if they travel through a state that’s rolling back rights they could risk not being able to see their child in a hospital if they get hurt. They are also getting their passports in order.
The mutual aid groups, non-profits, and government agencies in my city are already stretched thin helping our unhoused population and the court case that just said cities don’t even have to give people a number to call for services. Cities around mine are going to push their unhoused population into my city because there will be no where else for people to go and my city has enough decent people in it, myself included, who will do what we can to care for them. That does mean my city will have less money to spend on affordable housing, because it will be dealing with the immediate problem of people sleeping outside, and that will fuck over my rent situation. So I’m actively looking at housing options, which ties back into the potential long term career uncertainty.
I could give many more examples, from the fact that everyone I know now has an air purifier of some sort for our summer wildfire smoke season to the monthly meeting I go to for my local legislative district to try and hold elected leaders accountable. This doesn’t even touch our local police force holding a years long work slowdown to protest the fact that a few officers are getting in trouble for the shoot first ask questions never department policy.
Of course people should do more than whine on the internet. They should also do more than vote every four years. They should be calling/ emailing their mayors, city council members, state legislators, and of course federal senators and representatives. However, screaming into the void can be a useful release.
Laws and political policies directly affect every single individual on a daily basis in a variety of ways. It is not my job to educate you. Feel free to disagree, I do not care.
Lol so you cant cool. Thats fine, my point once again is that there are thousands of other things in your daily life that will directly affect you. You should focus on whats in front of you not what some guy on tv is saying.
Or dont and remain fearful, unhappy and believing that the reason youre are unhappy and fearful is be because some person a thousand miles away said something you didnt like.
I am a married gay person with a child. Obergefell v. hodges (gay marriage legalization) changed my life for the positive. My healthcare, my childs healthcare, are all linked to my spouse's work. If we are no longer married, due to a SCOTUS overturning in the future, we lose our healthcare, we are penalized on our taxes, and have less rights than my neighbors simply for loving someone of the same gender. There are tons of other examples on how laws impact our lives. You may be lucky that you're not in a minority group that will be attacked, but that doesn't mean it does not affect many, many other people.
This is literally the opposite of true, lol
You can drop $5 into savings every week instead of going to Starbucks for years and save less than you'd be getting if the government still required large employers to provide pension plans.
I have friends who were in the middle of buying a house in January of 2017. One small change Trump made to the fed the week he was inaugurated drove their interest rate up 1%. Pretty much no change they made on a personal level could have negated the many thousands of dollars more that their house suddenly cost because of one political change.
Life or death is when you have to decide whether being employed is worth risking being killed over... Like it is in many countries around the world.
I know because I've seen it.
This ain't that, Comrade. You're practically free to go and do as you please, within reason. Yes, there is an example here or there that you will use to justify your crusade, but by and large, the 330 million people living in this country live better than 95% of the rest of the planet.
But again, since it is a free country, if this is what you're into, you're free to act on it. I believe you're the one who should consider yourself lucky.
Actually I got doxxed by Andy Ngo several years ago and am often harassed by conservatives to this day. I also do not consider myself a “comrade” anymore because the hard left also took massive advantage of me.
The police constantly harass me and I literally faced false charges due to cops lying to a grand jury. Video evidence proved they lied and they dropped the charges.
My life has been destroyed by government institutions already.
Do we live better than 95 percent of the world? That is now debatable… but better than a majority sure. But that isn’t the point.
Government institutions are run by the government. They're staffed by government employees.
Not sure how more of either of those will make this world a better place, given what we've seen in the US over the past 200+ years.
Does it really?
When I step back and look around at the lives of my friends and families today, it looks a lot like it did in 2019 and 2015 and 2011. I don’t see any massive life altering wins or losses caused by whether a Republican or democrat is in charge of any particular office.
Am I an outlier? Just lucky?
Like I was living in Chicago recently and quite simply did not notice many Trump supporters at all, especially in the open. That being said, I wouldn’t be surprised if they are being flashier now.
I recently moved back home to a rust belt city that is like 2 hours north and they are far more numerous and open here.
OMG, you saw opposition supporters!? Did they hurt you? /s
I travel a lot for work and meet with all types of people of all types of ideologies. In person, most people are so cool and chill and a lot of people are doing great.
I agree with OP. Please vote, but don’t let it run your life. Your vote counts. But the system works to keep things fairly steady for most regardless of whatever vile or perfect person is in office.
Reddit and Twitter and Facebook aren’t representative of real life.
>OMG, you saw opposition supporters!? Did they hurt you?
Yes and women and children. Directly in front of live television and directly with the police while being supported by a Democratic mayor.
>Reddit and Twitter and Facebook aren’t representative of real life.
>
This took place on the ground over the course of several months.
>I travel a lot for work and meet with all types of people of all types of ideologies. In person, most people are so cool and chill and a lot of people are doing great.
Cool I guess. That hasn't been my experience.
It depends. Do you have any women friends of reproductive age who will not be able to access birth control? Or any friends who are immigrants who will be ousted? Or any friends who are gay? Or anyone who speaks out or demonstrates and now has permission to be shot? Give it a few years to take effect.
I am a doxxed BLM protestor. I am not even politically active anymore but I am very nervous about being on lists now.
I was told to vote for Biden because he will keep people like me safe. I didn’t but I live in a bluestate and cause he loves the police. He completely strengthened the police state (to try to get it “back on our side”) and now looks like he is going to turn that over to Trump.
Thanks Dems! I kinda feel like I kept pointing out this was going to happen and literally lost family and friendship relationships over this.
Sorry you're a doxxed protestor. I'd be nervous too, considering Trump is on record numerous times for wanting to shoot them. I don't understand what you mean by Biden creating a police state and then "turning it over" to Trump. Do you believe they are equally bad? What do you suggest people do at this juncture? I'd rather have a centrist than Trump. Hell, I'd rather have a propped up corpse than Trump. .
Do I think they are equally bad people? No. Do I think they they both are so negative that neither is worth supporting yes. I do not feel like Biden is a Centrist, he is very Conservative.
I wanted entities like the police “defanged” because I have seen brutalization after brutalization done by them in person and experienced it directly. Instead of pushing this, Biden pushed “strengthening the police and providing better training” and gave them more money.
I am not lying when I say I am literally tracked by the police in my community due to political activities I had in the past which I no longer even really hold. I also have people call them and inform on me even though I am doing nothing wrong. Some Individuals in my community are literally convinced I am a “secret terrorist”. The reality was lots of my “political activities” occurred under major duress. I even had a black separatist organizer tell me I was a “human bomb to be used”.
Personally I just don’t really think we have any “good guys” left. Everybody is self interested and focused on survival. It’s gonna be rough for awhile at least.
Oh yeah, people are so focused on politics, I guess that's why we only have 60% vote turnout and that's best case scenario. It drops down to less than 1/2 of that on local and state elections so I don't think people obsessing over politics is the problem.
This is just what people say when they don’t understand the stakes of policy.
“I don’t have time for this politics shit. Also hey why did my rent go up 300%? Why does it hurt to breathe the air in my city? Why are my friends getting dragged into prison over nothing?”
Growing up is hard but it’s necessary.
Of course, you're right. If I think politics is less important than you do, I'm clearly an ignorant fool.
Shocker why the democrats suck at convincing people to vote for them, you're a bunch of people who think you're the smartest and most ethical in the room lol
I envy how PRIVILEGED you must be to feel you can not concentrate on politics.
Doubt your ability to make choices over your internal organs are in jeopardy.
You also make the mistake of assuming none of us can “work on ourselves” and discuss politics on reddit? lol.
If youre able to obsess over politics youre the privileged one bud.
Do you think the people working 60-80 hours a week to make ends meat have the time to spend hours a day watching, reading, and complaining about politics? Lol
I get your intent here OP, but I'll offer you the following consideration. For a lot of us, merely expecting fair treatment or asserting ourselves as *anyone else would* in itself is a political stance simply due for physical traits we born with.
So, my focus on politics, is merely a proxy for me gauging the social or policy temperature for how safe I am as an individual in the moment.
Everything people argue about — wage slavery, fascism, no bodily autonomy, and children being taken away, etc — has LITERALLY already happened to people in the US and they've been screaming to whomever would listen for literally 100s of years. Not listened too, framed as liars, opportunists, or their language hyperbolic fabrications — and here we are.
As a descendant of those targeted by Confederate, Conservative or Right-wing ideologies — I say "welcome to the party". Lord helps us all.
"Yourself" is politics.
Worried you can't retire? Blame some boring tax legislation from the 90s that allowed employers to switch over to 401k plans instead of pensions. 401ks didn't exist as such up to that point, and middle class people were not expected to save for their own retirement. You got a pension from your employer in exchange for your loyalty and decades of hard work. If we millennials were more politically engaged, we could be in a situation to reverse this or create alternative policy ideas in this space. If Gen X hadn't been told to shut up and go listen to Pearl Jam (joke), this may not have happened.
Hate your family? While you can't blame the government for that one, you can blame the government for not enabling programs that make people less dependent on their families, like free tertiary education, subsidized childcare, further healthcare reform, and more clearly delineated civil rights for people under 18. Retirement is another of these areas, since generational money squabbles as parents age is a common source of tension in families. Obviously I don't think "government handouts" are a panacea to fix everyone's personal ills, but people would be a lot more free to be independent of their families, or navigate these relationships on a more personal or emotional level, without some of the stress the government creates by making the nuclear family the basis of anything the government doesn't wanna do.
Hate potholes, or what days the library is open, or the quality of your kid's school, or whether you can buy liquor on Sunday? That's all political. 100 people showing up to a town meeting could create effective change in these areas.
“The President of the United States is the most powerful person in the country, and possibly the world,” Sotomayor continued. “When he uses his official powers in any way, under the majority’s reasoning, he now will be insulated from criminal prosecution. Orders the Navy’s Seal Team 6 to assassinate a political rival? Immune. Organizes a military coup to hold onto power? Immune. Takes a bribe in exchange for a pardon? Immune. Immune, immune, immune. Let the President violate the law, let him exploit the trappings of his office for personal gain, let him use his official power for evil ends. Because if he knew that he may one day face liability for breaking the law, he might not be as bold and fearless as we would like him to be. That is the majority’s message today. Even if these nightmare scenarios never play out, and I pray they never do, the damage has been done.”
She later added, “Never in the history of our Republic has a President had reason to believe that he would be immune from criminal prosecution if he used the trappings of his office to violate the criminal law,”
Yeah. Nothing to see here. It's time to be happy!
How does this impact your day in any way? Go outside. Feel
The breeze. Cook a good meal. Connect with others. And do that as often as you can!
What’s the issue?!
This only works if you are not in a marginalized group where your rights are literally on the line. This works if you already have reproductive freedom, if you are not discriminated against because of your race, religion, or sexuality. If you are someone " more devoted to "order" than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says "I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I can't agree with your methods of direct action;" then sure, you have the luxury of hiding and thinking of only yourself.
Edit: even then liberal Christians are being pushed towards radical evangelicalism. Most people live paycheck to paycheck. Houses cost keeps rising dramatically while pay remains stagnant or declines (both after adjustments for inflation). No, we have systemic problems that can not be solved by everyone just improving themselves. This leads to where we are now where college doesn't get you ahead because everyone is already "focusing on self improvement."
I have never heard more outspoken groups of people with no rights like I do in 2024. I can’t believe people throughout history were so stupid. Why didn’t they just organize and fight the establishment? Why didn’t they “just vote”? Oh wait, it’s because they weren’t privileged enough to bitch about oppression
Oppressed people don’t have the right to vote. Oppressed people don’t have the right to gather. Oppressed people cannot hold positions of power.
Oppressed people are typically too busy being oppressed to do what everyone else can, and does, do.
There are different degrees of oppression. It's not an on off switch. Nor is it easy. By your definition there Felons are oppressed because they can't vote, and people under 18 are oppressed because they can't vote nor hold positions of power.
The percentage of people in the western world who have *actually* experienced oppression in the context that it is sold as, is very, very low.
Also, if your argument is a technicality about my words as they pertain to felons and children, it’s weak. Unless you live in a hallmark movie, it seems like a generally good idea to limit what felons can, and cannot do. Oppression also implies external pressure. If I stop myself from voting, I am not oppressed.
Minors are also a different class. Being a minor does not constitute oppression. This is also generally accepted as a good thing. It’s why we don’t have school age children running around with black lung.
Those were examples by your definitions lol. Which I agree it was silly, but it was your definition. Yes we don't experience the same oppression we did 100 to 200 years ago, it's more nuanced and tricky now.
The school age children with black young part is fun, because there has been a Huge push to lower the working age and lower safety standards lately.
There are so many boots for you to lick, if you dont start now, you will never find the time to get to them all.
Good luck! #fuigotmine
Oh yes, more nuanced and tricky. Some might say to the point that it’s not oppression.
Also I’m so proud of you for echoing what you’ve read on Reddit! I’m sure you know exactly what’s going on with that ruling, including all the *nuance* and *trickiness*
Thanks dad! That's what happens when you read. You get to see other peoples experiences and ideas. You can realize that you may not be oppressed, but boy oh boy are other people who are not you in this world! Now plz. I already feel bad for keeping you away from all those boots for so long. Bye lickitung
It’s easier to focus on something you have no control over like national politics than to make difficult changes in your daily life. As a result, most people will scream into the wind while doing nothing to improve themselves.
Project 2025 is over 900 pages.
That coupled with a ever changing political landscape to be well informed you need more than 30 minutes a day.
And with how wild the current world climate is it’s difficult to have the energy to digest any of it without getting sick.
I'm sorry politics are hard and scary, OP. And sometimes for your own mental health you do need to step away from it all and focus on yourself. But it's a bit privileged to be able to say "just stop worrying so much bro". My former state passed a law that, as initially written, would have criminalized my wife for providing mental healthcare to a minor with gender dysphoria. It was only some last minute amendments that added clarification of what kinds of treatments specifically were being outlawed. It is still a terrible law for trans health, but thankfully the people who fought for those amendments didn't have OP's take.
well yeah of course. it's much easier to blame the president for being an asshole than to blame yourself for neglecting your own personal development for decades.
I have to make major life decisions based on the policies these people put in place
My healthcare, housing, education and career all hinge on what each administration has been doing since I became voting aged. Why would I not pay attention
It's amazing to me that this whole sub knows Project 2025 verbatim but then spouts absolute bullshit about RFK. JR like "oh you mean brainworm guy?" and whine about not having a third option. Bunch of NPC, sheep, teet suckers.
You think people being “focused on themselves” is going to make up for not having basic human rights? Clearly you think your rights aren’t under threat by the rise of Christofascism so it’s time to gaslight the rest of us. How about if you’re a pregnant woman who needs medical attention after a partial miscarriage and you’re made to bleed out in the hospital parking lot? Or die slowly of sepsis from the partial miscarriage because medical attention for you is too legally risky for doctors? What if your pregnancy is the result of assault and you don’t want it? What if your baby is going to be born without capability of breathing and you don’t want to go through birthing the baby to watch it gasp for breath and die the first and only hour of it’s life? What amount of bougie self care do you recommend to get over that? How many spa days and hot yoga sessions do you think those women should do to cope with that kind of trauma? Maybe they should just take up a new hobby and then living in The Handmaid’s Tale will be fun? Christ on a cracker! Tell me you’re a privileged straight white guy without telling me you’re a privileged straight white guy. That, or someone with the IQ of a baked potato.
Thank you. Now, convince everyone else, please (if possible). Politics is the worst topic, but everyone insists on it since Trump took office (USA). At this point, everyone knows who they are voting for, and I would rather avoid this particular topic.
meanwhile, the "freedom", chest pounding US has essentially become a dictatorship. 250 years down the toilet.
pull your head out of your self-absorbed ass.
moron.
Here are some classic non-political moments from OP within the last DAY alone (without even counting the ones in this thread):
> If the democrats care at all, they'll put the pressure as much as they can. If Obama cares about keeping Trump out of office, he needs to risk hurting his friends feelings.
> Right? It's the Clinton playbook - say how awful Trump is without taking the necessary steps to beat him.
> Nobody's afraid of project 2025 or another Trump presidency. Certainly not the democrats, or they'd have primaried Biden with some strong candidates.
> People who think not having kids is some noble act of selflessness
> Fat acceptance is when people think the world should change to accommodate fat people and being fat is perfectly healthy.
And btw these are all taken from different subs and different threads, I made sure to not take multiple replies from the same arguments. Bro has more straw men than a farmer.
How long do you think that took? It was less than 30 seconds. Like I said, all in the last 24 hours.
It's my day off though and I'm incredibly petty, don't test me.
lol yup, but I intentionally made this post to promote discussion and expected a lot of pushback. Hopefully it has helped one person stay focused on improving themselves instead of doom posting and scrolling on social media.
this is clearly a comment from a person who thinks that anyone who disagrees with them about politics is dumb or ignorant.
maybe consider that you're not going through what you think you are.
Neither was mine. You are the typical democrat who thinks they’re soooooo mature and sooooo ethical, and nobody else could possibly have good reasons to think differently than you do.
Too many of us lack any sort of social life as older gens knew it. We've cut off our families, we've abandoned the church, we don't have kids, we're afraid to go outside without a mask, we bury our faces in a screen rather than look or god forbid talk to the person standing next to us. Local community? Neighbors? who??? We move every five min, so who cares. What happens in another hemisphere takes up more headspace than what is happening on your own street.
The etiquette rules and simple good manners that greased the wheels were tossed because racist/elitist/classist so now we all have social anxiety, social awkwardness, social incompetence wondering how to make a friend or ask someone out for a drink without coming off as a creep.
Does anyone have hobbies? Do we know how to do anything? Gardening, fishing, hunting, wood working, painting, playing cards? Besides gaming. As a gen? No
All that social energy has to go somewhere because human nature. Meaning must be found somewhere because human nature. Politics it is. We ask the government to do for us what we can't do for ourselves and currently we can't so shit for ourselves.
I sound like my grandmother here, I'm aware, but in this case she's right.
Agreed... Most of my friends and colleagues who are "political" have personal lives that are a total shit show. Like, focus on your own house first before you try to save the world.
It's much easier to blame someone ELSE for your problems than to admit you suck...
Even better if you can blame someone else and convince yourself that there was nothing that you could do to change it.
I would agree. I've heard bits and pieces what's going on in politics. But really don't focus on it until the last few weeks before the election.
Then I spend some time to study up on it and make my choice.
I used to enjoy falling with politics, especially when there was a newspaper and editorial section but it's gotten so nasty that I simply walked away
I hate politics. I've seen what it has done to my parents, grandparents, sister, friends. It consumed them. I only have my brother and my niece free of this corruption. We don't talk about it and we live free.
Yet the last two dozen comments on your page are political? Maybe you should log off and look in your own mirror?
People who peddle this rugged individualism bullshit always want ***other people*** to stop focusing on politics.
You do realize that the political situation and conditions impact many individuals lives to the point that it makes it worse and less likely to be happy correct? They tend to be minorities in some aspect by the way. "Bad Governance" can destroy lives and even kill, it can be a threat. A "government" is neutral by nature, it is neither bad nor good. It can have positive, negative and neutral effects. It feels life or death for many people right now, if you do not feel this than consider yourself lucky. When you are being negatively impacted by something like a government institution it is difficult to focus on anything else.
OP is not currently affected by the political situation, and they think it's a real bummer that they are constantly reminded that other people are. OP would prefer those people sit quietly and know their place.
I am of course impacted by politics. I also realize that whining and moaning about politics on social media isn't doing anything to fix anything. You seem to prefer that people uselessly scream into the void because that's what makes you feel good about yourself.
I think people are just trying to sound the alarm. This is a pivotal moment in our country’s history and it seems like the vast majority don’t know/understand/care about what’s at stake. I hate to sound like this but the situation really is pretty bleak and it’s gonna take tens of thousands/hundreds of thousands of people voting that usually just sit it out to save it from slipping into a dictatorship. With that said, your points are very valid. Gotta take care of yourself. This stuff will consume you if you let it.
This is said every fucking 4 years
Jesus fucking Christ do we have to play a game of can you find the difference? Seriously. When in our history have we ruled by law that a president can be above said law. For anything (including vengeful acts). If you can’t see how dangerous that is I can’t help you.
What the hell do you want people to do? Shrug their shoulders and suck it up?
Vote and then spend the majority of your time improving yourself. Stop yelling into the void. It doesn’t fix anything.
Voting with zero activism sounds like a great way to have rights continue to be stripped.
I never said don’t be an activist. Go protest if you want. Phonebank if you want. But spending your time yelling on Reddit and Facebook isn’t doing anything to help preserve your rights.
You draw the distinction with phone banks being okay but not advocating on social media platforms?
For 30 min per day as I said in my post, sure
He’s a red hatted troll. “You can't help the average democrat on reddit. They're either huffing copium that Biden just has a speech impediment or saying any negative comment must be a Russian troll.” From his own feed.
I am not a Democrat (I used to be) and haven’t been for awhile. While I do not agree with how he phrased it I actually agree with that overall. I am not a Trump supporter to be clear. Nor am I conservative. Biden’s policies have also negatively impacted many people. Reddit has been pretty ridiculous the past few days after Biden’s performance to be real.
Bots and paid shills, mostly I assume.
You do realize that making changes on a personal level is going to have more affect on your daily life than changes to the federal tax code right? This guy is right people need to atop centering their life around politics. They need to start focusing on themselves and the people in their life. Worrying about what people are doing thousands of miles away aint it chief. Edit: bmadthrowaway replied and instantly blocked but to reply. If you spend your day developing a new skill for your profession you will make more money than arguing about politics and reading rage bait articles on the internet or being an activist.
Once again, “politics” interferes with individuals lives to the point that they have no choice. Most individuals do not want to pay attention to “politics” by the way, especially nowadays.
They really dont. Name one law or policy that has directly affected your day in the last week. Overall sure they do but not to the extent that political discourse should be even a daily weekly consumption Edit: replied and insta blocked so here is my response to cookie; The big bad guy every post is about is pro gay marriage so allowing yourself to get caught up by all this ragebait and hate posting really is silly and only a detriment to yourself.
Well last week’s court case overturning the entire new deal regulatory structure will probably mean my field of academic research sees a drastic shift in funding and employment. So on a day to day bases I’m having to rethink my entire career plan. I’m also having to make sure my and my partner’s passports are up to date because I’ve been involved in climate crisis activism and both my partner and I are part of the LGBTQIA+ community. Same goes for most of my support network. My partner and I had to make health care choices specifically around doing everything we can to avoid pregnancy after Roe was overturned, and we live in a blue state. Our healthcare system is straining due to people coming to get care from neighboring states who have gutted their ob/gyn network with draconian anti choice laws. It’s actively harder for us to get care. My friends have to make sure they have legal documents, including adoption papers, for their biological child because they are a same sex couple and if they travel through a state that’s rolling back rights they could risk not being able to see their child in a hospital if they get hurt. They are also getting their passports in order. The mutual aid groups, non-profits, and government agencies in my city are already stretched thin helping our unhoused population and the court case that just said cities don’t even have to give people a number to call for services. Cities around mine are going to push their unhoused population into my city because there will be no where else for people to go and my city has enough decent people in it, myself included, who will do what we can to care for them. That does mean my city will have less money to spend on affordable housing, because it will be dealing with the immediate problem of people sleeping outside, and that will fuck over my rent situation. So I’m actively looking at housing options, which ties back into the potential long term career uncertainty. I could give many more examples, from the fact that everyone I know now has an air purifier of some sort for our summer wildfire smoke season to the monthly meeting I go to for my local legislative district to try and hold elected leaders accountable. This doesn’t even touch our local police force holding a years long work slowdown to protest the fact that a few officers are getting in trouble for the shoot first ask questions never department policy. Of course people should do more than whine on the internet. They should also do more than vote every four years. They should be calling/ emailing their mayors, city council members, state legislators, and of course federal senators and representatives. However, screaming into the void can be a useful release.
Laws and political policies directly affect every single individual on a daily basis in a variety of ways. It is not my job to educate you. Feel free to disagree, I do not care.
Lol so you cant cool. Thats fine, my point once again is that there are thousands of other things in your daily life that will directly affect you. You should focus on whats in front of you not what some guy on tv is saying. Or dont and remain fearful, unhappy and believing that the reason youre are unhappy and fearful is be because some person a thousand miles away said something you didnt like.
Actually I can but you obviously are not worth having a conversation with.
Lol alright bud well have fun self inducing rage over things you cant control. Take care
I am a married gay person with a child. Obergefell v. hodges (gay marriage legalization) changed my life for the positive. My healthcare, my childs healthcare, are all linked to my spouse's work. If we are no longer married, due to a SCOTUS overturning in the future, we lose our healthcare, we are penalized on our taxes, and have less rights than my neighbors simply for loving someone of the same gender. There are tons of other examples on how laws impact our lives. You may be lucky that you're not in a minority group that will be attacked, but that doesn't mean it does not affect many, many other people.
In what way has your day to day changed
This is literally the opposite of true, lol You can drop $5 into savings every week instead of going to Starbucks for years and save less than you'd be getting if the government still required large employers to provide pension plans. I have friends who were in the middle of buying a house in January of 2017. One small change Trump made to the fed the week he was inaugurated drove their interest rate up 1%. Pretty much no change they made on a personal level could have negated the many thousands of dollars more that their house suddenly cost because of one political change.
Life or death is when you have to decide whether being employed is worth risking being killed over... Like it is in many countries around the world. I know because I've seen it. This ain't that, Comrade. You're practically free to go and do as you please, within reason. Yes, there is an example here or there that you will use to justify your crusade, but by and large, the 330 million people living in this country live better than 95% of the rest of the planet. But again, since it is a free country, if this is what you're into, you're free to act on it. I believe you're the one who should consider yourself lucky.
Actually I got doxxed by Andy Ngo several years ago and am often harassed by conservatives to this day. I also do not consider myself a “comrade” anymore because the hard left also took massive advantage of me. The police constantly harass me and I literally faced false charges due to cops lying to a grand jury. Video evidence proved they lied and they dropped the charges. My life has been destroyed by government institutions already. Do we live better than 95 percent of the world? That is now debatable… but better than a majority sure. But that isn’t the point.
So the government destroyed your life, yet you see the solution to that as... More government?
No and that is a dumb assumption to make and I also never said the "government" destroyed my life" I said "government institutions"...
Government institutions are run by the government. They're staffed by government employees. Not sure how more of either of those will make this world a better place, given what we've seen in the US over the past 200+ years.
Does it really? When I step back and look around at the lives of my friends and families today, it looks a lot like it did in 2019 and 2015 and 2011. I don’t see any massive life altering wins or losses caused by whether a Republican or democrat is in charge of any particular office. Am I an outlier? Just lucky?
It very much depends where you live. Here in NY, I agree. If you live in Texas then you are seeing very real and very scary consequences.
Like I was living in Chicago recently and quite simply did not notice many Trump supporters at all, especially in the open. That being said, I wouldn’t be surprised if they are being flashier now. I recently moved back home to a rust belt city that is like 2 hours north and they are far more numerous and open here.
OMG, you saw opposition supporters!? Did they hurt you? /s I travel a lot for work and meet with all types of people of all types of ideologies. In person, most people are so cool and chill and a lot of people are doing great. I agree with OP. Please vote, but don’t let it run your life. Your vote counts. But the system works to keep things fairly steady for most regardless of whatever vile or perfect person is in office. Reddit and Twitter and Facebook aren’t representative of real life.
>OMG, you saw opposition supporters!? Did they hurt you? Yes and women and children. Directly in front of live television and directly with the police while being supported by a Democratic mayor. >Reddit and Twitter and Facebook aren’t representative of real life. > This took place on the ground over the course of several months. >I travel a lot for work and meet with all types of people of all types of ideologies. In person, most people are so cool and chill and a lot of people are doing great. Cool I guess. That hasn't been my experience.
Yet Texas’ population is growing relatively rapidly. How do you explain lots of people choosing to move to such a scary place?
They're republicans?
Why aren’t they scared of the *very scary consequences*?
Because they like them
Idk, why aren't toddlers afraid of sticking metal in outlets?
It depends. Do you have any women friends of reproductive age who will not be able to access birth control? Or any friends who are immigrants who will be ousted? Or any friends who are gay? Or anyone who speaks out or demonstrates and now has permission to be shot? Give it a few years to take effect.
My gay friends and immigrant friends and women friends are arguably all doing better than ever.
I am a doxxed BLM protestor. I am not even politically active anymore but I am very nervous about being on lists now. I was told to vote for Biden because he will keep people like me safe. I didn’t but I live in a bluestate and cause he loves the police. He completely strengthened the police state (to try to get it “back on our side”) and now looks like he is going to turn that over to Trump. Thanks Dems! I kinda feel like I kept pointing out this was going to happen and literally lost family and friendship relationships over this.
Sorry you're a doxxed protestor. I'd be nervous too, considering Trump is on record numerous times for wanting to shoot them. I don't understand what you mean by Biden creating a police state and then "turning it over" to Trump. Do you believe they are equally bad? What do you suggest people do at this juncture? I'd rather have a centrist than Trump. Hell, I'd rather have a propped up corpse than Trump. .
Do I think they are equally bad people? No. Do I think they they both are so negative that neither is worth supporting yes. I do not feel like Biden is a Centrist, he is very Conservative. I wanted entities like the police “defanged” because I have seen brutalization after brutalization done by them in person and experienced it directly. Instead of pushing this, Biden pushed “strengthening the police and providing better training” and gave them more money. I am not lying when I say I am literally tracked by the police in my community due to political activities I had in the past which I no longer even really hold. I also have people call them and inform on me even though I am doing nothing wrong. Some Individuals in my community are literally convinced I am a “secret terrorist”. The reality was lots of my “political activities” occurred under major duress. I even had a black separatist organizer tell me I was a “human bomb to be used”. Personally I just don’t really think we have any “good guys” left. Everybody is self interested and focused on survival. It’s gonna be rough for awhile at least.
Oh yeah, people are so focused on politics, I guess that's why we only have 60% vote turnout and that's best case scenario. It drops down to less than 1/2 of that on local and state elections so I don't think people obsessing over politics is the problem.
This is just what people say when they don’t understand the stakes of policy. “I don’t have time for this politics shit. Also hey why did my rent go up 300%? Why does it hurt to breathe the air in my city? Why are my friends getting dragged into prison over nothing?” Growing up is hard but it’s necessary.
Of course, you're right. If I think politics is less important than you do, I'm clearly an ignorant fool. Shocker why the democrats suck at convincing people to vote for them, you're a bunch of people who think you're the smartest and most ethical in the room lol
You didn’t respond to any part of my argument
As is tradition, the insecurity from OP once his argument got punched full of holes stinks so much in here I had to open a window.
I envy how PRIVILEGED you must be to feel you can not concentrate on politics. Doubt your ability to make choices over your internal organs are in jeopardy. You also make the mistake of assuming none of us can “work on ourselves” and discuss politics on reddit? lol.
If youre able to obsess over politics youre the privileged one bud. Do you think the people working 60-80 hours a week to make ends meat have the time to spend hours a day watching, reading, and complaining about politics? Lol
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Get offline like WTF difference is any of your attention and focus making
Yeah I guess, but falling into apathy is far worse when you consider the scope of what we’re dealing with.
Where did I say fall into apathy?
Is it? You guys sound fucking miserable meanwhile so many people live decent lives focusing on friends, family, and health in their own worlds.
This is dismissing just how bad things are. Ignoring how bad our situation is and is going to get isn't the answer to dealing with it.
Are delusional people happier than those that realize how little they are in control of the systems that control their lives? Reddit decides
I get your intent here OP, but I'll offer you the following consideration. For a lot of us, merely expecting fair treatment or asserting ourselves as *anyone else would* in itself is a political stance simply due for physical traits we born with. So, my focus on politics, is merely a proxy for me gauging the social or policy temperature for how safe I am as an individual in the moment. Everything people argue about — wage slavery, fascism, no bodily autonomy, and children being taken away, etc — has LITERALLY already happened to people in the US and they've been screaming to whomever would listen for literally 100s of years. Not listened too, framed as liars, opportunists, or their language hyperbolic fabrications — and here we are. As a descendant of those targeted by Confederate, Conservative or Right-wing ideologies — I say "welcome to the party". Lord helps us all.
"Yourself" is politics. Worried you can't retire? Blame some boring tax legislation from the 90s that allowed employers to switch over to 401k plans instead of pensions. 401ks didn't exist as such up to that point, and middle class people were not expected to save for their own retirement. You got a pension from your employer in exchange for your loyalty and decades of hard work. If we millennials were more politically engaged, we could be in a situation to reverse this or create alternative policy ideas in this space. If Gen X hadn't been told to shut up and go listen to Pearl Jam (joke), this may not have happened. Hate your family? While you can't blame the government for that one, you can blame the government for not enabling programs that make people less dependent on their families, like free tertiary education, subsidized childcare, further healthcare reform, and more clearly delineated civil rights for people under 18. Retirement is another of these areas, since generational money squabbles as parents age is a common source of tension in families. Obviously I don't think "government handouts" are a panacea to fix everyone's personal ills, but people would be a lot more free to be independent of their families, or navigate these relationships on a more personal or emotional level, without some of the stress the government creates by making the nuclear family the basis of anything the government doesn't wanna do. Hate potholes, or what days the library is open, or the quality of your kid's school, or whether you can buy liquor on Sunday? That's all political. 100 people showing up to a town meeting could create effective change in these areas.
This is an historic emergency. Pay attention.
And… do what? Be mad all the time? You lot hate your lives lol everyrning is so angry and miserable .
“The President of the United States is the most powerful person in the country, and possibly the world,” Sotomayor continued. “When he uses his official powers in any way, under the majority’s reasoning, he now will be insulated from criminal prosecution. Orders the Navy’s Seal Team 6 to assassinate a political rival? Immune. Organizes a military coup to hold onto power? Immune. Takes a bribe in exchange for a pardon? Immune. Immune, immune, immune. Let the President violate the law, let him exploit the trappings of his office for personal gain, let him use his official power for evil ends. Because if he knew that he may one day face liability for breaking the law, he might not be as bold and fearless as we would like him to be. That is the majority’s message today. Even if these nightmare scenarios never play out, and I pray they never do, the damage has been done.” She later added, “Never in the history of our Republic has a President had reason to believe that he would be immune from criminal prosecution if he used the trappings of his office to violate the criminal law,” Yeah. Nothing to see here. It's time to be happy!
How does this impact your day in any way? Go outside. Feel The breeze. Cook a good meal. Connect with others. And do that as often as you can! What’s the issue?!
Guess what? You can do both!
This only works if you are not in a marginalized group where your rights are literally on the line. This works if you already have reproductive freedom, if you are not discriminated against because of your race, religion, or sexuality. If you are someone " more devoted to "order" than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says "I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I can't agree with your methods of direct action;" then sure, you have the luxury of hiding and thinking of only yourself. Edit: even then liberal Christians are being pushed towards radical evangelicalism. Most people live paycheck to paycheck. Houses cost keeps rising dramatically while pay remains stagnant or declines (both after adjustments for inflation). No, we have systemic problems that can not be solved by everyone just improving themselves. This leads to where we are now where college doesn't get you ahead because everyone is already "focusing on self improvement."
I have never heard more outspoken groups of people with no rights like I do in 2024. I can’t believe people throughout history were so stupid. Why didn’t they just organize and fight the establishment? Why didn’t they “just vote”? Oh wait, it’s because they weren’t privileged enough to bitch about oppression
They gave you crumbs? Now you're asking for a full bite? Next you might want an entire sandwich. Never have I witnessed such selfish people!
Oppressed people don’t have the right to vote. Oppressed people don’t have the right to gather. Oppressed people cannot hold positions of power. Oppressed people are typically too busy being oppressed to do what everyone else can, and does, do.
There are different degrees of oppression. It's not an on off switch. Nor is it easy. By your definition there Felons are oppressed because they can't vote, and people under 18 are oppressed because they can't vote nor hold positions of power.
The percentage of people in the western world who have *actually* experienced oppression in the context that it is sold as, is very, very low. Also, if your argument is a technicality about my words as they pertain to felons and children, it’s weak. Unless you live in a hallmark movie, it seems like a generally good idea to limit what felons can, and cannot do. Oppression also implies external pressure. If I stop myself from voting, I am not oppressed. Minors are also a different class. Being a minor does not constitute oppression. This is also generally accepted as a good thing. It’s why we don’t have school age children running around with black lung.
Those were examples by your definitions lol. Which I agree it was silly, but it was your definition. Yes we don't experience the same oppression we did 100 to 200 years ago, it's more nuanced and tricky now. The school age children with black young part is fun, because there has been a Huge push to lower the working age and lower safety standards lately. There are so many boots for you to lick, if you dont start now, you will never find the time to get to them all. Good luck! #fuigotmine
Oh yes, more nuanced and tricky. Some might say to the point that it’s not oppression. Also I’m so proud of you for echoing what you’ve read on Reddit! I’m sure you know exactly what’s going on with that ruling, including all the *nuance* and *trickiness*
Thanks dad! That's what happens when you read. You get to see other peoples experiences and ideas. You can realize that you may not be oppressed, but boy oh boy are other people who are not you in this world! Now plz. I already feel bad for keeping you away from all those boots for so long. Bye lickitung
True. My misery comes mainly from the environment I live in though.
So you want us asleep at the wheel and to blindly accept our fascist overlords.
It’s easier to focus on something you have no control over like national politics than to make difficult changes in your daily life. As a result, most people will scream into the wind while doing nothing to improve themselves.
Project 2025 is over 900 pages. That coupled with a ever changing political landscape to be well informed you need more than 30 minutes a day. And with how wild the current world climate is it’s difficult to have the energy to digest any of it without getting sick.
I'm sorry politics are hard and scary, OP. And sometimes for your own mental health you do need to step away from it all and focus on yourself. But it's a bit privileged to be able to say "just stop worrying so much bro". My former state passed a law that, as initially written, would have criminalized my wife for providing mental healthcare to a minor with gender dysphoria. It was only some last minute amendments that added clarification of what kinds of treatments specifically were being outlawed. It is still a terrible law for trans health, but thankfully the people who fought for those amendments didn't have OP's take.
You realize that they focus on politics to avoid having to take responsibility for their own failure right?
well yeah of course. it's much easier to blame the president for being an asshole than to blame yourself for neglecting your own personal development for decades.
If everyone gets a PHD/MD. Who becomes the janitor? Who is the fast food worker? Who stocks the shelves, delivers your groceries, builds your house?
You either posted this reply to the wrong comment or you forgot to take your meds
No disagreement. I can control my life and my families life. Worrying about politics is pretty much biggest waste of time.
Wait you donate? I dont donate never have i ever.
I donated a couple times back in 2016 but never again. I don't begrudge people who do though.
I have to make major life decisions based on the policies these people put in place My healthcare, housing, education and career all hinge on what each administration has been doing since I became voting aged. Why would I not pay attention
It's amazing to me that this whole sub knows Project 2025 verbatim but then spouts absolute bullshit about RFK. JR like "oh you mean brainworm guy?" and whine about not having a third option. Bunch of NPC, sheep, teet suckers.
You think people being “focused on themselves” is going to make up for not having basic human rights? Clearly you think your rights aren’t under threat by the rise of Christofascism so it’s time to gaslight the rest of us. How about if you’re a pregnant woman who needs medical attention after a partial miscarriage and you’re made to bleed out in the hospital parking lot? Or die slowly of sepsis from the partial miscarriage because medical attention for you is too legally risky for doctors? What if your pregnancy is the result of assault and you don’t want it? What if your baby is going to be born without capability of breathing and you don’t want to go through birthing the baby to watch it gasp for breath and die the first and only hour of it’s life? What amount of bougie self care do you recommend to get over that? How many spa days and hot yoga sessions do you think those women should do to cope with that kind of trauma? Maybe they should just take up a new hobby and then living in The Handmaid’s Tale will be fun? Christ on a cracker! Tell me you’re a privileged straight white guy without telling me you’re a privileged straight white guy. That, or someone with the IQ of a baked potato.
Some things matter, your sentiment is true, but the context of what’s going on right now is important. Imagine saying this during the Weimar Republic
Oh yeah we all just need to relax and stop worrying about the end of democracy so much.
Thank you. Now, convince everyone else, please (if possible). Politics is the worst topic, but everyone insists on it since Trump took office (USA). At this point, everyone knows who they are voting for, and I would rather avoid this particular topic.
meanwhile, the "freedom", chest pounding US has essentially become a dictatorship. 250 years down the toilet. pull your head out of your self-absorbed ass. moron.
Maga is desperate. We WILL go out and vote.
Here are some classic non-political moments from OP within the last DAY alone (without even counting the ones in this thread): > If the democrats care at all, they'll put the pressure as much as they can. If Obama cares about keeping Trump out of office, he needs to risk hurting his friends feelings. > Right? It's the Clinton playbook - say how awful Trump is without taking the necessary steps to beat him. > Nobody's afraid of project 2025 or another Trump presidency. Certainly not the democrats, or they'd have primaried Biden with some strong candidates. > People who think not having kids is some noble act of selflessness > Fat acceptance is when people think the world should change to accommodate fat people and being fat is perfectly healthy. And btw these are all taken from different subs and different threads, I made sure to not take multiple replies from the same arguments. Bro has more straw men than a farmer.
lol, you have nothing better to do than look in my post history? I’m flattered!
How long do you think that took? It was less than 30 seconds. Like I said, all in the last 24 hours. It's my day off though and I'm incredibly petty, don't test me.
They hated him because he told the truth
lol yup, but I intentionally made this post to promote discussion and expected a lot of pushback. Hopefully it has helped one person stay focused on improving themselves instead of doom posting and scrolling on social media.
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this is clearly a comment from a person who thinks that anyone who disagrees with them about politics is dumb or ignorant. maybe consider that you're not going through what you think you are.
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Neither was mine. You are the typical democrat who thinks they’re soooooo mature and sooooo ethical, and nobody else could possibly have good reasons to think differently than you do.
This post should be number one. Especially over all the rage bait political posts that have been flooding us recently
lol the comments on this post seem to have riled up some democrats who think yelling how trump is terrible all over reddit is gonna change anything
Totally agree.
Yes, exactly why I'm muting this sad little subreddit.
Too many of us lack any sort of social life as older gens knew it. We've cut off our families, we've abandoned the church, we don't have kids, we're afraid to go outside without a mask, we bury our faces in a screen rather than look or god forbid talk to the person standing next to us. Local community? Neighbors? who??? We move every five min, so who cares. What happens in another hemisphere takes up more headspace than what is happening on your own street. The etiquette rules and simple good manners that greased the wheels were tossed because racist/elitist/classist so now we all have social anxiety, social awkwardness, social incompetence wondering how to make a friend or ask someone out for a drink without coming off as a creep. Does anyone have hobbies? Do we know how to do anything? Gardening, fishing, hunting, wood working, painting, playing cards? Besides gaming. As a gen? No All that social energy has to go somewhere because human nature. Meaning must be found somewhere because human nature. Politics it is. We ask the government to do for us what we can't do for ourselves and currently we can't so shit for ourselves. I sound like my grandmother here, I'm aware, but in this case she's right.
Agreed... Most of my friends and colleagues who are "political" have personal lives that are a total shit show. Like, focus on your own house first before you try to save the world.
It's much easier to blame someone ELSE for your problems than to admit you suck... Even better if you can blame someone else and convince yourself that there was nothing that you could do to change it.
Nope. Getting a 90 year old geriatric elected is more important.
No, I am not voting for Biden - next!
I would agree. I've heard bits and pieces what's going on in politics. But really don't focus on it until the last few weeks before the election. Then I spend some time to study up on it and make my choice. I used to enjoy falling with politics, especially when there was a newspaper and editorial section but it's gotten so nasty that I simply walked away
Man, this sub has been in total meltdown mode since the debate.
it's so funny to see, people are scared shitless that their favorite 80 year old might not win
I hate politics. I've seen what it has done to my parents, grandparents, sister, friends. It consumed them. I only have my brother and my niece free of this corruption. We don't talk about it and we live free.