Say “Hi” To Politics. It’s Your New Hobby.

Say "Hi" To Politics. It's Your New Hobby.
Posted on July 31, 2011 by Ai Politics
Posted in Just My Thoughts, Life, Perspective, Society Tagged , ,

Politics can be crazy, nasty and terrible.  I didn’t touch them untill 2007.  I mean, sure I voted, but I just sort of made it up as I went along.  I relied on ideology to get me by.  I just did whatever “felt” right.

It’s not because I was stupid or lazy.  It’s not because I didn’t care.  I was just overwhelmed.  To really know what you are talking about, you must consume and process a tremendous amount of data.  I mean, to truly do it right, you would probably have to know who your mayor is for starters.  Then your Governor.  The Lieutenant Governor would be good.  Who’s your representative for Congress?  (both federal and state)  Who’s your Senator?  (again, state and federal)  Most people don’t know any Yankee players other than Derek Jeter, and those guys are on TV all the time.  How are you going to keep track of all your government representatives?  And I haven’t even talked about who’s on the board for your city council.  Really, do you know?  And then don’t get me started on elections either…  Now you have to worry about primaries.  PRIMARIES.  When I was 18, I honestly didn’t know how primaries worked.  I just figured the RNC and the DNC “told us” who our candidates were.

Now that giant block of text only covered knowing WHO your government is.  (and it left out a lot of offices)  Now you have to ask what these people stand for.  Not only that, you have to keep track of how they are at making promises and then keeping them.  It gets to a point where you have to understand human psychology to determine what your representatives mean when they speak, because they’re not always straight shooters.

And I’m just scratching the surface.  Knowing who represents you and what they stand for is just one facet of the gem.  You also have to understand issues.  You’ve got ones that seem to persist like gay marriage or abortion, but you also have ones that crop up out of nowhere.  For example, when the riots took place in Egypt this year, I was like, “Crap.  I don’t even know who Hosni Mubarak is.”  So I looked.  Then I was like, “What?  He’s been in office HOW LONG?  We give him money?  Wait… Who are these protestors?  They RAPED a TV reporter, and no one really reported on it?  We heard more about the girl who ACCUSED Duke Lacrosse players of raping her than we did an actual news lady who was ACTUALLY raped (by a mob of men)…”   <— And those are all just thoughts that I had in reaction to a single issue.  Don’t get me started on Obmacare.

Okay… What ABOUT Obamacare?  Now, I have to research how our medical system works.  But wait… To truly know what I’m talking about, I should look into how medicine is done in other countries too.  I reckon I’ll start with England and Canada, because I hear about them so much.  And they speak English.  That makes it easier to read about them.  Okay, now that I’ve read about them, I need to predict how it would affect premium costs if we enact Obamacare.  What am I???  An economist?  A psychologist?  And we vote on things concerning war, so I better learn how to be a General too.

Fudge it.  I’m just going to see which party makes the most sense and vote down the party line.  I mean that’s how a lot of people feel, right?  These are all thoughts I had just as I typed them.  There are so many other facets to consider.

Truly understanding how to vote, who to elect, and how to discuss matters of the day with other people takes work.  It’s takes so much work, that it has slowly cannibalized my hobbies and daily activities.  It’s changed me.  In some ways for the better, in some ways for the worse.  I mean, I really have trouble just chewing the fat with someone I casually know, because when I hear them state something that I know to be categorically false, I go into panic mode.  What do I do?  Do I tell them they’re wrong?  I don’t know them that well; it might make things awkward.  I should just let it go.  Well… wait… I can’t let them go around thinking THAT.  What if they perpetuate a falsehood?  Crap.  I can’t let them do that; that’s how memes get spread.  I better say something…  So now, no one wants to talk to me at cocktail parties.

The last four years have been hard.  It’s actually made me rethink my feelings on the “The Matrix”.  (yeah, I’m going there)  If you think about it, once you start understanding how the world works, it’s like you’ve been unplugged from the Matrix.  You’ve spent over 20 years floating through life like a jellyfish, and it’s been nice.  You’ve told jokes, you’ve gossiped, you’ve watched sports and movies and drank beer, and socialized, and it’s been fun.  Every four years, you vote for a president, but most of the time, you just enjoy life.  Things have just “worked themselves” out from your perspective, and life is fine.  That’s the Matrix.  You think you’re eating steak, but your body is being pumped with some mystery fluid.  And that’s how I’ve felt.

Before I continue my Matrix metaphor, you have to understand that the politicians love it.  The less scrutiny you give them, the more of your money they can spend.  When I was younger, I had no clue why my property taxes fluctuated.  I voted with no idea how that choice was going to change the price of my mortgage.  Politicians LOVE the Matrix, and they want you in it.

And let’s be honest.  You have every incentive to stay there.  You don’t want to be me.  You don’t want cocktail-party panic attacks.  You don’t want two DVR’s, each filled up 40-80% with cable news programs.  I have never seen Lost.  I don’t keep up with sports.  I’m too busy scouring the backgrounds of politicians for this next primary to care whether the NFL figures its stuff out or not.  (that’s not entirely true… I understand that the NFL generates much needed revenue for the respective cities the teams play in)  <— That’s another thing.  Do you understand what revenue is?  And no, regardless of what our president tells you, revenue is not just about taxes.

See what I mean?  You don’t want to be me.  The Matrix is much nicer than how I live life.  You want to believe you’re eating steak, because once you figure out that it’s some strange fluid, there’s no turning back.  (unless you to sell out Neo, but that’s a whole ‘nother  discussion)  The Matrix has you, and sometimes that feels better off.

But it’s not.  You can’t vote every four years for one of two teams and then watch The Colts.  If you live life that way, you’re ultimately at a disadvantage.  And even if you don’t care about yourself, it should matter that you’re setting your children up to have fewer opportunities than you had.  Of course, even that argument sounds hollow to more people than you’d imagine.  This is another topic for another discussion, but there is a growing number of people who don’t care what happens to their children, because either they just don’t care, or because they don’t plan on having children.  I call those people selfish.  And worse.  But if you wanna hear me talk about that, you’re going to have to buy me a drink.  (and possibly sign some kind of waiver, because I can be scalding when I want to be)

I don’t think everybody should get as deep into politics as I do (I really don’t recommend it), but I do think most people should have a deeper understanding than they currently do.  The sad thing is that NO ONE tells you what you’re signing up for.  It is a rabbit hole that seems to have no bottom.  (I haven’t found one yet)  Now that I think about it… I should probably recommend repelling into it more than jumping… but you have to go down it.  You have to understand the world you live in.  Even if the outcome is that you still vote for the same party you always have, it matters that you scrutinize who you vote for.

I understand that this will take up an uncomfortable amount of your time.  I also understand that there is a steep learning curve.  It took me three years to even feel comfortable writing about it.  But you, this country, and our politicians will be better for it.  You don’t have to let politics consume you, but it at least has to be one of your new hobbies.  Our system of government works, but only when you put some work into it.

 

  • http://twitter.com/Mikkaa Mikkaa

    Very impressive.  I think that what you said was well said, and you have a very good point. :)

  • http://twitter.com/JohnGanther John Ganther

    This was awesome.  I must have written it.  Either that or you just wrote my biography.  :-)

  • TConns

    Good thing your out of the Matrix, I can get the cliff-notes version from you and then drink my beer and watch the Colts

  • http://twitter.com/wisdomofsoloman Soloman

    I stopped “floating through life like a jellyfish” shortly after you, and dove into politics. Blog, cable news on DVR… recently started using the Twitter account I set up some time ago… the whole thing.

    I do still know how my favorite ball teams are doing; my Twitter account helps me cross over. Some of my political “Tweeps” may not get it… so it goes.

    Lost is awesome. I just learned that this year during a hiatus from the political arena. Trust me, you want to watch it. Used copies are about $15 a season. Best $100 I spent this year. Make the time.

    Great piece.

  • http://twitter.com/vote_prudracity G

    You are right.  Sometimes you have to understand even more than this.  You have to understand diplomacy and international relations.  How other country’s policies effect our own.  How paying for specific United Nations funds may be contributing towards how that money is distributed and used by other countries.  How trade agreements affect our bottom line.  It is a lot of information! 

    I suppose that is why you have to look at the characteristic of the person you are voting for, rather than try to understand every policy.  Your representative is supposed to represent your interests.  That is why you hire lawyers when it comes to the law, doctors when it comes to medicine and accountants when it comes to finances. 

    The most important thing is that we trust our politicians.  In order for that to happen we may have to look at their voting record and note whether they voted in line with their beliefs and promises to their constituents.  I believe that is what’s important rather than knowing every specific detail about all the policies “out there.”

    Just my thought…

  • Anonymous

    Thank you!  Was that an advertisement for Lost?  LOL

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Elaine-Ossipov/100000073713180 Elaine Ossipov

    I took the red pill a number of years ago, like you I need to take waver’s when I go around.  But I have learned to be a little more diplomatic these days (at first I would just say “you’re wrong”) Now I say, Yes, Gosh I can see how you would think that, BUT have you ever looked at this information?

    I was blogging about this the other day, <– The fact that an Average American does not even have time to educated themselves, I don't think that most people don't care about their children, I think they are burned out. Between Kids, Working, Putting Food on the table, getting all the supplies kids need, and to their functions. And how about the laundry, and where are we going to get the $100.00+ dollars that is required for Johnny to play in the "Little Legues"  I always thought this was something the community did until I was a FULL TIME STUDENT & SINGLE MOM, when my son came of age to play in community sports.  <– Ok, like you said that's for a different posting.

    Now I'm 50 and American's are tired.  They are tired of jobs being shipped oversea's. They are tired of worrying how they are going to fix their children's teeth, much less their own. I haven't seen an insurance company YET that will pay more than 2K per year per person and only 50% of anything large.  So they get 1 Check up, 1 Set of X-Rays, 1 Cleaning Maybe if it's a good company Ok, like you that's another posting. 

    I agree, the Matrix looks pretty damn good from where I'm standing.  

    The issue is: What is the issue?  

    How can Americans Educate themselves in politics and take care of their families?  OH, wait, that's the snake eating it's tail again.  Damn that red pill.

    Seriously, I agree with everything you said because I went through the wakeup period too.  And Since I woke up and started to study, I don't know how to motivate general populace into defining their own belief's and voting their belief line instead of the party line. 

    I'm not big on Obama's Leadership skills, although I do acknowledge that he is trying to make some things better.  Our Foreign Relations have gone into the toilet with him as president.  And you can't blame his Secretary of State, she's been in the game for how many years, knows all the players on a personal level.  She's probably the only reason we have any foreign relations as it is.  

    See, now, like your post, I've written a mini book here, and Nothing is yet defined. No Plan, No action on the plan, No Strategy, Can't win a war without a battle plan, and I do believe this to be akin to a war.. So Much information: How do we parse it all into our own sets of rules and belief systems.  

    Ok, thanks for letting me rant. I’m going to read alot more of your posts, and I’ll not comment so long I promise.  

    By the way, I’ve been posting as “An Average American Woman”  on newsvine and others, tweeting, trying to come in the back door to awaken or at least make aware these issues that face Americans of Today. Like how to discuss intelligently gene therapy when it turns into a philosophical debate on Ethics.  Our Founding Fathers, Bless Their Hearts, would have started a new revolution   years ago. But then where would we go?  Sweden is really nice, very socialistic, I lived there a while.  As Adjuncts, if you teach an extra class, we would take in trade a computer, because our taxes at overtime would run almost 90%.  No one works overtime in that country. They have a life, they also have a monarchy and not a democracy, but then so does England if you look at the forest and not the trees. 

    Ok, thanks for the rant, and I hope to see really good info out of your blog, you started off great!!!

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