I'm a bit ignorant when it comes to Politics : should I feel stupid/bad?

[Harry Hughes]

I was thinking about this earlier today (well, yesterday since it's 1:30am ish)
and realized that I know jack shit about politics
I feel horribly ignorant.
I spend pretty much all my reading time reading only about music related things, be it upcoming album releases, guitars/guitar gear, audio gear, the AE stuff we talk about here and on Gearslutz.com and occasionally browsing around and reading up on music history of bands, various genres etc etc.
If it's not about music, chances I'll be reading up on history.

Every time I try to make an effort to get interested in politics or current events again, I just got bored because I feel like I'm reading about that same crap of "x country has been bombed again" "x leader of x country says this or that" "North Korea threatens wants to explode you guize with nuclear weapons, and each week we will update you with the same article, about how North Korea wants to blow you guize up but really, North Korea ain't gonna do jack shit but we will keep doing the fear mongering shit and tell you each week how North Korea are gonna do it"
I don't know what the fuck Obama's foreign policies are. Hell I don't even know what half of the ones of my own government here in Aus are.
It just feels like the same endless shit that I just can't get interested in anymore. It just seems way too bleak and serious whereas with music I can sit down and relax, enjoy reading it, enjoy listening to it and not always take it so seriously.
Sometimes I feel like my interests are too narrow and that I devote too much time to reading about music related things but yet I don't get sick of it anyway

Am I normal? Any other guys out there like this? Am I an ignorant douche?
You tell me

 

[updog]

I don't know if you're an ignorant douche, but I'm just like you...

I just don't give a shit about politics. I know a little, but not enough to really discuss about it, and mostly I just feel that whatever they do there just doesn't seem to be working, period.

 

[FIXXXER]

I don't know if you're an ignorant douche, but I'm just like you...

I just don't give a shit about politics. I know a little, but not enough to really discuss about it, and mostly I just feel that whatever they do there just doesn't seem to be working, period.

same here

 

[xFkx]

same here

same here

 

[drew_drummer]

All you guys need to know is all politicians are scum sucking wankstains who want to control you and tell you how to live your life. They're kind of like a clean version of a hippy.

 

[plague_rider]

Agreed with D_D...

Theres no point trying to work out whats going on cause a)Politicians lie through their teeth (seriously look on youtube for the vids of them avoiding answering questions)

and not to sound like a Conspiracy theorist, but the news is doctored in such ways that, we don't always know the full story, and they choose the most gruesome stories and stories based around celebrities to keep people entertained (as sick as that sounds)

I keep an ear to the ground every now and again, but its knowing when to say "leave me out of this one" when people start discussing it...

 

[Ermz]

I'm in the same boat mate. By choice.

It's the same petty bullshit playing itself out over the course of human history. The issues talked about are ultimately so trivial and well-treaded that it's hard to take them seriously. People unable to unite and achieve something greater - wankstains attempting to capitalize whilst standing on the shoulders of others. Fuckwits retaliating due to other fuckwits. Generational rivalries playing out with none of the original parties still alive. Politics and current affairs I find to be the most pointless and self-defeating form of knowledge there is, and I want none of it.

 

[Put]

Hey man, don't worry!

It's as plague rider said.
It's such a complex web of lies and trickery with words that it's (almost) impossible to ever get anything of it unless you get to know truth's those same politicians don't want you to know.

You should NEVER feel stupid for not knowing something about this impossible political web.
At least not the one you get fed on TV.
And also, you should never feel stupid or afraid to sound like a conspiracy-loon.
You're a intelligent free human being. PPPPPEEEEEEEERIIIIIOOOOOOOOOODDDD
You should rather be aware of WHY this is all so hard to follow and figure out.

Next time when you're talking/thinking about politics ask yourself this; whom do the politicians kings and queens awnser to?

And why didn't I know in the first place.



You're perfectly normal...consider this....the fact that you are aware of yourself /not/ knowing something puts you pretty high up in the Awareness levels allready.


cheers TRRT TR TE TR TR TR TRRT

 

[J.DavisNJ]

If world politics interest you, then by all means, dig around, read books, etc. I'd rather someone admit that they don't know squat about politics than people who get on soapboxes and end up not knowing what they are talking about either. One thing I can say is take mainstream media with a grain of salt. I really don't understand when people say "fuck Fox, too conservative, fuck NBC, too liberal...," because mainstream News stations are profit making machines. They aren't some state institution required to give a fair and balanced view of things. I still watch the news to get general stories, but will dig deeper if I find something intriguing or if I smell bullshit.

In the end it doesn't really matter because all we can do it pay taxes, work, or run for public office if we want to actually be a part of the change. Otherwise, it's a matter of how much bullshit you mind swallowing, how much political in-fighting you can handle, and whether or not you give a shit about voting.

-Joe

 

[Put]

...Or how much money you have.

So next time politics are brought up, just ask the one you're talking with if he/she knows anything about the banking business.

edit: If he/she replies with the question mark, then you can rest assured that this person actually knows as little about politics as you do.

cheers

 

[thefyn]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ron_Paul

I was a little clueless when I came to the USA, but if I was allowed to vote, Ron Paul seems like he would be my choice.

 

[Jind]

I'm a bit of the mindset that if you don't take the time to understand not just politics, but how your particular country works, and a biggie for me - if you don't vote - then don't bitch about your situation, or laws, or whats happening in the world and it's impact on you. I'm not saying you have to understand the intricacies of it all, but understand what it is you like about your form of government and what you don't like and voice your opinion by voting. It's one of the few opportunities we have to truly voice ones opinion and have it count - and yes, every vote does count.

I'm also one of those people that feels it's important to have a grasp of whats happening in the world at any given time - I check the news headlines at least once a day as I don't want to be a so called ignorant American - I do care about whats happening on the other side of the globe, but I also care about whats happening in my town. I vote at the local, state, and federal level - it's one of our few rights completely within our control.

OK - I'll step down off my soapbox now and go back to checking the news.....

 

[professorlamp]

Emrz you have a very extensive vocabulary
I bet you're good at on the spot comebacks...im not

But +1 I dont concern myself with politics, I find it quite dull and boring

 

[Harry Hughes]

Glad I'm not the only one that feels this way then.
The thing is I used to care, not just about politics but about economics too but sometime in the last 18 or so months I just didn't care anymore for a lot of the reasons Ermz put forward and more.
I understand where you're coming from Jind but indeed I hardly consider myself as 'ignorant' as the average Australia or indeed the average America.
In Australia YOU HAVE to vote anyway. If you don't, you can expect to receive a nice infringement notice in the mailbox.
Obviously if I'm going to be voting I'm at least aware of who I'm voting for and why, but beyond that I really couldn't give a shit. What's happening in Iraq right now, what the latest controversial thing Obama said was etc ..........I honestly couldn't give two fucks.

 

[Put]

allright... is it a option to vote 'blank' ?

Could you elaborate on the voting laws there?
Over here in Holland you may choose to vote or not, if you do not vote, your vote goes to the biggest party.

If you vote blank your vote goes nowhere.
Still participating in politics even though you vote 'nothing' .

try not to show your cards!

 

[drew_drummer]

It's one of the few opportunities we have to truly voice ones opinion and have it count - and yes, every vote does count.

When the corporations who sit behind people in the house, feeding them money and "intelligence" so that their policies will be more likely to be enacted... then no... I'm sorry, but your vote does not count.

It is willful ignorance to assume that writing on a piece of paper, and then going back to Desperate Housewives or your old VHS copies of Emanuele, has any net effect in the real world - aside from getting RATM to the top of the charts for a week or so.

The only time things have changed in history was when people got so fucked off and fed up, that they started to develop their own militia's - they weren't always armed, and they weren't always violent.. but they were forces for change.

A vote is not a force for change. It is a cop-out.

My 2p.

 

[amarshism]

I choose not to vote in australia even though it garnered me a nice 100$ fine this year. As an American citizen as well, I also choose note to vote over there. I just don't understand. Elections are meant to select the better leader according to the majority, but when you're picking between to fuckwits, and the majority is decided by a matter of 1-5 percent, then realistically, half a country is still making a big compromise. Therefore I find it incredibly unfair for people to say if you don't vote, then suck shit it's your fault. That's poor reasoning.

 

[GarethSE]

When the corporations who sit behind people in the house, feeding them money and "intelligence" so that their policies will be more likely to be enacted... then no... I'm sorry, but your vote does not count.

It is willful ignorance to assume that writing on a piece of paper, and then going back to Desperate Housewives or your old VHS copies of Emanuele, has any net effect in the real world - aside from getting RATM to the top of the charts for a week or so.

The only time things have changed in history was when people got so fucked off and fed up, that they started to develop their own militia's - they weren't always armed, and they weren't always violent.. but they were forces for change.

A vote is not a force for change. It is a cop-out.

My 2p.

Fucking A.
You aren't gonna change a damn thing scribbling on a bit of paper and sticking it in a box.
The only thing that'll make our world less fucked is people educating themselves on what's ACTUALLY going on and making a stand.
Look at footage of all the student protests in the 60's and 70's. That's how you make a difference. What I would have given to be a part of that rather than be surrounded by the apathetic slugs the world is populated by nowadays. Those that care know there aren't enough of them to do anything, and those that don't know don't care to find out.

 

[drew_drummer]

Look at footage of all the student protests in the 60's and 70's. That's how you make a difference.

Eggs to the fucking zachly man!!

What I would have given to be a part of that rather than be surrounded by the apathetic slugs the world is populated by nowadays. Those that care know there aren't enough of them to do anything, and those that don't know don't care to find out.

Slugs are people too man.

 

[Jind]

Think what you want about voting being a force of change or not. At least it's effort - much more than words typed in an internet forum. You do realize that most of those student protesters in the 60's and 70's also voted for change (I'm a product of the 60's, born in the summer of love from a family of activists who marched) - not just typed about it on the internet, not just sounded off on subjects, sounding tough, all the while eating their Dorito's, drinking their Mt. Dew, and talking about how much crabcore sucks. Your right - they got out, they did something - but I sure as hell assure you they voted as it a way to change what they didn't like. You can talk all you want, but if you don't back it up with action - get off your ass and cast a vote for change, your simply hot air.

I'm sure most of you know that I'm a bit older than the majority as such I've been around through more administrations that you have guitars. If you really think talking tough on an internet forums about hoe you would love to have been around then - how you would have been a protester or an architect of change - yeah! If you can't take the minimal effort it takes to vote at all levels of government, then I highly doubt you have the effort in you to march for what you feel is right - I tend to suspect you will sit down like most of the other apathetic masses and bitch about change but do nothing to bring it about. I'm sorry if I've pigeon holed you as people who take the effort to vote seem to be being pigeon holed in this thread with comments like "and then going back to Desperate Housewives or your old VHS copies of Emanuele, has any net effect in the real world".

I love all the tough talk - it sounds good, hell it probably impresses your friends, but what effort do you give freely of your self to change this world? What do you yourself do to improve the lives of others, do you march for the causes you feel will help others? Do you donate money to those more in need than yourself? Have you ever been to a town hall meeting to try and change all the cuts in your town education system that's seem to be turning out these apathetic masses? What do you do? I imagine this will get more fire up the militias speak - more the only change comes from violent revolt type tough guy talk. It sounds nice guys - now go back to your lives that have no impact on the world that you care little for - hell so little you don't care what happens enough to read the news once and a while or to participate in it.

I like most of you, I think you are talented musicians and producers of said music, but the tough guy stuff only goes so far - change happens in ways small and ways large. You are entitled to your words as long as you are a participant in change - voting and participation in causes I believe in are my ways. People have helped change my life and I give back freely of myself in return - I care about our school systems, our poor, our disabled. I only talk about what I participate in - not grand statements of tough talk. So once again - what do you do?

Passion fuels the soul - it fires the engine of creation and it the force that changes the world. I know my passions - do you?