Apathetic and Pathetic
Politics. I used to be such a political firebrand. I was a raging right winger who was willing to go to the mattresses debating any and all topics. I would usually be engrossed in the arguments and feel the need to have a strong opinion on every issue and then be prepared to defend them to the death.
Now...eh, not so much. I would like to think there are a number of contributing factors. Age is one of the major issues. I think I have simply mellowed out in my (oh so old, twenty eight years) life. I have realized that there is a lot of things that are important to me and although I am still interested the happenings of the world and politics in general, I just don't care anywhere as much as I used to.
The next factor? Cynicism. I have become a cynic when it comes to politics. Seeing that the middle of America (generally speaking, not geographically) is the direction politicians have to shoot for and that these people for the most part are completely ignorant of politics or the world at general, it makes me crazy. I understand that these people's votes are needed to win. And I understand that in order to get them involved you have to aim low and talk lower, but, as, what I would like to think of as an informed voter, it drives me nuts.
The result of all of that is a loss of idealism. I have my ideals and what I think the world should look like and when I first started getting into politics I was on fire with the idea that I could change the world. That I was part of something that was making a difference. Now I realize that I'm not making a difference at all in the ways I want the world to change. As a conservative (more than a Republican) I have a very limited government view of the world, but as I look at the current political landscape, I don't see much action for that viewpoint.
It all sounds like the same crap to me almost all the time. Whether from the left or the right, I don't buy it and it seems I don't really care...and by the looks of this blog, this isn't the only topic I am apathetic about.
posted by Jeremy @ 2:07 PM
8 Comments:
I think it's interesting that you refer to yourself as both an idealist and a conservative (at least in past tense). It seems to me that liberals are often criticized for being idealists, while conservatives are supposedly more practical and grounded. So you don't think the terms "conservative" and "idealist" are contradictory?
Good point. I guess it really depends on what your ideals are and how you feel it appropriate to bring about those goals.
For instance, if you boiled many liberal points down to a phrase, I would agree with them wholehearted. I love the environment and want to keep it clean, but at what price? That type of stuff.
I guess, I see myself as idealist, with different ideals that the idealists on the left.
I know what you mean about the cynicism - it feels so much like there's just no point in caring, in many respects. I mean, I know we don't agree on some (maybe most?) things on the practical level (I feel like in the ideal world, we more or less agree, though - maybe I'm just being naive), but it just feels like the whole political system is so fucked, it's really hard to care about something that's so completely broken.
I mean, when you've got a president who gets impeached for getting some illicit head, but we've got a government that's actively committing felonies, and has thrown the Constitution out the window, and *no one cares,* it just seems like the nation's priorities are fucked beyond repair.
*shrugs*
I've definitely given up the "fight to the death for every issue, all the time!" mentality I had in the IGN days (and yeah, even more recently than that), and fortunately, I think I've at least mitigated the "utterly destroy your enemies at every opportunity," mentality of argument (not "debate," since that's not really what it was) somewhat... Well, who knows!?
Argh!
Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan! is the best DS game in the world.
I've been thinking about this blog entry since yesterday and I'm still not sure how to say what I'm thinking. It's along the lines of, "I totally know what you mean," except maybe ending less cynical and more simply tired.
I hear you...been thinking about the same thing lately. Don't even care to watch the news much anymore. It could be that I spent 4.5 years getting a Poli Sci degree and then an MPA. Kind of makes you weary I think.
By the way. I must admit. You've demonstrated your apathy quite well in not responding to Seppo's comment above.
Perjury = no big deal.
Utilizing legals means of fighting terrorism = felony.
Wait a minute...
"Utilizing legals means of fighting terrorism = felony."
Actually, spying on U.S. citizens without a warrant (or attempt to get one within 72 hours) is a felony. That is, it's illegal, not legal.
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode50/usc_sec_50_00001809----000-.html
And by violating this particular law, the administration is also violating the 4th Amendment to the Constitution. So, there you go.
http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/data/constitution/amendment04/
Here's the FISA reference because it got cut off:
http://tinyurl.com/dyb3y
People can find the 4th Amendment on their own.
Responding to the initial post, I'm so busy these days, I pretty much try to stick to arguments where "the other side" makes cut and dried factual errors that I can easily refute.
I try not to get into subjective arguments if I'm going to get into an argument.
So, when I see Lance's comment saying that what Bush authorized is legal, I also see a factually incorrect statement that I can quickly respond to and get out of the way.
A lot of Creationist arguments, back in the day, were like that as well. Up is downism. People apparently weren't familiar with search engines a few years ago, and it was easy to find whatever I needed to refute their comments.
I'm no more mellow than I was a few years ago. I just allocate my time differently. I see what a waste of time engaging random people on the Internets is.
I've always been cynical.
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