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Out of curiosity I looked up what the definition of politics is and got something like: "Politics is the set of activities that are associated with making dec
by arethuza 6y ago
Out of curiosity I looked up what the definition of politics is and got something like:
"Politics is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations between individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status."
Based on a definition like that I'd be tempted to think that politics free social media is an oxymoron.
- toyg 6y agoYou could say the same of most of the web, from Github to HN...
- Fargren 6y agoAnd you would be correct. Apolitical media doesn't and can't exist. The existence of media is a political statement. You can restrict partisan media, or identity politics media, or other subsets of politics. But politics as a whole is implicit in every action that involves the public.
- madeofpalk 6y agoYou can say that about life It is an exceptionally privileged situation to be in when you believe you can simply opt out of politics.
- dingaling 6y agoEveryone's life is affected by politics, but I'd contest that it's entirely possible to opt out of participating in the political process. Many people simply don't have the time in their life to take part. I have a friend who works two jobs and has two kids, when they get home they make dinner, do homeworks and go to bed. For them politics is something abstract on the TV news. It's much like art, where ever you go there's some form of art. But you don't need to lift a pencil and do art or even talk about it.
- Spivak 6y agoBut you, largely, can! We're privileged not because of any actual individual privilege (though it does help quite a bit!) but because there are already a bunch of people who are fighting for your interests. You only really have to participate in a tiny tiny subset of issues where your position isn't being heard.
- JohnClark1337 6y agoActually in many nations you're automatically opted out of politics.
- imtringued 6y agoAlthough I do not disagree with that definition I think it is valuable to make a distinction between government politics and "every day" politics.
- etangent 6y agoJust because something has a slightly vague definition and can touch upon most things in life doesn't mean its definition must be stretched to encompass literally everything.