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> I know it is ignorant and irresponsible It's impressive that, as a society, we've conditioned people to this. I don't read the news, I don't participate in s

by kodah 4y ago

> I know it is ignorant and irresponsible It's impressive that, as a society, we've conditioned people to this. I don't read the news, I don't participate in social media outside of forums and IRC, I don't donate, and I don't vote. All things are things I used to do with regular frequency. I was constantly stressed, tired, and depressed. It was difficult to relate to people who had experiences outside of what I was being fed on social media, it was hard to even say I was happy at times because someone wanted to remind me that world was going to end. All along the way you get these happy coaches who will tell you, "It's a marathon not a race", "empathy exhaustion is a thing", etc while also feeding you a machine of reactions to make sure none of that was true. Even when you're disengaged on purpose, there's societal pressure to stay engaged, and the system knows how to wield that pressure with some level of plausible deniability. It's far easier to tell someone who is saying, "This is too much" that their choices put them at fault; after all, they didn't have to read that next reactionary opinion. These are all experiences with my hypothetical in-group, not even the categorical "threat". Yet, I wasn't ignorant. In fact, I would read on events - just not as they're happening, and not at a news website. You'd be surprised at the number of people who focus on writing thoughtful post-hoc analysis on actual collected facts - Wikipedia is one such source, as you mentioned. As for irresponsible, your ultimate responsibility is to keep yourself healthy. If you are not here, you cannot affect the world in any positive way - regardless of your level of input or listening. Anyone that tells you to do something detrimental to yourself on purpose is not actually looking out for your best interest.

bombcar 4y ago
Mathematically your vote on the national level has about as much chance of "doing something" as buying a lottery ticket does; but the first is widely deemed to be "super important" and the latter "super stupid". Voting says more about you than it ever has or will about the candidates. Once that realization sinks in, everything changes.
- kodah 4y ago
  > Voting says more about you than it ever has or will about the candidates. > Once that realization sinks in, everything changes. Maybe, but probably not. For instance, I don't vote because the parties have failed to address things that I think are important, or have gone so grossly off the rails that they are no longer a useful investment of my time or energy. In this way, non-participation is valid feedback - so it says something about the party and the candidate. To me, not addressing things I need solved by the party is feedback to me - feedback that's as simple as "your issues are not a priority to me or my constituents". People trying to moralize voting usually can't comprehend this because the party is doing something they want. The problem is that moralizing voting is never okay.

by kodah 4y ago

bombcar 4y ago

Mathematically your vote on the national level has about as much chance of "doing something" as buying a lottery ticket does; but the first is widely deemed to be "super important" and the latter "super stupid". Voting says more about you than it ever has or will about the candidates. Once that realization sinks in, everything changes.

kodah 4y ago
> Voting says more about you than it ever has or will about the candidates. > Once that realization sinks in, everything changes. Maybe, but probably not. For instance, I don't vote because the parties have failed to address things that I think are important, or have gone so grossly off the rails that they are no longer a useful investment of my time or energy. In this way, non-participation is valid feedback - so it says something about the party and the candidate. To me, not addressing things I need solved by the party is feedback to me - feedback that's as simple as "your issues are not a priority to me or my constituents". People trying to moralize voting usually can't comprehend this because the party is doing something they want. The problem is that moralizing voting is never okay.