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Why not go even farther than that? Admit political knowledge is virtually impossible, and just stop engaging in the political process at all. Save your time and

Why not go even farther than that? Admit political knowledge is virtually impossible, and just stop engaging in the political process at all. Save your time and energy for something easier, like cutting edge theoretical physics or becoming a billionaire. Such is the point argued by Dr. Mike Huemer in his essay In Praise of Passivity [1], and to this date I've never found a clearer piece of writing on the matter. [1]: https://bazhum.muzhp.pl/media/files/Studia_Humana/Studia_Humana-r2012-t-n2/Studia_Humana-r2012-t-n2-s12-28/Studia_Humana-r2012-t-n2-s12-28.pdf https://bazhum.muzhp.pl/media/files/Studia_Humana/Studia_Hum...

autoexec 2y ago
If I wanted to cede control to unelected CEOs and unaccountable corporations I'd go around telling people not to exercise the power they have to influence politics too, because I'd know damn well that powerful corporations and industry groups aren't going to "stop engaging in the political process". They'll stay very busy spending huge amounts of time and money bribing politicians, writing legislation for them, and manipulating the public's perception to further their own interests and profits at the expense of everyone else. How frustrating it must be when the serfs interfere by exercising their rights to self-govern when they should just let their corporate masters run the show instead of insisting on a government that is "of the people, by the people, and for the people"
- bravetraveler 2y ago
  Yea - I'm not advocating to stop participation entirely; just with the hacks/opportunists. We are so incredibly beyond the government serving the people. They don't reside in the same plane of existence. The average DC rep would be shocked to live like I did, the average person.
  - Retric 2y ago
    There’s no meaningfully “average” lifestyle. Most Americans get some form of healthcare subsidy be that directly or through their parents. However rural hospital subsidies, Medicare, Medicaid, low income subsidies on the market, or pretax from your employer are all very different and none of them really impact VA benefits. Living on 30k/ year is meaningfully different than 50k or 500k etc. A 20 year old and a 60 year old don’t just average to a 40 year old. 0 kids is different than 1 kid which is different than 3 kids.
    - bravetraveler 2y ago
      Sure, but let's not ignore that a certain 'class' of people make up our representatives - and it's not representative. Despite their pandering. It's ridiculously uniform by comparison to the populace I don't mean to overstate it; reasonable arguments can be made for, against, or as - some of that's implicit. Power/election makes a class. That's not what I'm talking about. I was grandstanding when I got to talking about average. The class is 'crook', or hack/opportunist if we want something more modern. To close, back to my hypothetical: the shock they feel implies that a representative person should be able to adjust. The ones we have couldn't. They'd literally have a coronary - they manage to be several deviations off in terms of age and fitness in addition to moral sensibility. I know every experience is different. Christ. Tree, meet forest. The problem is a lack of representative difference in the counterpart. I harp on that word because it's important.
Retric 2y ago
What passivity ignores is non voters get screwed over by politicians. In California in 2022 voting by age breaks down: 29% or 900,000 18-24 year olds 43% or 1,970,000 25-34 year olds 51% or 2,132,000 35-44 year olds 56% or 4,343,000 45-54 year olds 66% or 3,699,000 65+ year olds So it’s obvious what kinds of things to focus on. Other states get even more extreme only 14% of 18-24 year olds voted in WV. https://www.kff.org/other/state-indicator/number-of-individuals-who-voted-in-thousands-and-individuals-who-voted-as-a-share-of-the-voter-population-by-age/?currentTimeframe=0&sortModel=%7B%22colId%22:%22Location%22,%22sort%22:%22asc%22%7D https://www.kff.org/other/state-indicator/number-of-individu... Slice up the population is a few ways and there’s many categories best ignored.
- thefaux 2y ago
  This is very interesting data. I believe that it is generally considered common knowledge that it's very difficult to increase youth turnout so most campaigns don't even really try. But given how entrenched polarization is, increasing youth turnout in a few key states could be enough to sway the election. Of course decreasing retiree turnout is another (not mutually exclusive) approach. The nice thing about trying to increase turnout though is that it is a positive and inclusive approach rather than a negative and exclusive approach (though the implementation could still be negative: come out and vote for our guy to get rid of that other guy we don't like).
- oceanplexian 2y ago
  I don’t really see a problem with that. People get wiser as they get older and more mature. This has been proven by insurance companies, who charge higher rates for younger drivers since they’re more likely to be reckless and get into an accident. Not the kind of person you would want to encourage to vote, unless you have ulterior motives to manipulate impressionable young people.
  - Retric 2y ago
    It’s easy to make the opposite argument around declining mental facilities and less education for the oldest Americans who are the most likely to vote yet have increased insurance costs despite driving less. Whites also vote more than Hispanics, are suggesting ignoring their issues is a good thing as well? In the end, having out groups is inherently a bad thing no matter who makes them up.
cwillu 2y ago
Interesting read.

autoexec 2y ago

If I wanted to cede control to unelected CEOs and unaccountable corporations I'd go around telling people not to exercise the power they have to influence politics too, because I'd know damn well that powerful corporations and industry groups aren't going to "stop engaging in the political process". They'll stay very busy spending huge amounts of time and money bribing politicians, writing legislation for them, and manipulating the public's perception to further their own interests and profits at the expense of everyone else. How frustrating it must be when the serfs interfere by exercising their rights to self-govern when they should just let their corporate masters run the show instead of insisting on a government that is "of the people, by the people, and for the people"

bravetraveler 2y ago
Yea - I'm not advocating to stop participation entirely; just with the hacks/opportunists. We are so incredibly beyond the government serving the people. They don't reside in the same plane of existence. The average DC rep would be shocked to live like I did, the average person.
- Retric 2y ago
  There’s no meaningfully “average” lifestyle. Most Americans get some form of healthcare subsidy be that directly or through their parents. However rural hospital subsidies, Medicare, Medicaid, low income subsidies on the market, or pretax from your employer are all very different and none of them really impact VA benefits. Living on 30k/ year is meaningfully different than 50k or 500k etc. A 20 year old and a 60 year old don’t just average to a 40 year old. 0 kids is different than 1 kid which is different than 3 kids.
  - bravetraveler 2y ago
    Sure, but let's not ignore that a certain 'class' of people make up our representatives - and it's not representative. Despite their pandering. It's ridiculously uniform by comparison to the populace I don't mean to overstate it; reasonable arguments can be made for, against, or as - some of that's implicit. Power/election makes a class. That's not what I'm talking about. I was grandstanding when I got to talking about average. The class is 'crook', or hack/opportunist if we want something more modern. To close, back to my hypothetical: the shock they feel implies that a representative person should be able to adjust. The ones we have couldn't. They'd literally have a coronary - they manage to be several deviations off in terms of age and fitness in addition to moral sensibility. I know every experience is different. Christ. Tree, meet forest. The problem is a lack of representative difference in the counterpart. I harp on that word because it's important.

Retric 2y ago

What passivity ignores is non voters get screwed over by politicians. In California in 2022 voting by age breaks down: 29% or 900,000 18-24 year olds 43% or 1,970,000 25-34 year olds 51% or 2,132,000 35-44 year olds 56% or 4,343,000 45-54 year olds 66% or 3,699,000 65+ year olds So it’s obvious what kinds of things to focus on. Other states get even more extreme only 14% of 18-24 year olds voted in WV. https://www.kff.org/other/state-indicator/number-of-individuals-who-voted-in-thousands-and-individuals-who-voted-as-a-share-of-the-voter-population-by-age/?currentTimeframe=0&sortModel=%7B%22colId%22:%22Location%22,%22sort%22:%22asc%22%7D https://www.kff.org/other/state-indicator/number-of-individu... Slice up the population is a few ways and there’s many categories best ignored.

thefaux 2y ago
This is very interesting data. I believe that it is generally considered common knowledge that it's very difficult to increase youth turnout so most campaigns don't even really try. But given how entrenched polarization is, increasing youth turnout in a few key states could be enough to sway the election. Of course decreasing retiree turnout is another (not mutually exclusive) approach. The nice thing about trying to increase turnout though is that it is a positive and inclusive approach rather than a negative and exclusive approach (though the implementation could still be negative: come out and vote for our guy to get rid of that other guy we don't like).
oceanplexian 2y ago
I don’t really see a problem with that. People get wiser as they get older and more mature. This has been proven by insurance companies, who charge higher rates for younger drivers since they’re more likely to be reckless and get into an accident. Not the kind of person you would want to encourage to vote, unless you have ulterior motives to manipulate impressionable young people.
- Retric 2y ago
  It’s easy to make the opposite argument around declining mental facilities and less education for the oldest Americans who are the most likely to vote yet have increased insurance costs despite driving less. Whites also vote more than Hispanics, are suggesting ignoring their issues is a good thing as well? In the end, having out groups is inherently a bad thing no matter who makes them up.

cwillu 2y ago

Interesting read.