We were having dinner with a friend of ours recently when the subject of politics came up. I put up my hand and said I didn’t care about any of it anymore and I’ve given up. She protested, saying that the only way we can change what we hate about it all is by being involved, but even though I could respect her position, I wouldn’t be swayed.
It’s something I’ve gone back and forth about, and I’d like to think that even with my annoyance with all of it I’m still more informed than the average American who believes watching a half hour of the national evening news every weekday is more than enough to stay suitably informed. I listen to talk radio pretty much all day at work, and I can generally hop into any political discussion if the situation arises, I just don’t like to anymore. I’m much more apt to turn off the radio stream and listen to some science podcast if they start blabbering about the Israeli/Palestinian conflict or the newest developments in Iraq now.
Certainly there are issues I’m passionate about, like gay rights and abortion, but even these things I have had trouble discussing lately. I see red each time the subjects come up. I can’t even contribute anything constructive to my own side because each time I think of someone who is against gay marriage I think they’re a fucking bigot who is degrading the Christian religion by using it as an excuse for their hatred of people who are different. See? I’m terrible (but so are they! BITCHES! Er… sorry).
Maybe this makes me a bad person. I just think getting more involved in politics and political discussions is a waste of time for me right now. I’ll stay up to date, I’ll vote, I’ll hold an opinion. But as far as I’m concerned my time is much better spent writing wikipedia articles about local breweries (I am part of the WikiProject Beer) than having discussions and getting directly involved with politics. Besides, a good microbrew is all about peace and happiness and being involved with politics in America today is not.