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Old 07-30-2011, 06:28 PM   #1
Doppleganger
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Political Indifference

I have degrees in Political Science and Economics, and there was a time (in high school) when I felt politics was the world and anyone who didn't take an active interest in politics was a fool.

There's a sense of legitimacy to paying attention to political events, since it's widely regarded as a "substantial" interest, as opposed to say video games or anime. I've seen, however, on other forums that people are using political discussion as a sort of comfort blanket for having no political power at all. Anime fans in a subforum spending hours upon hours trying to convert other anime fans to their impassioned political ideologies. It's not even for entertainment, it's because they believe if they type enough words they're going to ally minds to their cause. It's rather ridiculous to watch, but I remember being part of that once.

I volunteered for, interned with and was mentored by various political figures in the California state government, as well as campaign advisors and staff workers. I understand the successful methods for accomplishing something in politics, but the sad truth is most of these successes are usually transient and short-lived. It takes a lot of work, money and firepower for one to make a semi-permanent mark in government policy or institute a regime change, and arm-chair discussion on internet forums isn't going to cut it.

I feel, then, that it's acceptable to not pay attention to political events "effectively" beyond one's control, since in a utilitarian sense, the amount of effort one person would have to put in to offset a political change is counter-balanced by the personal impact. One would have no time for duty or hobby, and unless the issue is particularly pressing, it seems like an over-reaction. Talking about it on the internet isn't going to accomplish anything more than waste time, especially if the point of the discussion is regime change.

So, topic at hand -

1. Is it acceptable to not vote in political affairs that have no direct effect on oneself? (participation)
2. Is it acceptable to not pay attention to current events beyond one's influence and concern, such as the 2011 Arab Awakening? (knowledge)
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Last edited by Doppleganger; 07-30-2011 at 08:18 PM.
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Old 07-30-2011, 08:07 PM   #2
Talon87
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Doppleganger View Post
1. Is it acceptable to not vote in political affairs that have no direct effect on oneself? (participation)
2. Is it acceptable to not pay attention to current events beyond one's influence and concern, such as the 2011 Arab Awakening? (knowledge)
1. Reworded, "given that political affairs do not have any direct effect on you, is it acceptable for you to note vote?" In other words, you've declared what is probably the most contentious part of this debate as a fact, as an axiom if you will, and are asking us the far simpler question. Yes? Well, yes, I would say that given the scenario where politcal affairs have no direct effect on me, it makes no difference whether I vote or not. Unless we live in a magical world where suddenly indirect effects are going to be so much larger than direct ones most of the time. (Also: if nothing directly affects anybody, it pretty much follows that nothing can indirectly affect anybody either: since to have indirect effects, you must have a direct origin. Someone has to be directly affected first for me to be indirectly affected second, third, fourth, fifth, etc. And so by declaring that political matters have no "direct effect" on anyone, you've actually declared that they have no effect period on anyone, direct or indirect.)

I would actually agree with you, btw. But I'm playing the Devil's Advocate here because I know a lot of people accuse this mentality of being crackpot conspiracy theorist (as opposed to just plain cynical, which is what it is for most of us) and would take issue with your embedded axiom. Anyway ...

2. In my opinion, it is not good to willingly turn a blind eye to international issues. "Worldliness is godliness," to tweak the old saying. But at the same time, you can't possibly know everything as you've not the brain big enough, and you can't possibly care about everything as you've not the heart big enough. So I'm not going to begrudge someone for knowing little about or caring little about the Israel/Palestine situation if they're preoccupied with Burma's junta, Sudan's civil war, and the Brisbane flood of 2011. Likewise, you can rotate any one of these four out for the Arab Spring. Or any one of these five out for the Fukushima earthquake. Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. Your question was basically asking me, "If someone's life is limited to a small segment of Topeka, Kansas, do they really need to know or should they really even care about what happens elsewhere?" And my answer is that I think that they should, even if those affairs may seemingly never affect them. I think it's important to have a big heart, even if you can't have an infinitely big heart. And I think there are even selfish benefits to knowing about other countries. Knowing how other countries do things can help you to form your opinions about how we should do them; but even at the most local of selfish levels -- individual actions -- knowing how other people around the world do things can help you to do things better than you would have otherwise. (E.g. knowing how the Soviet Union handled Chernobyl helped Japanese officials in dealing with Fukushima.)
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Old 07-31-2011, 11:46 AM   #3
unownmew
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I'm not a blind ideologue, but I can become impassioned when it comes to my Conservative political beliefs. (small government, states rights, low regulation, low taxes, balanced budgets, keeping promises, Patriotism, American Exceptionalism, etc.)
I'm not officially attached, but you could call me a TEA party conservative, and I'll wear that badge proudly.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Doppleganger View Post

So, topic at hand -

1. Is it acceptable to not vote in political affairs that have no direct effect on oneself? (participation)
2. Is it acceptable to not pay attention to current events beyond one's influence and concern, such as the 2011 Arab Awakening? (knowledge)
1. In my opinion, it is a citizen's duty to be aware of the affairs of their own country/state to be able to make an informed decision about voting or not, and for who, if so.
There are those who are always politically active, who vote at the state, local, and national level, who are to be commended for their active participation. And then there are those who vote only for the president, and even those who don't vote at all, ever.

I say it is Not Acceptable to uninformed, and Not Vote. For it is when the citizenry become complacent, that Tyranny is allowed to take power. Even if the issue at hand does not seem to have a "direct" impact on your life, all those tiny indirect impacts, or the lack of opposition, will build up into something overbearing. Only a Fool can expect the powerful to rule in their favor, as opposed to trying to grow and strengthen their own power over others. There are people only interested in ruling others, which is why it is imperative that the citizenry take an active part in political matters, so as to assure the powerful never become too powerful, and the powerhungry, are never elected/reelected.

However, there are many people who can be, easily swayed. They are influenced by catch-phases, slogans, and don't take the time to inform themselves of the truth behind the "nice guy" masks, and promises. These people, if they voted, would swing issues based on their feelings, instead of on the actual issues. This can have long lasting, detrimental effects on the security of the state, or the freedom of the populace. IMO, it is Unacceptable, that these people Do Vote, without properly informing themselves first.



2. As stated above, it is not acceptable for the citizens be uninformed. An uprising in some obscure part of the world may not have any impact on them at the time, but, if left unchecked, or if dealt with improperly by our elected leaders, it could also turn itself into another World War, which will impact them greatly.
Now, I'm not saying that you should pay as much attention to these outside events as one should their own country, but, simply be aware of them, because the way our leaders deal with these events, can have lasting impacts.


Now, obviously, I don't expect everyone to become a political activist, and give up all their free time to follow politics, and petition/lobby for changes. I simply ask that they participate as much as possible, and make sure they are informed when doing so.

Evil takes over, when good people do nothing. And it gains even more, and becomes even greedier, when they give, even just a little, in an effort to maintain "peace and stability."

Last edited by unownmew; 07-31-2011 at 11:51 AM.
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