Do you ever wish you could just be apolitical?

[vi5]

I don't mean not vote, and I don't mean not be a Democrat. I mean just not be so obsessed with politics? One of the few things I agreed with the Stewart speech about this weekend (other than Repubs being crazy) is the idea that most people aren't thinking about politics all the time and don't identify themselves as political first and foremost.

Most of the people I know fit this bill. My family, my friends. They vote most of the time in big races but they don't obsess over it. They don't feel depressed if a candidate they supported loses. They don't check political messageboards or political blogs. They don't get angry or upset when someone on one side or the other rants about something politically. They just shrug their shoulders and say "whatever" It doesn't impact their mood one bit.

And you know what? In the end I have nothing more to show for my obsession and depression over the political ups and downs of the past 25 years or so than stress and a lot of time wasted. Yeah, I've occassionally felt good about myself when I wind up on the right or the winning side of things and fight for what I think is right, but more often than not all it's gotten me is headaches, heartaches, stomach aches and more than a few lost friendships.

I know full well it's not something I can just turn off but I'm not going to lie there are plenty of times (nights like tonight and tomorrow for one) where I just wish I could be blissfully unaware or at least blissfully only moderately aware.

[Drale]

1. Being a Democrat is like being a Cubs fan

Its really painful alot of the time, but every few years its soo great.

[negativenihil]

2. I do actually.

9/11 is what sucked me into caring about politics... and honestly i long for a day when i can relax and not pay such close attention.

[seabeyond]

3. ya, often. and i wish i didnt care about social issues, or what is happening in world

wish i wasnt empathitic. lol lol. wish i wasnt serious.

but hey

i am who i am

[mdmc]

4. sweet bliss

[Mortos]

5. I feel your pain

I am the same way although I have toned it way down since the debilitating defeat in 2004 when I literally cried and got depressed for weeks. I think people think I am crazy sometimes but hey, it's better than sports to me and probably stokes the same chemicals in my brain as a fanatical Saints supporter.

[Naturyl]

23. Yeah, 2004 threw me into a pretty bad funk for quite a while.

I haven't cared about political matters quite as much since then, although I still have episodes of getting caught up in it.

[AC_Mem]

6. Ha! Good point

I think my daughter and grandkids wish I wasn't so interested - it takes my attention away from them!

"Not now! Rachel is on!!!!" :)

[liberalmuse]

7. Yes, but...

I am at this phase lately where I just don't give a shit. Not entirely true - I do, and deeply, but I guess more accurately, I realize the things I can change, and the things I have no control over. It looks like American might even go so far as to elect a President Palin in 2016 because this country is seriously courting the crazy these days. I think we might even be more obnoxious than Germany ever was, so I'm bracing myself for a Hellocaust within the next 20 years or so. Or maybe within the next 5.

[Toucano]

8. Once you see how politics affects every single facet of your life

from the most mundane to the most important, it's impossible to remain apolitical.

I think the people you describe are different from those of us here because they don't see that yet.

I guess it's weird, but to answer your question, yes. I do wish I could be as blithe and carefree as some people I know.

I wish I didn't know as much as I do, but as such, I can't help trying to affect positive change and progress.

[pgodbold]

9. I'm with you... I don't understand those who can cut it off. nt

[mainer]

10. Yes ! And here's the irony: I ought to be a Republican.

I'm in the top tax bracket. I have no economic insecurities. Demographically, you'd think I should be voting for my economic well-being, which would probably be Republican and anti-tax. But I'm an ideological Democrat and I find myself getting into political arguments with people who are blue collar, struggling, without health care, who are Tea Partiers. Logically speaking, I don't NEED the Democratic party -- those Tea Partiers do! Yet I end up trying to argue with them. It drives me absolutely nuts that the people who are most in need of public assistance are the ones who are fighting me at the ballot box.

Really, there are times when I think I should pack up and just move to Italy.

[vi5]

17. Same here....

..Not that I could ever be a Republican, but I so many times just want to say "F**k it. What am I fighting for? Why am I fighting against people whose interest are the ones who are in danger if Republicans win." I'm a middle aged, white male who like yourself has no economic insecurities. So even if I could never be so callous as to be a Republican and look out only for my best interests, I wish I could tone down my stress level.

[mainer]

29. Yeah, "f**k it" is what I sometimes feel like saying

Why are we fighting on behalf of people who are too ignorant to know that they're voting against their own interests? Why am I voting to increase my taxes, to benefit rightwingers who would stomp me if they had a chance? There are times when I almost wish the tea partiers would win, just so I can see them get a cold dash of reality when their benefits are suddenly cut off. But I don't think they'd have the insight to realize it's their own dumb choices that led them to such dire straits.

It's nights like this when I really do think it's time to retreat, and stop being a Cassandra. Italy's looking better and better.

[madrchsod]

11. politically i have lived through nixon,reagan,clinton,and the bush crew

so i figure the sun will rise tomorrow.

[LeftishBrit]

12. Through the long Thatcher/Major years...

I used to think at times that I wished I was right-wing, because then I would be happy with the situation. And now I'm reminded of that with Cameron. But it was never a possibility for me to be right-wing!

[Fuzz]

13. Yeah, kinda. But it would mean I would have to not care and be less intelligent and stuff.

Not sure the trade off would be worth it.

[DaveJ]

14. I'm not really fanatical about politics

I just see the clear difference between party philosophies, and yeah even liken it to living in Nazi Germany when Repugs have their way. So it is impossible for me to ignore politics. But I try to maintain my composure even when I'm around these (yes I'll say) "Nazis" because I know what they are capable of and, at my age, can't afford to be a victim of their utter disdain for humanity. I'm very afraid of what will happen because I know human nature and realize we could easily have someone even more insane than Bush in the future. I can't ignore the fact that democracy might fail when the stupidist half of the population picks my leaders. I'm hoping for the best but preparing mentally for the worst.

[AspenRose]

15. Yes. It drives my husband crazy.

But what do you expect from a woman who has early memories of pictures of Bobby, Martin & John in her parents' and grandparents' homes as a child?

[Naturyl]

26. My significant other hates it as well.

She gets tired of me going on and on about all of it, and I don't blame her. And yet that's just the way I'm constituted.

[dixiegrrrrl]

16. I did drop out, from '80 to '90. And look what happened!!!

I am never taking my eyes off those guys again.

As in all things, balance.

Since 2005, I have been following the economy as ...obsessively--as I did politics from 1963 to 1980.
( when your husband and brothers are in Viet Nam, politics becomes VERY important).

I learned that knowing what is going on helps me take charge of the decisions in my life, so far as I am able to.

It is hard to return to sleepwalking thru events.



Watching "them" is important"
Fretting about it, not so much.
The wisdom to know the difference and all that.

[lonestarnot]

18. Oh yes, but it can't be done.

:evilgrin:

[Fire Walk With Me]

19. The price of freedom is eternal vigilance.

So long as some wish to take from others, we are responsible for our freedom.

[AndrewP]

20. Honestly? Yeah, I do

I wish I could turn it off and be just oblivious. I really do. It's easier.

But I just can't. I was breaking down election results when I was 10. I've always been sick. LOL

[Naturyl]

21. Yes, I frequently wish I could just not care.

I really do believe that ignorance is bliss. But I'm just not a blissful person by nature. Other people's suffering bothers me.

And therefore, i must care about politics, whether I'd like to or not.

[tigereye]

22. I see myself as a political junkie with a very political family but i try to laugh

at it all as well.


People have been having elections for a very long time, and there will continue to be the same types of ups and downs. If you read old newspapers, you will see the same kinds of rhetoric and accusations, sometimes worse ones than we have now!


So I guess what goes around, comes around, on some level. If we win, it's great, but there are times when we are not going to win, no matter how right it may seem, and in the long run, it's not the end of the world.

[mmonk]

24. Sometimes. Either that or to be dumb as a stump about the world

around me like so many people are. But then I couldn't react to the dangers around us politically.

[old mark]

25. When the President is a 'publican, I do my best to totally ignore everything

in the media even remotely connected to politics. I still vot3e straight Democratic in every election, even the "minor" ones, but I try to just get through with as little exposure to the political happenings as I can.

mark

[ScreamingMeemie]

27. I was. For three years after everything happened with MrG...

...my world became my kids, breathing and four walls.

While I wouldn't say I obsess over it anymore, I didn't gain anything by not knowing what was going on.

[Raine]

28. No, I don't think so

because it's so much a part of who Iam that I can't imagine myself not being really into politics. I've had periods where I wasn't as interested but I always come back to the love of politics.

[stellanoir]

30. Yeah I empathize totally.

I indulged in a complete and total exercise in futility by obsessing over EVM's for four years to no obvious avail. But these things can be incremental. Oh well.

Looking at those in my life who are very much involved in nature and nurture and more often than not, creative conviviality, I can't help but notice that they are either entirely oblivious to politics or just even more wisely, think that it's a total ruse.

I truly wish I could be that way.

My gene pool compels me to be otherwise.

The Native Indigenous Americans want their country back.

They just want us to clean it up first.

Okay ?

[Arugula Latte]

31. Yes.

I really have a hard time dealing with Republicans. Frankly, I hate them, even if they're "nice" and "civil" on the surface. There's always a part of me festering and thinking: "Fuck you, Republican scum."

[Arkana]

32. Absolutely.

It would stop me from turning into a gibbering wreck on Election Night.

[nolabear]

33. Yeah, politics is like a bad boyfriend.

Woos you, abuses you, tells you to just chill-that it's all in your head, steals your money and leaves you poor and brutalized, and then just when you're picking yourself up and moving on it shows up and tells you it's been you, Baby, just you all along, it'll be better this time I swear it will I'll love you like you've never been loved before just take me back baby one more time.

Maybe a nice heroin habit instead...

[jberryhill]

34. Yes

I wish I didn't care and was a lot less intelligent.

The gap between what is and what could be is painfully large.

[barbtries]

35. yep

i'm with you. and my becoming a political junkie took until the 2000 election. yes, i always voted, and always for the dems, but basically i was raising my family and staying pretty oblivious most of the time. now i can't. when stewart said that i didn't get pissed or anything, but i did have to admit that i do spend most of my life being a left leaning progressive democrat. it is who i am. and sometimes i do wish i could turn it off.