Stingray3906
9hr ago
I'm thinking about seeing it this afternoon to see how I feel about it, but the reviews don't bode well.
Stingray3906
2d ago
My state did not shut down package stores during the pandemic because it would cut off chronic alcoholics. There are people who are so alcohol-dependent that if they don't continue to consume it at a regular pace, they will end up in the Emergency Department, or worse.
Stingray3906
2d ago
This sort of naked self serving intellectual autofellatio is reminiscent of all the 'liberals are smarter than conservatives' drivel that gets repeatedly updooted on reddit and shared breathlessly by irritatingly smug college kids on facebook from 2004 to likely forever.
Many people like to use fancy words and sayings and jargon to give the appearance that their position is more profound than it really is. Case and point: sovereign citizens.
Stingray3906
2d ago
The word "empowering" no longer means anything, if it ever did. Women raising their children is empowering; women getting abortions is also empowering. Women posting thirst traps on social media is empowering; women posting deliberately unflattering selfies to combat "toxic social media beauty standards" is also empowering. Women putting their career ahead of other things in their life is empowering; women deliberately refusing career opportunities in order to focus on their "mental health" and promote "self-care" is also empowering.
Aside from abortion, what if we change this whole statement from women to men?
"Men raising their children is empowering." "Men posting thirst traps on social media is empowering." "Men deliberately refusing career opportunities in order to focus on their 'mental health' and promote 'self-care' is empowering"
Etc.
Does the word "empowering" still mean nothing if the genders are reversed?
Stingray3906
3d ago
Well, that's what politics in 2024 feels like to me -- arguing with a bully.
Stingray3906
3d ago
CNN wants Harris to win and will do everything they think they can get away with to make it happen. The same could be said of all establishment media. I'm not sure what else you expected.
I think all media wants their preferred candidate to win because it will make them the most money. Establishment media cares only about lining their coffers.
Stingray3906
3d ago
Upset isn't quite the word I would use to describe how I feel about it. Its more like... dumbfounded, that they would make such an incredulous claim. It doesn't surprise me that Trump would (allegedly) collude with members of the Russian government, because he strikes me as a person who would do whatever it takes to win. I don't think Trump can stand losing because he views losing as total defeat.
Though, at this point, what the hell do I know?
Stingray3906
3d ago
I didn't watch it because I generally assumed that neither candidate would have been civil and that both are so deeply partisan that there wouldn't be anything to glean from it.
Stingray3906
3d ago
I know you didn't ask for guidance but how you're feeling is clearly a function of how plugged in you are. Do you use social media? Watch news daily? How much and for how long? I ask because...
I've been cutting back significantly since the start of the year. I've dwindled down posting on Reddit to about once a month. I have a site blocker on all my devices that blocks it. When I do override it, it's so I can view non-politcial content, and even then its only for 30 minutes at a time. I'm not on any other social media service, either. No Facebook, X, Instagram, TikTok, you name it. I do watch a lot of YouTube, but like how I handle Reddit now, its mostly for non-political content. I don't watch the news, and I don't even have linear TV. Until recently, I would make the rounds on more neutral news sites, like the AP, Reuters, and NPR, but now I've just paired it down to a local news site that picks up national and international stories from the AP/Reuters wires. I'm trying to fight our society's incessant need to have the most late-breaking news at our fingertips.
Stingray3906
3d ago
The majority won't seven stay friends with someone who the loudest have called out as a wrongthinker, and that's a necessary condition for any kind of gentle approach to politics.
And that's the key aspect that I feel needs to change. I think the more we shut people out who are "wrongthinkers", the more we group each other into group-think silos, the less compromise and progress we make as a society.
Stingray3906
3d ago
Have you considered the possibility that you are wrong about your perceptions of various politicians or political philosophies? Yes. It's hard to get an accurate perception of them when all you see of them is what is depicted in traditional media and social media. I'd like to see more of the personal side of politicians so I can understand them better.
Maybe Trump is not a threat to democracy, maybe conservatives aren’t being mean to people violating our federal border laws, maybe Trumps policies are absolutely in no way a threat to minority groups.
Maybe so, deep down, but when I see how incoherent he is at public speaking, or read the names he calls his adversaries, or spreading rumors about Haitians in Springfield, OH, eating dogs, I can't help but feel like he shouldn't be anywhere near the White House.
I think there is a mental tax to hearing these sorts of engineered slogans all the time, trying to internalize them as if they were true, and not being able to create a coherent understanding of the world which allows them to be.
I think that’s the burnout you’re feeling. You’re being completely bombarded by increasingly impossible to square lies, and keeping track is tiring you out. I could see this being especially tiring if you live in a place where accidentally saying the sky is blue will get you in trouble socially.
This an accurate summary, thank you.
Stingray3906
3d ago
JDV: Margaret. The rules were that you guys weren't going to fact check, and since you're fact checking me, I think it's important to say what's actually going on. So there's an application called the CBP One app where you can go on as an illegal migrant, apply for asylum or apply for parole and be granted legal status at the wave of a Kamala Harris open border wand. That is not a person coming in, applying for a green card and waiting for ten years.
How much does JDV know about the asylum-seeking process? There's only certain situations that one can be granted asylum for (and that was narrowed recently by the Biden administration), and asylum-seekers are expected to appear in court and have a place to stay and in some cases are given ankle monitors to track their location.
Stingray3906
3d ago
Well, see, there's something we can find agreement on. I would prefer a more limited government as well, maybe not as far as suggesting we abolish the FDA for example, but I would definitely agree with you that State and federal governments have become too big, especially as it pertains to interstate commerce. I would love to see Wickford v. Filburn get overturned. I tend to be pro-2A as well, with caveats for universal background checks, training, and safe storage. I'm happy that both Harris and Walz openly talk about how their firearms owners.
I see what you're saying about "pragmatic politics". Like, it could easily go down the slippery slope of "my issue is the only one that matters" and then nothing gets done. I agree with the notion that politics should involve compromise. But if no one is willing to compromise, what then? And that's where I'm getting hung up. In everything that I've learned in life, you don't get your needs met or your voice heard by throwing out snarky one-liners or calling someone Hitler or labeling a university president as the Devil or what have you. It just doesn't make sense to me.
Stingray3906
3d ago
Yes, I would like to be challenged on the notion that all politicians have become completely self-serving and/or only serve the wealthy and elite and are incapable of nuanced thinking.
Stingray3906
3d ago
I don't know what I'm a member of anymore, but I will grant you that I didn't read the room and probably should have just posted it here.
Stingray3906
3d ago
I don't perceive him as not being gentle. I have no issue with his his comment. And yes, a lot of what I'm feeling is burnout.
Stingray3906
3d ago
Yes, it is, and respectfully, I'm not looking to have my mind changed on it.
I have to give you points for sheer balls making this post. I'm still not sure if it's genuine or intended as Motte-bait. Lines like the below are almost tropes of exactly what not to say on the Motte:
I can assure you, I'm not trying to bait anyone. I'm fully aware statements like that aren't well received here, but I came to to The Motte because folks here are genuinely insightful and responsive to what I have to say. I came here to escape Reddit, essentially. I was tired of the echo-chambers. Sometimes out of shear desperation to be heard, I post over there thinking someone would understand where I'm coming from, but it never seems to be fruitful. At least here, people are thoughtful and respectful, even if we disagree. I don't have much to lose, at this point.
Here's a question that can maybe be of help; if you believe that you are not alone in your frustration (which is true), and that a whole lot of people feel similar, then why do so many more people continue to engage in political firefights? Are they simply demented non-humans? Or they radical zealots? Or are they mostly normal people?
I think that the people you see out there engaged in political firefights represent a small fraction of political viewpoints. The loudest people in the room are the ones waging the culture war. I think that most people are more concerned about getting up, going to work, putting food on their/their family's table, their finances and their social life than they are with waging the culture war. The people out there making the most noise, I believe, are drowning out the voices of those who would take a more gentle and pragmatic approach to politics. You should know that I'm an introvert. I tend to keep my thoughts to myself and only speak when I feel confident I can put together a cohesive statement of opinion. I also tend to regress if a conversation gets too heated. So, my personal biases are definitely influencing how I feel about this.
Stingray3906
3d ago
I'm not necessarily looking for guidance from a progressive perspective, nor was I really looking for a conversation about what "loving your neighbor" means. I'm quite convicted in my position on the latter and not really interested in having my mind changed on that.
Stingray3906
3d ago
I like to think that someone might understand how I'm feeling and give genuine, constructive responses. And if you read through what I wrote, I address my issues that I have with folks on the left, too.
Stingray3906
3d ago
No, I'm honestly just emotionally over it all.
Stingray3906
3d ago
The basic point you need to understand is that people argue and fight for reasons. It's not just random, and it's not just because people are stupid. You can't just have someone come along and say "have you all just tried respecting each other instead?" and then everyone claps and goes "ah, how could we have been so blind, if only we had just tried respecting each other instead then we could have avoided all this mess".
It's not arguments in general that I take issue with, its how those arguments are conveyed. I think that you can argue while being respectful, but it seems like politicians have moved away from that.
Maybe I'm just projecting my own desire for people to be civilized when addressing conflict. When people start escalating their arguments into ad homs and inflammatory rhetoric, I disengage, I distance myself from them, or just stop talking to them all together.
Stingray3906
3d ago
I posted this on a progressive Christian subreddit yesterday, only to have it removed a few hours later. Frankly, I don't know what I expected to gain from speaking my mind there, because aside from a few people who asked genuine questions, everyone else was annoyed. Probably should have just posted it here.
--
Title: Emotionally drained by politics
For some context, I consider myself to hold left-leaning Christian and political viewpoints. I have gone through a journey of faith that has led me to re-evaluate conservative teachings and doctrine, which I no longer support or believe in. One of the most important values for me is mutual respect. I react negatively towards people who don't actively listen and hear out people who's values and beliefs are different than theirs. To be clear, active listening isn't tantamount to listening to agree, but rather listening to understand. It appears to me that this kind of listening is severely lacking not only in Christian circles, but in much of society today. I also hold above all other Scripture, the Great Commandment, and believe with my whole heart that loving your neighbor as yourself means loving every neighbor.
It of course bothers me greatly when I see Donald Trump calling Kamala Harris "mentally unwell since birth" or Donald Trump and JD Vance proclaim as fact that Haitian migrants in Springfield, OH, are eating dogs. But it also bothers me when I see pro-Palestinian activists circulating posters depicting a university president with devil horns and missiles (https://www.courant.com/2024/09/19/uconn-leaders-refuse-to-meet-with-pro-palestinian-protest-group-following-grotesque-antisemetic-imagery-depicting-university-president/), or those times when both Marjorie Taylor Green and Jasmine Crockett go back and forth taking personal jabs at each other, or even something like Tim Walz telling JD Vance to "get off the couch" and debate him. From my lived experience, acting in the manner that some of our politicians do is not fruitful and is not loving.
I recognize that the policies of the GOP are dangerous to minority groups in this country. I recognize that a Donald Trump presidency would threaten American democracy. But at the same time, I cannot help but feel like politics as a whole has become more about being right instead of making our country better. And part of making it better, I feel, is listening to not only people who hold the same values and beliefs, but also to people who don't. It appears to me that politicians are very quick to assume that all people who support the opposing party live in a vacuum, so they don't bother to hear them out. I have not seen a single Democrat or Republican candidate try to build bridges across the aisle in an effort to win over their vote. It seems like they're all cooped up in their respective echo chambers, only really caring about what it takes to get elected and nothing more.
I've actually decided not to vote at all this election. Respectfully, I am not looking to have my mind changed on this, as I've already heard and considered most of the usual arguments for why I should ("it's your civic duty" "Trump will win if you don't", "Vote the issues, not the person", etc). I live in a solidly blue state in New England. My congressperson has been in office for the past 15 years and has always won by a wide margin. Sure, there are my state and local offices, but I'm not convinced that anyone who's running would actually listen to the ideas that I have to make out state better. I think they're too busy catering to the interests of the party and wealthy donors.
I don't know, maybe what I'm seeking with this post is more understanding about my frustration than actual guidance. It's very hard for me to want to be invested in politics when it seems like all everyone wants to do is yell and scream at each other.
TL:DR This election season, due to all the personal attacks and inflammatory rhetoric and lack of mutual respect, has left me very politically disillusioned to the point where I don't want to vote anymore. Any understand or gentle guidance is appreciated.
Stingray3906
8d ago
Not voting at all
I feel like they could have gone a different route with the talk show character Murray. They made him too much like Johnny Carson. A show and character resembling Dick Cavett would have been able to navigate the complex emotional aspects of what Arthur did on the subway. I thought that was the weakest point of the film. Murray didn't give Arthur what he wanted, IMO, which was understanding. Instead he got ridicule.
Joker (the film) always reminds me of Christine (2016), about the on-air suicide of Christine Chubbuck, and anecdotally, I heard that she is somewhat of a martyr for the incel community, as well. I sympathize with her more than I do Arthur from Joker because she wrestled with her interpersonal and intrapersonal struggles for as long as she could before they became too burdensome.
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