Politics are overwhelming me

[HorrendousHexapod]

I genuinely feel as though I wasn't designed to handle everything that's happening. I hate talking about politics, I hate thinking about it, yet for some reason I force myself to hyper fixate on it. For the last few years, it feels like not a week has gone by where I haven't worried about something political. In a lot of ways, it's starting to feel like politics are designed to trap people like me in this never ending cycle of fear and anxiety, where they constantly guilt me for forming opinions against them.

This constant fighting between both sides of the political spectrum is starting to weigh down on me heavily. It just feels like, no matter what I think, no matter who I interact with, in some way it's always gonna be wrong. I keep being bombarded with these articles about how the side of the political spectrum is the reason we have so many problems in our current world. How we're all miserable, mentally unstable, unintelligent, spoiled, out of touch people that have no empathy for others that isn't purely performative. Some of this stuff is just people's opinions, sure, but other articles use surveys and studies to support what they are saying.

Of course, as this is unfortunately a hyper fixation of mine, I force myself to slog through as many of these as possible, sometimes finding that these sources either, don't fully support the claims being made, outright contradict opposing evidence from different sources, or are just really bad. I honestly don't know which sources are accurate and which aren't, but for some reason I'm always hyper critical of sources that don't cause me anxiety, but then when one does it feels like I subconsciously have to believe it immediately. I can't even choose not to read them, because if I do, I guilt myself into thinking that I'm just being wilfully ignorant for not wanting to slog through another article on why [INSERT POLITICAL IDEOLOGY HERE] are a bunch of miserable, whiney narcissists.

It feels like I can't have any opinion about any specific topic without worrying that it's wrong or immoral, or that any deviation from what is supposed to be the "proper path" for a person is guaranteed misery and emptiness. I'm sick of debating my political positions to myself, I'm sick of searching up my opinions on google to check whether or not some study says they're accurate or not. I'm sick of being talked down to about happiness, purpose in life, free will, and compassion by people self righteous, supposedly well adjusted people who talk with a tone that make it seem like they're mere seconds away from strangling their neighbour's dog.

I know I haven't specifically stated what my political beliefs are but I really don't want to start a flame war in the comments.

Please, what do I do to stop this?

 

[Mary Terry]

Get off social media and don't discuss politics with anyone. I scan the headlines of a couple of online newspapers, Wall Street Journal and New York Times, so I know what's going on but I don't read the comments to news articles because I find them to be toxic to my mental health and sense of wellbeing.

 

[Hypnalis]

@HorrendousHexapod

Engaging is a choice. You can, and probably should, opt out.
Society wouldn't work well if everyone did that OFC, but there's a balance - you don't owe society your political attention if it's harming you.

My personal solution for many years wasn't unlike Mary Terry's, so I'll describe it.

I realized that I wanted to keep in touch with current events, but noticed that things don't change much from one day to the next. So I started buying a copy of The Economist every week, and read what interested me from every week's edition.

I didn't miss anything big or important in the world, and I didn't waste time keeping up with a lot of nonsense that later turned out to be irrelevant details.

I hope you can see the similarities and differences, because I'm not suggesting you do the same as I did. I'm suggesting:

1. Don't try to keep up with the news cycle.
It functions like TikTok: a rapid churn of color, sound, and artificial drama, but hardly any real content.
2. Find out how to get a reasonable amount of information at the slowest rate possible.

 

[Hypnalis]

@HorrendousHexapod

What you're probably being exposed to is a malicious (but not new) technique that's currently being called "catastrophization".

It will help a lot if you learn to see it. But seeing it clearly might be uncomfortable.
I can explain if you like, but I'll start with something from exaggeration in comedy:

Exaggeration - Wikipedia

Note that I don't intend that as humor, though both skits are funny.

The exact same thing has been weaponized may times in the past, and is in widespread current use. In the political arena, the point of "exaggerate/embellish/weaponize" is to deliberately include the effect on individuals that you described above.

The basic solution is easy, and IMO appropriate for you:
* Learn to see it.
* Immediately stop paying attention when you observe it in use.

Not that I'm not criticizing any particular side, nor recommending switching to a different one, nor starting your own side. My recommendation is to disengage.

OTOH I enjoy the game, and am much safer from its negative aspects than most people.
If you have questions I'll answer them.

But remember: some things can't be "unseen", and the abyss stares back at you.
Be careful what you wish for

 

[Dagan]

That's pretty much the stigma of politics. The more you truly understand it, the more it will bother you because you'll find it's full of contradictions, loopholes, liars, arrogance and then some. It'll make you angrier, if you are in the US, where every time the government "shuts down" you see evidence that the country, by and large, runs just fine (if not better / quieter) without those folks. That's why the media arms that either political party "owns" will also have a down turn in things they blast in your face wanting you to be aware of and just click, click, click - engage, engage, engage.

I contend that the cold war never ended. It raged on and got more complicated. It was always about information and who owned it because that's what controlled assets, wealth, etc. And what is the age we live in called? It's the "information age." It has evolved so that your every single engagement to their goings on is something they can profit off of. A short look into that Epstein guy reveals he was doing exactly this. That's how he got rich really quick just out of nowhere. Also, it really is similar to that one episode of South Park where they find out that Earth is just a reality TV show everyone else watches and gets rich off the ad revenue. Your way to fight back is to not engage. Don't let them basically be the NCAA making money off of your Name, Image and Likeness because that's a dead set analogy for what is going on.

Also...psyops. Just find out about / how to spot psyops, and all of this will become crystal clear to you. It's not a conspiracy theory. It's not pseudo-beliefs. It's real, and it's been done throughout the history of powerful empires / populations / religions / militaries, and because it works, the elites keep using it.

 

[NB79]

Ah yes, me too, lately i just avoid watching because it can affect me, even the headlines get me, and are a lot of times alarmist, and like someone said 'catastrophic', WARNING WARNING ALERT DOOM DOOM.

I have seen people in both sides don't care to even bend reality if it means not giving credit to the other side.

 

[thejuice]

I think we should have a referendum to abolish politics.

 

[Neonatal RRT]

Politics is about "winning" and "losing" control these days. It's not about picking your representative and having that representative speak and make decisions upon your behalf. It's about money and power.

The reality is that there is only a limited amount of money flowing into the system. As such, whomever is in power controls the money and where it goes. The other variable surrounds the amount of fraud, abuse, and corruption allowed to happen. Many highly functioning psychopaths and sociopaths within the political system often have difficulties with moral self-restraint. For many, being a politician is an opportunity for a "money grab".

Having said that, the average citizen is at the mercy of whatever decisions are being made and can only adapt and overcome... if they can.

There is some inherent value in understanding the game of chess going on in government. That knowledge can allow you more time to plan ahead for your future... that adaptive process. Personal experience would suggest there is absolutely zero sense in getting emotional as it is wasted mental energy that serves no purpose other than to cloud your brain's ability to adapt.

The serenity prayer:
"God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference."

The ability to adapt and overcome is key to survival... more so than intelligence and physical strength.

 

[Mary Terry]

I think we should have a referendum to abolish politics.

No kings in America. Now or ever.

 

[Matthias]

Politicians often exaggerate things to score political points just like the media does to get more viewers. Think about how much of a difference it actually makes in your life. Does your life get noticeably better or worse when different people are in charge? I've found my life doesn't change much regardless of which party is in control.

 

[Neonatal RRT]

I think we should have a referendum to abolish politics.

... and the obvious response would be, "Are we to entrust the politicians to abolish politics?" The only way to do this is, in practice, to embrace a "king", an authoritarian dictatorship, to "clean house". Do we, the people, take to the streets in active, violent protest and physically remove the politicians? The systems they have put into place still control the flow of money, with or without them, and then they have the military and hired security teams. How do you democratically wipe clean all the laws, policies, and Constitutional Amendments that created the system, without an authoritarian dictator? We all have seen the mistakes of the many countries around the world who have tried this. As one might say, "Out of the frying pan and into the fire." "The cure is worse than the disease."

Another thought here would be to wait and see what happens over the next 10-20 years with artificial general intelligence (AGI) and humanoid robotics. Within the next 10 years (conservatively), likely sooner, the gross domestic product of the US and many other countries will 10X. With that, the costs of production of most things will be next to nothing, the amount of supply will far exceed demand, deflationary processes will occur, and money, as we know it today will be inconsequential. Seems pretty dystopian, but the end result will be that we will all have access to everything... and this concept of "I can't afford it" goes away... the AGI systems and robots will take care of humans. Basically, the key capitalist rules surrounding "supply and demand" will no longer exist in this paradigm. "Going to work" will be voluntary. People will be issued enough "money" or "credits" to have a high universal income.

Now, having said all that, the core of politics is how government revenue is distributed... ideally, by the current demands of society... although that rarely happens today. When you have a paradigm where AGI and robotics have essentially occupied all the jobs... and humans have no work income... and no taxable income for the government to operate upon, how does the government obtain income? The only source that will be taxable will be the producers of goods and services. The government issues money or credits to the citizens... so they can purchase goods and services... so that the corporations have income to produce goods and services... and the "wheels keep rolling". What are politicians to do when the people they are supposed to serve have access to everything? What happens when people want for nothing?

All I have to say is that we are quickly approaching a "singularity" moment when everything we have held true in all of our life experience will quickly change. All we can hope for is that when the "dust settles" we are in a better situation. Let's have some cautious optimism because the initial phases of this are already being seen and it will be a "bumpy ride" for a lot of people. Change is not something most people handle well, but it is coming, "the train has left the station".