Post removed due to major assholenessOriginally Posted by Jinsai
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Post removed due to major assholeness
Last edited by Dryalex12; 01-23-2017 at 01:59 AM.
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This thread will be well ready for you when you are. Not if, when. If yesterday was any indication, more and more of America will hopefully be more hands-on with the political process.
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The thing is, if a political situation gets bad enough to start seriously impacting your life, it might be too late to do anything about it by that point. Otherwise it's like saying, "I'll quit smoking after I get lung cancer. No point bothering before then."
I think the idea behind political engagement is to (hopefully) prevent everything from turning to shit in the first place.
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Both valid points, but I'd be careful about discouraging people who are getting involved later than ideal. It's never too late to start. Quitting smoking after being diagnosed with lung cancer could be the difference between a successful long-term treatment and dying in a few months.
I agree with your overall point though: the sooner you get involved, the better. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, as they say.
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Added the text in bold to accurately update that post.
When a leader of a democratic government condones sexual assault, dismisses and discourages scientific fact (anti-vax, climate change, etc), fights to diminish a free press, and spews hate speech on a near-daily basis, IT AFFECTS EVERYONE.
Okay, maybe your apartment didn't blow up. Good for you. Your material possessions are safe. But meanwhile, millions of women are at risk of losing access to affordable health care. These are the same women who are now being catcalled and harassed even more than they were before, because if the President can do it, why can't other guys? Kids - who can't make their own choices - will be put at an increased risk for serious and potentially fatal diseases because this guy thinks vaccines cause autism. Global temperatures will continue to rise at an alarming rate because he's already working to peel back rules for stricter emissions controls. And under-educated Americans who don't have the intelligence to separate fact from fiction will start believing what the administration tells you, instead of what has been reported through multiple channels and trusted established sources. Then there's the saber-rattling with volatile nuclear-capable nations....
But hey, at least your shitty little apartment didn't blow up, so I guess you don't need to be at all concerned about what's going on in politics.
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Totally! I mean, who cares about sexually assaulting women, right, bro?
And when it does you don't get to come in here and complain about it. You make your bed, you get to lie in it.Look i don't like to talk about politics, I try to stay far away from it. I know little to nothing about it....but the truth is, to be blunt....I don't care until it starts to effect me.
Well, you do. "I don't care about anyone but myself" is a disgusting, shitty attitude to have and you should seriously do some reflecting on if that's really the kind of person you want to be.Again, I dont want to sound like an asshole
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That is not at all what I think. I knew it was gonna bite me in the when I said that.
I do care for everyone of you, but the thing is....I don't know what to do? Look, I'm half sorry, I'm sorry for sounding like a giant prick who didn't care about anyone. That is not at all what I wanted.
I just want to be able to go on the net, do stuff I like without getting so depressed by how fucking hopeless all of you are. The pessimism is so fucking high all over the place that I think iI need to rename it to Pissimism.
I do care, there's just nothing I really can do. *shrugs* all I am is 20-year-old guy from Oregon who has Aspergers, what the hell am I gonna do? Should I got outside and flood the streets to protest, you know, cuz there aren't any ambulances and fire trucks that need to get through.
I get it, the stuff he said was bad and I don't like. But in the long run, it hasn't done anything to me.
This is why I don't post here, and i'm going back to saying off here.
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The gay marriage decision didn't affect me (I am gay, but I have no interest in marriage). Does that mean I didn't do everything I could to fight for it? No, because there are people I know (and people I DON'T know) who it did affect. It's called empathy, and it's something that is lacking in this world, especially as of late. Saying that "I only care if it affects me" and "it's survival of the fittest" is exactly what fucks like Trump want you to think. (Just look at how many times he's mentioned his "good genes" and you'll see what I mean.) They don't want you to get involved. They want you to stay sedentary and just watch as everything goes by.
You asked what you were supposed to do about everything. Well, you don't have to get out in the streets and hold up signs and protest (or destroy property, as some idiots were want to do). You can start small. I always say it's important to stay educated. Read up on issues that affect people, and by that I don't mean just watching the news or reading stuff on forums. Learn about history and you'll see just how connected we all are and how stuff can affect you, even if you aren't aware of it.
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Sure, protesting is really good sometimes, but honestly the greatest thing you can do is VOTE IN THE 2018 MIDTERM ELECTIONS.
It looks like Oregon doesn't have any senators up for reelection that year, but they do have a number of people up for election for the House of Representatives. Check your map and see which congressional district you belong to and vote. If you have friends/family/etc that will listen to you, get them to vote too. The good thing is that Oregon is a pretty reliably blue state (although it looks like the 2nd Congressional district had a Republican who's stuck in there for almost 20 years). You should vote and make sure it STAYS that way. These things matter because these are all the people who actually WRITE the fucking laws of this country. Right now congress is dominated by a bunch of Republican scumbags who will more or less do everything Trump orders them to do. It's a bad fucking situation. But if we can successfully REPLACE those assholes with Dems (or anyone else who's strongly opposed to Trump) it'll make his job way fucking harder. Then we'll actually stand a chance.
You're still fairly young, so it's actually totally normal to feel overwhelmed/helpless about the political situation around you. Something else to consider is getting into some smaller issue that interests you and see what you can do there. After all, you're just one person, you can't save the whole world. But if you get super into a certain topic or issue, you might figure out that there's something you feel inspired to do. Or, at the very least, just learn about things and be part of the conversation. That's my two cents.
tempus est umbra in mente
If this is really the way you feel, I hope you didn't vote.
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