I invest hope in dumb shit that’s none of my business. Politics should be of no concern to me. However much my fellow citizens want to fuck things up is entirely up to them. It’s a reflection of how little I have going on in my own life that I let myself get hung up on the idea that external forces will somehow improve things.
The world is fucked, and I should be indifferent to that fact, instead of allowing myself to be hurt time and again by entirely predictable political outcomes.
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i tend to avoid news and basically anything to do with the outside world. i know its bad and thats all i need to know
I should do that. I suppose I’m kind of addicted to thinking about stuff beyond my control, which is a recipe for feeling bad.
typically. something i find helpful sometimes is
“i have the serenity to accept the things i can not change
the courage to change the things i can
and the wisdom to know the difference”
its a religious thing but not being that type of religious i reworded it a bit. besides its the meaning not who its from that counts 🙂
Yeah, the serenity prayer’s great. I think of it from time to time, but I guess I still lack the actual serenity, courage, or wisdom.
i find what helps is not just saying it but using it. like maybe i forget to tell my husband something at work so we have to go back and fix it. i tell myself “i have the serenity to accept the things that can not change. i cant change that i didnt tell him. i have the courage to change the things i can. i can try to remember to tell him in the future. and i have the courage to know the difference” for the last part i just smile kinda like a way to congratulating myself for knowing the difference
That sounds like a good approach.
happy to help 🙂
What’s the saying – “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again?”
A two party political system that has been in power for too damn long and created a situation that cannot be repaired no matter how hard they try, it can only be maintained much the same way the Titanic was “maintained” until it’s weight exceeded it’s buoyancy, and every four years I see politically inclined zealots and lemmings jumping up and down because “This year…this is the year….our candidate is FINALLY going to right the ship!”
(Sound of crickets chirping….)
Chuckle. I’m looking for my baggage and hoping there’s a spot on a lifeboat. Or not.
Yep. And every time, I try to manage my expectations, and distance myself from it all, and be realistic. And every time, I let this little bit of hope creep in…only for it to be completely crushed.
If it’s any of my beeswax, what got your hopes up?
A combination of last minute events and my own deluded thinking I suppose. I wanted so badly to believe in all that hopey changey shit that I was looking for any sign that it might actually happen. Instead…conservative landslide, and another 5 years of same old.
As one of your depressed cousins across the ocean, I have to say I got caught up in the hopey changey nonsense as well. A lot of us Americans were looking to the UK as a sign that the collective madness of the planet was turning around. Instead, nope, the overwhelming majority votes to continue the same crap. And unfortunately I think that’s a signal of what to expect in the US next year. Right down to the same hideous hair. At least your guy can form complete sentences.
I fear you may be right. Still, at least your guy can only stand for another 4 years. We’re looking at a whole generation of conservative rule.
We’ve reached a kind of breaking point. The entrenched interests might keep winning, but they’ll pay a heavy price for it. Just look how much Bloomberg dumped into ad buys just this quarter. He spent enough to pay for free college for everybody for two years. That alone speaks volumes to what’s going on right now.
Missed a zero there. Whoops. Well, $100,000,000 is nothing to shake a stick at, either way.
I can’t figure out who’s insane – every politician and citizen who believes in what is happening and sees value in continuing to pursue change through the democratic process, or me, for sitting back, scratching my head and thinking how nutty it all is. I missed a gene or something during conception I suppose. My mind doesn’t even begin to know how to think politically. I can only make fun of it.
Yeah, but thats only because you haven’t sat through $100,000,000 worth of political ads with Michael Bloomberg’s face all over them. I hear it’s a life changing experience.
Lol. Yeah, it would make me want to change my life. Permanently end it. Oh wait, I’m already there, sort of….
Super relatable. Assume the country in question is the UK?
Yeah. I tried to prepare myself for the worst, but when it actually came it was still gutting somehow 🙁
I’m starting to feel numb. I feel like over the last maybe five years, the world has gone absolutely mental.
If we could just collectively agree to not destroy the environment we depend upon, that would be enough for me. I’d tolerate any number of nutty self-harming policies for that concession. But no…
For that to happen, there would have to be actual consequences to committing evil acts. There blatantly isn’t.
Putin is better off than the journalists he had murdered, isn’t he? Duterte is better off than the drug addicts he had murdered, isn’t he? Ruper Murdoch is better off than you and I are, isn’t he? Tommy Robinson is better off than Jo Cox, isn’t he?
The Dark Side wins. Apparently.
I can’t put this all on the likes of Rupert Murdoch unfortunately. To a large extent I think people hear what they want to hear. Their view was partially shaped by more powerful interests, but they chose this. Not because they’re evil, but just because they have a different experience of reality, and different priorities.
I didn’t know you’re in the U.K.
Same difference as across the pond, I suppose. Hope for the best and shake your head when it doesn’t happen.
His own brother doesn’t even trust him yet the majority of the UK electorate does, it really defies belief.
Guess they just had to have that sweet brexity freedom. Or they thought that his opponent was some combination of Stalin & Hitler.
Didn’t the same moderate/centrist forces that spent a massive amount of time and resources smearing Corbyn in the run-up to the election also wind up getting basically demolished, while the more radical leftists either held ground or only lost a little?
The Lib Dems (centrists) increased their vote share, but lost seats. Corbyn’s Labour did well in large cities and university towns, but lost many of their small town working class seats, and their share of the vote fell significantly. Unfortunately, because of our electoral system the opposition vote is always split between the liberals and labour, allowing the Conservatives to win a majority.
Have you heard of the Koch brothers?
@the infinite abyss ” the same hideous hair” I like that, I chuckled aloud ?
Hah for real it says a lot about a politician when they can’t admit their receding hairline gracefully. Instead (much like their policies) they engineer some abomination of a coverup and convince themselves that everyone is falling for it. Looks like your leader is a crusty old man auditioning for a Beatles tribute band. And our guy is a senile octogenarian who fashions his hair after Napoleon’s hat only pointing forward because he’s that stupid. Seriously, it’s a sad day on the world stage when the best hair belongs to Kim Jong Un.
Typo for some reason a ? Was added to my comment, please ignore.