My theory is that "politics" is for people who don't get so much into sports or activities and have too much time on their hands. It's just another kind of sport with ever changing rules that you cannot pin down. We can discuss politics all day as random human beings, but unless we are actually politicians all we are doing is running air over gums. Maybe it would be considered a compulsion or obsession. It gets nothing done. And politicians must like being stuck in the mud. Because that's what it would be like. Constantly banging your head against walls and getting nothing much done except enlarging your bank account. Us "civilians" don't even get paid for having the discussion! We may as well be discussing the latest fashion or piece of art like some snob in a suit. We need to get out of the political muck of "you are right and I am left" or "you are wrong and I am right" and simply start DOING. It's the only chance we have of rising above slavedom and reclaiming our souls.
Everyone is involved in politics everyday. Politic is shrewdness, tact, and cunning used to advance civility. Please and thank you are political or polite statements.
To be fair, I think this is what we are talking about. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politics A politician COULD be polite, but not necessarily. Politeness would be a way to influence others to your side tho.
Do you think I am being unfair? I think we are talking about the same thing and your generalization of politics or the political scene is harsh. Everyone has their seemingly idle interests and everyone their pets. Politics includes shrewdness and cunning as well as the polite tact. It would be cunning for example to conceal a present with wrapping paper and sneak it under the tree creating interest and anxious anticipation. It would be shrewd to keep your appointments so that people feel they can count on you. Politics is essential to civil organization although a particular political system is not. Politics are susceptible to corruption however when the civil interest is co-opted by the purely self interested.
Where did I call you unfair? You can be shrewd and polite and cunning without it having a single thing to do with the type of politics I am talking about. Unless you know something I don't.
You can however be politically correct, and in some small way that has something to do with politics far more than common sense.
But my real question would be blah blah blah, but WHAT are we gonna DO about it? I am very solution oriented, not problem oriented. "Politics" is just a way to confuse and divide people. Dump the political drama and ACT towards actually making the world a better place. But if you get too caught up in the details of debate and us versus them, it's like being stuck rather than being able to SEE what to do.
Obviously I don't feel political debate is the same thing as political action. What are we gonna do? All civility is precisely equal to your relationship to the person standing next to you. Be ever polite and respectful in all of your relationships. Civilization does not end when you close the door to your home. Don't dump politics be a good politician.
A way of responding to your statement, "to be fair,"... You are talking about the corruption of politics as I mention and the same elements are present. To the purely self interested, tact becomes repaying favors, cunning becomes lying, and shrewdness becomes viciousness.
thumb And you base this theory on what? I’ve got a nine year old my life is full of activity and time is short, I also run (ran the London marathon) enjoying climbing and cycling along with many other activities, and I know many others like me who are interested and involved in politics. Is having an interest in sport or politics or any other activity a bad thing in you view? If a citizen discusses politics they are a politician. Is having fun a compulsion or obsession, is been interested in anything a compulsion or obsession is enjoying Game of Thrones or the Big Bang Theory a compulsion or obsession? Again what are you basing you ideas on? And you evidence for this is what? And you evidence for thinking all politicians are corrupt? You want to be paid to do things you are interested in otherwise you wouldn’t do them, (oh no I’m not going to watch my favourite TV show unless someone pays me) that just seems silly. To you anyone interested in fashion is a slut and anyone interested in art is a snob? You seem to have a very warped view of life. But some people do have right wing views and some do have left wing views, I’m proud to be a leftie. Wrong and right is subjective and too black or white most politics is shades of grey, but some ideas in my opinion are better than others. What would you DO What the hell are you going on about?
If you expect me to paint a picture in technicolor, you MUST give me something more to work with than black and white. :sunny: I didn't realize I was so interesting.
Even if its something that we totally disagree with: I have more in common with a political person than a NASCAR person, or a Fashionista, or a Sports nut, Telenovellas or another escapist persuit. Politics are current events; from our little village up to the entire globe. Who could ever tire of discussing: The State; the Virtues of the State, Public priorities, Wealth & inequality, Environmental issues ?? I do Love my fellow Hip Forums people even if we disagree all the time! we speak of life in real time! :daisy:
Go study Harvard's YouTube channel. Lots of politicians are grown there at Harvard. Lawmakers and lawyers and such...
This strikes me as an incredibly arrogant and egotistical reply it implies thumb believes he doesn’t need to repeat because he believes he always gets things right the first time - he doesn’t explain because he believes he’s always right - and that anything he says he believes is the one and only truth. It comes across as something said by a rather spoilt child and I hope it is a phase he/she grows out of.
Piney I agree. Whatever else I learn a lot and have a few laughs But there are always those that don’t feel they need to learn because they feel they just know and others that think that if they ignore politics, politics will go away but end up finding politics steam rolls right over the top of them. Its an old debate does being involved in politics just perpetuate the same or can it change things
When i say I THINK a thing, all it is is MY opinion. If you do not agree with my opinion, it does not matter. My opinion may not be yours but I am still allowed to have one. That's OK. It's not worth getting all worked up over I always try to state my beliefs quite clearly, so that I can be quite sure I'm understood. I see no need to pick them apart. Again, they are only MINE. If others can accept that I have mine and they have theirs, we can all get along. And Now, back to my opinion. Some people spend great amounts of energy and time discussing "politics" without any direction other than they find it to be fun or entertaining. It's the continuous drama mindset that has to be fed for a lot of people to be happy. That, in my mind, would put it under the category of "sports". The continuous sparring, "being right", my side/your side, and as we can see here, a sense of - you must play by certain rules or I will attempt to insult you - which is nothing more than a manipulation tactic and an attempt to get attention........ It is ALL either an obsession or a hobby. Politics is simply a game that privileged people play to make the "masses" think that they have some kind of power. I am a firm believer in the idea that most politicians are psychopaths and getting caught up in the details of things when you cannot effect some physical change is nothing but a time consuming hobby. I simply get tired of all talk and no action, when much of the talk is so much blather.
