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They think they exist, but they do not. “Apolitical” usually just means “Fine with the status quo” which isn’t apolitical, it’s at bst non-confrontational. It also tends to reek of ignorance of what’s actually happening around them. That’s all at best, there are tons of people who use “Apolitical” to push far right agendas in spaces not centered around politics.
There’s a reason the joke of “Only two races/genders/etc exist to gamers; white/male/etc, and political.” You can replace gamers with any group that’s (at least perceived to be) predominantly white men, and it still comes out.
This is a good way way to put it, and I hadn’t though of that. Switching “apolitical” with “fine with the status quo” is elucidating. I will be doing that from now on.
Thank you for being on lemmy!
Children.
Fully and wholely children. Politics matter; shutting your ears and eyes to reality is not a viable strategy long term, honestly not even in the short term.
Children arent expected to participate in civic matters, at least to the degree adults do. You shirk those duties you are a child in practice. I’m not saying you need a stance on every thing that happens in a society but saying I don’t do politics (no the same as saying I’m not informed enough to have a strong opinion) is not becoming of a responsible adult in a functional society. Unfortunately we have a lot of people who say they’re not into politics as a cover for their beliefs in bad policy.
Mr Plato, you’ve got yourself a deal!
“When someone tells me he is politically neutral, I always ask which politics he specifically has in mind” - Baptism of Fire (The Witcher Book 5)
i don’t understand this quote
Some people are apolitical because they can’t decide if we should install a stop sign on second avenue or instead use that money to repaint the crosswalk.
Some people are apolitical because they can’t decide if it’s ok for cops to kill innocent mothers in their car or not.
Because politics encompasses almost everything, to be truly politically neutral would mean having no strong views on anything in life.
It’s possible to be neutral on certain topics, but to be fully neutral you’d have to have no real opinions on economics, immigration, the military, the role of religion, equality, education…
So the quote is saying you can’t truly be neutral on everything, what specific things are you actually neutral on.
You basically are political opinionated or a plant.
What makes a man turn neutral? Lust for money? Power? Or were you just born with a heart full of neutrality?
the fact people are finite.
we can’t care about everything, nor should we. we generally only care about what we perceive to be relevant to our lives, and ignore most everything else.
Most people would believe themselves to be politically sane and sensible. The people further than them in either direction are too soft or too extremist;so to them, they are politically neutral.
Or: they are for maintaining the status quo, and the person asking is then asking the respondee to specify the current political situation they want maintained to make their political biases explicit
“Oh, you don’t care about politics. Your landlord does. Your boss does. Your banker does. People with a lot more money, power, and influence do. And they’re interested in what’s good for them, not you.”
Carlin right?
Paraphrased, yes
not participating equals being fine with the status quo, and nobody i’ve met has ever been perfectly fine with the status quo.
you don’t have to be perfectly fine, we can never be perfect
which is why nobody is apolitical, even if they think they are.
They are the foundation upon which the scum of the earth build their empires.
Evil wouldn’t be able to gain ground if it weren’t for the apathetic, willfully ignorant masses of lazy assholes who can’t be bothered to give a shit about themselves or the people around them.
If someone claims to be apolitical, they just don’t want to talk about it with you; even if they agree with you.
Even in the army, when we were supposed to present as apolitical, we still voted, which means we needed to consider and learn and understand. We just didn’t talk about it at work or socially.
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Politics has just always been such a no-no topic at work, it’s no wonder we can’t organize any sort of real labor movement now.
I think it’s even worse in the MAGA era.
we still voted, which means we needed to consider and learn and understand…
I feel like that particular voting strategy is long dead in the U.S. and Canada. Knowledge?! Who needs it?!
It’s a myth, unless you literally lack the brainpower to have an opinion, you can’t be apolitical. What you really are, is willfully ignorant of politics, and too cowed to stand against (or with I guess) the literal nazis currently running the country.
I mean im in the us and we have often masked, often unmarked, paramilitary draggin people off the streets in a way that seems to be geared toward as much property and health damage as possible and executing people every so often for good measure. The bill of rights is being ignored which is basically a list of things happening to cause the revolutionary war that they put in there to say these can never happen. Being apolitical 50, 25, heck even 10 years ago was one thing but you have to be a fool to not speak out at this point.
They can’t be bothered to expend the mental effort at understanding the issues and then be placed in a position to do something about it, like vote. Big chance they’re libertarian or closeted conservative, they don’t want to do anything for anyone.
Like centrists, will be getting a wake up call shortly.
Not everybody lives in a two-party hell-hole. Being able to choose a little bit of A, B, and C is possible.
I dont live in a two party country, and Im not commenting from that perspective. The major parties here are right wing, but someone can still be centrist.
So what’s with the anti-centrist rhetoric?
Because i think centrists go whichever way the prevailing wind blows, and at the moment its blowing to the right.
That by definition is not a centrist.
Are you a centrist?
Do I have to belong to a group to defend them?
The problem is that the center is defined relative to whatever political strains happen to exist at the moment, which are always in motion. The periphery moves, so the center moves with it. Anyone calling themselves centrists for an extended period of time is just someone without convictions who follows the general vibe around them.
Progressives just follow the general vibes forward without thinking, they are mindless tools who want to go forward at any cost.
Do you realise how ridiculous your statement is once applied to another group? Change is constant. Adapting to it doesn’t mean people are without convictions. Furthermore, you are judging the destination (centric), regardless of the path taken to get there. You can end up a centrist by carefully weighing the teachings, convictions, and information multiple camps provide. Or you can end up a centrist by having no thought and refusing to take a side à la “the only way to win is not to play”.
You are also presenting a false dichotomy: either you have convictions and stick to them no matter what, or you have none and accept whatever argument happens to sway you to one extreme or the other. People are more complicated that “left right”, right-wrong, black-white,… The ability to weigh arguments, be open to comprimise, and thoughtfully consider new ideas isn’t a fault.
Apolitical people: please I beg you just pay attention for a few minutes
What is an apolitical person?
A privileged idiot.
I agree. But can you imagine the headspace. The ability to not get soooo peeved off. It would like being a child again. Ignorance really is bliss.
But the real world brains and we all have to play a part.
someone who doesn’t participate in politics
Someone who thinks they don’t participate in politics.
Either you have an ideology, or an ideology has you.
Well said
That is one of the more profound statements I’ve seen in a long time. Thank you!
isn’t that black and white thinking?
Well the gray zone would be
ermiteshermits living outside our society and are apolitical because they don’t have politics at all I guess.But even choosing to do so is political…
Shit on “apolitical” people all you want, but i’d certainly prefer them over highly radicalized douchebags. Staying a decent human being should come first, political stance somewhere after.
