this post was submitted on 20 Sep 2023
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Huh, yeah we're probably in closer agreement that initially appeared. Some earlier bits in your other comments came across more "anti-politics"
Well I see it as a necessary evil. If you have democracy you're gonna have politics. Hell you still have politics even without democracy, just a different kind and usually behind closed doors.
For me the phrase "politics is stupid but politics is important" sums it up best.
Politics is like taking a shit, it's messy and it stinks, but it's something you gotta deal with. And it's preferable to take a shower after it's been dealt with.
I feel like you're splitting hairs, like saying all the shit parts of democracy are politics and all the not shit parts are somehow not politics. Democracy IS a part of politics. How about this, if you are to play devil's advocate for yourself, try listing 3 examples of how politics is good rather than evil.
My view is a bit different though. I see it more as an inherent property or process of society, like mass is to matter or spatial distribution of a flock of birds.
No the political aspects are also shit. Democracy is shit too. It's just less shit than the alternatives. I think holding up democracy as some shining beacon of goodness leads to a lot of disappointment and disenfranchisement. Every system involving humans will be turned to shit, people will try to corrupt anything to gain personal advantage. But democracy is the best we're capable of having and if we make some effort to improve it, it will be less shit. Though still shitty because because politics makes things shitty.
I think I've lost your meaning of shit/ty. It sounds like everything is shit. Life is shit, you're born, you suffer, you die shitty, etc. Which sounds edgy but doesn't really mean anything. What do you mean by shit/ty?
And at this point totally fair to call it here on this thread. It's just my gut reaction to your response.
Yeah a lot of things are shit. It's weird to put politics (of all things) on a pedestal and try to see the world through the shittiest of lenses. There are plenty of things the world that are actually good and trying to make everything about politics is just making things shitty that otherwise wouldn't be.
Yeah that's a bit of a strawman. The only people "putting politics on a pedestal" are human characatures, like people who's whole identity is worshipping Trump are to conservatives or "alpha males" to men.
Anyway I already gave my take on politics being a property more than a lens.