Avoiding politics

I am interested in politics, but only to a certain degree. I find that the smallest action will get blown out of proportion with arms waving on all sides. The media will get a hold of it and we won't hear of anything else for days or weeks.
In Canada we get just as much American media as Canadian, so double the bombardment.

Quite often I find I can't make a proper informed decision because of all the back-history of an issue. My hubby has a longer memory....remember when the opposition party voted down that issue, now they've turned tables, etc. I could never be a politician!

I do the best I can to stay informed with both national and international issues. Getting a bit bogged down with your Brexit, I admit!

My reason for not getting involved is as OP suggested, political discussion only leads to argument. Family divided by Brexit which isn't a good situation for the past 2+ years

And be edukated.

Elegran
Because they genuinely believe that only they are the font of all political knowledge and 'some' of us should hang on their every word.

Why do keen debaters assume that because posters don't wish to argue here, with them, that they are not interested in politics? Perhaps they do their own reading and thinking, and vote accordingly, but have no desire to take part in a fencing match over it all.

And when the link poster uses links to known supporters of their opinions!

As in:

Remain -
The Guardian
The Independent
Channel 4 news
The Times

Leave -
The Telegraph
The Daily Mail (although less so since the change in editor!)

ad infinitum - you get my drift!

Fair enough janeainsworth
Good point.

And when the link-poster would then come back and berate people for not reading the links

I (politely) disagree with you about links urmstongran.
Someone might give a brief summary of an article, but often the article itself is a worthwhile read. I’ve been introduced to several writers and blogs by links that other GNers have posted.

What I do find tiresome is when someone posts a link as an answer to someone else’s statement, without any explanation. That used to happen a lot on the political threads and seems pure laziness to me - basically saying ‘I can’t be bothered to state my own opinion, just read this link instead.’ Especially when the links turned out to be to long, boring articles.

What happened tinaf1?

I also feel same way as Beckett and Jainsworth posted on a brexit thread once never again

I like a discussion, but hate argument. So I leave the political threads alone. As do many others on this thread

Totally agree Callistemon

Sorry varian I’m sure you mean well (trying to educate us) but you just shoot yourself in the foot don’t you?

And links are a bind to be honest! Honestly it’s not that we’re thick but all of us get stuff from all sorts of media sources and so another person’s ‘facts’ when presented as a link are, quite a turn off. Why not just post ‘in my opinion’ and give a view from ‘your’ experts? I just think that would be more interesting.

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

I’m another one who is very interested in politics, but not very interested in getting into arguments about it. I’ve never belonged to a political party, and my allegiances, if any, change according to what’s going on at the time. I’m not extreme in any direction. Not impressed by leading politicians at the moment!

Varian is it any wonder when so often those who have a different view are considered by certain posters to be ill informed, semi illiterate idiots who don't have a clue what they are talking about.

I belong to that small minority of folk that are actually interested in politics, and I notice that the GN politics posters, who have a good range of strongly held opinions, are probably quite a small minority of GNetters.

Isn't that in itself patronising?

I’m keen on the political threads (no!!).

Most posters are very polite I find. I get pressed occasionally on my views but that’s okay.
?

I do sometimes think I wonder what it would be like at a social event where we would all wear our GN identities? Bet you a pound to a penny we would actually like one another!

Trying to voice any political opinion on GN appears to leave one open to ridicule and accusations of far right leanings

So true Alima

I gave up more or less arguing on the Brexit threads. They were just going around in circles re-hashing old arguments and getting nowhere.

There were two tribes and no middle ground - but actually <thinks> there shouldn't be if the only choices are in or out.

Like you, I wonder why I go on the political threads. I read about what is going on in the world and have discussions with family and friends (not a good idea, often) but don't need to write about it here, to then be accused of being all sorts of horrible things. I am none of the things the 'opposition' accuse me of.

I do get fed up at times attempting to protest, but I will stand up to what I see as unfairness. I don't think it serves any purpose but there is a small, happy band, in the minority, who tend to take up the cudgels and stand up to the more vociferous,

It's probably a complete waste of time and it does nothing for the blood pressure!

You just proved the point of why people don't post, varian.

Quite a lot of posters on the politics threads do provide facts and useful links to surveys, speeches, statistical data etc, so it is possible to learn from them. Unfortunately it seems that those who most need information are sometimes the least likely to check out the facts and figures.

I have been interested in politics since I was 4 and I used, many moons ago to take quite an active part in political threads on GN but over the last 5 years they have deteriorated to being the same group of people saying the same old, same old, toeing the party line, until I canot tell one thread from t'other.n If all else fails they parade the poor like a useful poodle. A habit I find distasteful and insulting. It reminds meof that Monty Python sketch where every one competes to prove how poor they were when children, a singularly unpleasant way of virtue signalling.

Now and again I still post the odd squib, usually ignored. Try and get people to provide the facts behind their statements, requests also ignored. So why bother?

Agree Beckett it’s pretty ugly at the moment in rl with disgraceful comments like ‘nazi’ and ‘traitor’ banded about by elected politicians who should know better.

Beckett and janeainsworth
say it all.

I’m very interested in politics but I’m not interested in descending into cat-fights with people I don’t know on social media.
That’s possibly being unfair to cats.

Beckett and Alima say it all for me too