I am not interested in politics ...

But I don't really get the connection between discussing / arguing / debating politics and living a crap life?

Okay, maybe that was a bit of an exaggeration - but from my experience, people who spend a lot of time arguing politics - particularly online - seem very angry. They appear to
want an argument with literally anyone who’ll oblige. That in itself makes me think there’s unhappiness somewhere. I mean, politicians get paid to talk politics all day ( & even they take holidays ) but an ‘ordinary’ person who goes on & on about every twist & turn must be either bored stiff with nothing else to do, or very angry.
Some people are still moaning about Brexit for example - the referendum was years ago!

Most people who talk endlessly about politics just want to rant about their crap lives.



... or, if they are on a politics and news thread, it could be that they are interested in politics... among other things going on in their lives?

I admit that if someone is asking for help and advice about a situation that is distressing / disturbing them, they might not want to, understandably, listen to the 'politics' of it. And those who aren't interested in the subject at all will presumably, not be active on political threads.

But I don't really get the connection between discussing / arguing / debating politics and living a crap life? Are you saying that if we are interested in politics we, by default, don't live very good lives?

It certainly is!

MissAdventure

"I fell down a pothole today"

"Ah, well did you ask yourself about the infrastructure... closing down of small businesses... tory policy"?

"No, I just rolled around on the floor groaning".

DH tore off a loose toenail today.
Lots of blood, wouldn't go to hospital because of the waiting times.

"I'd rather bleed to death at home than in Minor Injuries waiting room".

Now, that's political!!

I don't know Baggs but they seem to speak a lot of sense.
What I do know is that I was on that Travel thread about paperless train tickets on our phones. Suddenly the thread went comppletrly off track and exploded into a discussion about privatisation of the railways, Brexit, Politics, and trains abroad. Those comments were completely useless when the OP just wanted to discuss ways of getting a printed ticket, and not Politics.

"I fell down a pothole today"

"Ah, well did you ask yourself about the infrastructure... closing down of small businesses... tory policy"?

"No, I just rolled around on the floor groaning".

Kalu

When a poster starts a thread looking for advice and support as opposed to discussing politics, it is so tiresome when a poster arrives to bang their drum, yet again, with their strong personal political views and an ear bashing of, one obviously has no interest in what is happening in the UK when reminded this is not a political thread as the OP has other worries at this moment. I don’t appreciate being preached at nor being told what I think.

There comes a point when the ear basher should read the room and zip it.

?

Oops, we're not in a clique!

In my opinion, politicising that particular thread did nothing to help the OP's decision or even peace of mind.
Posters had been trying to help her in a positive way and not being Jeremiahs.

I don't think it's fair to use that thread as a reason to criticise other posters. It was obviously a very sensitive issue for the OP.

Awww I've always wanted to be in a clique!

Aveline

I am not interested in being preached to about what I should or should not care about.

Absolutely!

I am not in a clique with Aveline btw, I just happen to agree with that statement.

TerriBull it’s a full time distraction getting the right shade of red lipstick especially when it clashes with one’s beret!
???

kittylester

*baggs*, as always, talks an awful of sense.

And, say someone wants a rant about the railways, they maybe just want a rant about the railways, not a lecture on how it was much better before privatisation, how Brexit made it worse and how the UK's trains will never be as good as the rest of Europe.

They maybe just wanted to say that Passenger Assistance in Manchester last week abandoned them and they are spitting tacks. As happened to DS1.

You put it very well Kittylester - my sympathies to your DS, we used to use Passenger Assistance between us and Euston and were mostly more than satisfied, but it only takes being let down once to turn a journey into a nightmare - usually down to human error or poor communication.

I can't help feeling when reading the OP there is a subliminal, throwing down of the gauntlet preamble, maybe in the hope of turning the thread into a full blown confrontational bun fight. Already sussed loud and clear by Bags' very succinct response. Of course we bloody well know what the far reaching issues of the day are, but quite honestly whilst many are concerned maybe they don't wish to partake in adinfinitum thread with people they don't know whose tone can be somewhat simultaneously hectoring and self righteous, it can be very draining and it rarely achieves anything except a scenario that often ends in a disappearance via a flounce before reappearing further down the line in another guise.

To say women aren't interested in politics is a bit of a generalisation, most of the women I know are, but wouldn't necessarily come on to a forum to express or justify their concerns. Maybe those who don't are just stuck in "girl mode" that can go on a long time, past 60 I believe, it's a full time distraction getting the right shade of red lipstick especially when it clashes with one's beret!

At the risk of being accused of being in a clique, may I say how sensible I have found the posts by Baggs, Prentice, Kittylester , ScrimpingBy and others on this thread.
I too do not want to be browbeaten or have my ear chewed off or be told what I ought to think.
I also think there are threads where a “political” input is not only superfluous but intrusive - Bereavement, Relationships, Good Morning, Soop’s Kitchen and others where personal issues are discussed.
Just as one knows how certain posters will always react to eg threads about the Royal Family, there are other times when a response invariably makes me think of the Mandy Rice Davies response - well they would say that, wouldn’t they?

“but you ought to be interested in”
Telling people what they ought to do or think a certain way is always a turn off, whatever it’s about. I could even say authoritarian. Not an attractive look.
Especially as those people probably are interested in the things mentioned but just don’t want to discuss it with _you_. It can be hard to get that message across when someone is permanently fortified against such an attitude because they think they know what’s important in everyone else’s life as well as their own.

Scrimpingby: Will OP now start another thread entitled Why Don't Posters Always Agree With Me?

Chuckle ?

glammagran

I live it everyday. My DH is quite right wing and always has been. He never stops ranting about politics to anyone who will listen (usually the poor family) and if I don’t agree with what he’s saying I am a raving lefty communist which I am most definitely not. Youngest is a labour voter and he just cannot get his head around it. He shouts at the TV ever time the news is on. I wish we had more than one living room.

My Dad was Labour through and through. We used to have to sit at the table for 10 minutes after a meal "to let our dinner go down" - and listen to Dad about politics!
Mum voted Tory (quietly).

So I chose the Liberals when I was old enough to vote. ?

It must be quite challenging, I'd imagine.

MissAdventure if you are referring to my post I have indeed called DH Alf Garnett on occasion. ??

I’m interested in politics, I’m just not interested in arguing with people I’ll never agree with. Most people who talk endlessly about politics just want to rant about their crap lives.

Alf Garnet...

Grantanow

I can understand you are not interested in the internal doings of political parties, the argy-bargy of Westminster, the self- interested preening of politicians, etc., but you ought to be interested in the NHS, schools, housing and the economy because these affect you directly as a patient, a grandparent, a home owner or renter and a shopper and/mortgage payer. The decisions made by politicians determine how well all of these work for you.

That is all true of course, and I think most people do feel strongly about those things.But the disconnect comes when people feel that the political system we have means that their views on those things don't actually make a difference because
" politicians are all the same" I don't think we should criticise people who declare that they are " not interested in politics", we need to criticise the system that makes them feel that way.

I live it everyday. My DH is quite right wing and always has been. He never stops ranting about politics to anyone who will listen (usually the poor family) and if I don’t agree with what he’s saying I am a raving lefty communist which I am most definitely not. Youngest is a labour voter and he just cannot get his head around it. He shouts at the TV ever time the news is on. I wish we had more than one living room.

Well at this stage we still have a choice about which threads we choose to read/ write on. It is entirely possible just to play games and exchange recipes and there is nothing wrong with that. Same applies to real life ( so far ).

kircubbin2000

JaneJudge

Things have changed in Northern Ireland though, progress might be slow but they are making progress.

At the moment , because of the DUP ,nothing can be done. We have no health minister, have not received our fuel payment, the hospitals cant cope. Most people dont care about the protocol and Im sure some agreement could be made with the eu if all got together, which of course they won't!

Casdon

I think many people are fragile, and are worried about their views being challenged because they find it upsetting to argue.

This and what Baggs said: That's not what I said

Twisting what other posters say is common on threads.

Because someone mildly suggests something does not mean their view is extreme and intransigent but often another poster will jump in and say "So if you don't agree with the general consensus on this thread, then you must believe the opposite which makes you an extremist".

All very tiresome and detracts from a reasonable exchange of views.

Is this a thread about a thread?

In many years of going out on the knocker in all weathers (I'm much better now, thank you) I learned very quickly that "I'm not interested" really means "I am an active member of the other party". We knew this because they always voted on the day so clearly they ~were~ interested, but also because the sharp tone and the alacrity with which the door is closed suggests a certain enjoyment. Most activists hate canvassing but you grow a thick skin after a while.

Those who really aren't interested are much more polite about it and often happy for a chat about anything.

I'm glad to say that I haven't heard "I'll 'ave to ask me 'usband" for nearly 40 years now. That used to be routine in some sectors of society.