Lives that must revolve around Politics

Visiting GN is like getting on a bus, where the passengers are all sitting chatting about various things. The people in the seat behind you might be discussing the latest way that Trusk and Mump are exploiting their newfound power by intefering with everything happening around them. The women in front watched Corrie last night and are dissecting the personalities and motives of some of the characters. Across the aisle you can just hear a woman telling her friend in a whisper about her plans to LTB as soon as she has squirrelled away enough for the train fare back to her mother's town. There is a loud rant going on away at the front, which seems to be someone who thinks that a general remark by another passenger was directly aimed at him, which he has reported to the bus company in the expectation that the speaker will be thrown off the bus at the next stop and banned from getting on again, ever.

Which conversation, if any, interests you enough to join it? Have you experience enough to give the abused wife any advice? Did you watch Corrie? Have you seen any detail about the effects on thousands of US citizens of being fired at a moments notice whilst all support agencies are being systematically dismantled by billionaires? Do you dare tell the paranoid git in the front seat not to imagine that he is important enough for anyone to be bothered to persecute him? And is there anyone on this bus who would be interested in discussing the best way to make a gluten-free loaf that couldn't double as a doorstop or a rockery stone?

Each of us on Gransnet has different interests - and not just one interest, most of us join in on more than one subject while they are here. For instance, this morning I have looked at the N & P pages, but have nothing to contribute at the moment, so haven't posted. I have tried to solve the (apparently age-old) problem of the cow and the half-a-field of grass. I have posted a poem by T S Eliot about a gourmet greedy cat. I have read some other threads, on various subjects.

When I get off Gransnet, I will be doing a whole lot of other things, not obsessing about ANY of the things I was reading online. Well, while washing dishes, I might ponder whether there was a more efficient way to get Buttercup eating exactly half the grass in her circular field without putting up more fencing and untying her tether, but since mathematicians have been working unsuccessfully at that for centuries, I won't waste time obsessing.

Hopefully I dont need to say much more on here.

To be clear, I dont have a beef with people who spend a lot of time on Politics. I dont care.
But I do object to anyone, anywhere, expecting or even demanding others to be, or have the time or interest or ability or inclination, to do the same thing.

We could be having the same conversation about almost every other thread.

I bet there are some posters who exclusively stick to the chat about food or TV or knitting, gardening, reading, or the Good Morning or kitchen thread etc etc.

My question is

So?

This is one of the more pointless threads, which has an undercurrent of nastiness about it.

Kandinsky

Which is a shame because all you’re hearing is the same voices saying the same things.

So why not add your voice if you have something different to say? More interesting than sniping from the sidelines, surely?

No, but I could go to the RF threads and ‘work out’ who posts there, then call them obsessive. But why would anyone do that?

All it would show anyway is who is interested in the RF, not whether or not they have other interests. To ‘work out’ that would require a whole new level of detective work- life’s just too short😀

Which is a shame because all you’re hearing is the same voices saying the same things.

Well, when I occasionally post ( or look ) on the political threads it’s always the same people there - I’d skim read some and it would be the same people posting more or less all day.
It’s not a difficult thing to work out.

If you have interesting discussions with posters about, say travel, art, music, even Eastenders, then you sort of look out for them on other threads too. Well, I do.
If all they talk about is Politics, then I kind of leave them to it.
Why would anyone stalk anyone?

What I find odd is how ‘some posters’ know which threads others post on most. Do they have spreadsheets and mark off who posts where, cross-referenced with where they don’t post, to show the level of their supposed ‘obsession’?

I spot people who post on threads I am on. I have no idea whether they post on ones that don’t interest me, as I don’t go on threads unless they do. I’ve got to know who watches Corrie, who knits and cooks, and yes, who enjoys a discussion about the issues of the day, but I don’t know whether those same people love or hate the RF, do a lot of gardening or play games, as I don’t read those threads and I don’t stalk people .

The whole concept of having an awareness of other posters’ posting patterns strikes me as rather obsessive in itself. I would rather be doing something more interesting than trying to shame people for posting about something that I find boring - perhaps the OP can refer back to her list for some suggestions?

On the face of it there does appear to be a few posters who are wrapped up in, and consumed by, Politics, but if they like that sort of thing, then live and let live I think.
To be fair there are a couple of them who also join in chats about gardening, food, travel, etc. I'm sure they are having a well-rounded life, and I'd even like to meet one or two - as long as after 20 minutes, they never mentioned Politics again!

And my gosh if someone does not even have any interest in it.
Well, there must be something wrong with them. or worse.
That's the bit by fancythat, that resonates most. The sometimes condescending and always right, attitude of these posters.

I agree op.
Some posters on here seem to spend an awful lot of time on the political threads, they also post links to all sorts of other political sites etc, so clearly politics is very important to them or they wouldn’t spend so much time on it.
Also, which I think is often the case, they probably haven’t got anyone in RL who wants to have endless conversations about politics ( who does? ) so they have ton talk to strangers - which is fair enough if that’s how they like to spend their time.

Why does being interested in politics stop one being equally involved in all the other things in the OP's list?

Why is having a commitment to anything else laudable when a commitment to poitics isn't?

I can see that the OP has a commitment to an obsession with not havng politics, but how does it differ from being committed to your job, your family, roller skating, or anything else.

I respect this is how the OP feels, but I just do not get it.

Because of the format and wording, I cannot read the OP without hearing it in the form of a poem.

For anyone who needs some light relief after reading this thread The Gladdest Thing by Wendy Cope is the perfect antidote.

Perhaps someone close to the OP has really irritated her.

What an odd OP. Huge assumptions being made. Do you think the writer is okay?

When someone says they're not interested in politics I say ok, but politics is interested in you...

Allira

^And to a poster upthread, my nephew had a baby today. Yay!^
And his partner too, presumably?

🥂🍾 Congratulations to the new arrival 👶

Yes, congratulations to all. His wife first of all, she is the one who had to do all the hard work and spend all that energy.

Allira

Indigo8

petra

Indigo8
The OP is a regular contributor to the N&P threads.

Why, if they feel so strongly about the unimportance of politics?

That's not what fancythat said, though.

I think she might be thinking that some posters post only on N&P threads, therefore their lives must revolve around politics and nothing else.

However, that is their choice, perhaps they're just not interested in other threads.

Perhaps they are too busy doing what all the other threads are about, and not time or interest in wasting time on them, when there is real life to get on with.

Oreo

I think I get where the OP is coming from.And is correct in that other things in life are much more important, enjoying our short lives on this planet with family and friends is an absolute key to happiness and contentment, but politics? Not so much.

Thanks.

I think I have lost the thread of this thread. Time to get my coat I think.

Congrats to fancythat's nephew BTW

Indigo8

petra

Indigo8
The OP is a regular contributor to the N&P threads.

Why, if they feel so strongly about the unimportance of politics?

That's not what fancythat said, though.

I think she might be thinking that some posters post only on N&P threads, therefore their lives must revolve around politics and nothing else.

However, that is their choice, perhaps they're just not interested in other threads.

petra

Indigo8
The OP is a regular contributor to the N&P threads.

Why, if they feel so strongly about the unimportance of politics?

I think I get where the OP is coming from.And is correct in that other things in life are much more important, enjoying our short lives on this planet with family and friends is an absolute key to happiness and contentment, but politics? Not so much.

You might not be interested in politics but it does affect most parts of your life.. which is why most people are interested...

fancythat
Are you feeling alright?

I would agree that there are posters who discuss politics endlessly but they must enjoy it and it is their choice.