One for those who never go on the News and Politics Forum

Should have put it on Chat, varian.

It doesn't mean that those who don't come on the N and P threads have no interest in politics. We all come on GN for different reasons.
I do head for these threads and watch Politics Live and keep up with the news but others may prefer more light-hearted threads having had enough of the news for one day.

I watch the news, but not obsessed with politics .

crazyH

I watch the news, but not obsessed with politics .

What does that mean 'obsessed'???

Politics do rule our lives, roads, transport, environment, energy, water and sewerage, education, health and social care, police and criminals, taxes, and on and on ...

I cannot fathom how anyone can say 'I am not interested in politics- not for me'.

I agree FP. Not being able to heat my house is politics.

I agree politics is in everyday life, work politics, School politics, but the question is to people who do not go on to the news and politics thread. The answer is it is their choice.

I have looked at the news and politics thread but very rarely post on it. Brexiteers have their views remainers have theirs, the same with other topics discussed. No one changes their minds and the arguments go back and forth. To be fair I find it tedious.

That video, though funny, says as clearly as daylight why people don't go on N&P threads on GN: the scathing condescension they expect – having witnessed it from afar – to be met with should they dare to disagree with the usual N&P enthusiasts.

I suggest that many people's avoidance of GN N&P threads is for that reason and in no way an indication of their lack of interest in political matters.

Some will also stay away out of despair at the quality of many of our current politicians (of all stripes).

I am extremely interested in politics but I rarely go on the N&P thread because it just annoys me. It reminds me of my lovely DIL who has a tendency to ask me searching questions simply so she can then tell me where I am wrong and what I should be thinking.

This present government has it's problems but I haven't seen anything from Labour to convince me they would be any better.

Of course politics is life, and in that respect we are all concerned with politics to one degree or another.
I think that Baggs has outlined very well why many choose not to be involved with the threads on N & P. I am one of them. Very, very rarely do I post a comment here. This does not mean, in the slightest, that I am not interested in what is going on both close to me and further afield, and I have my opinions. I just choose not to air them here.

And that is totally fair and understandable.

Baggs

That video, though funny, says as clearly as daylight why people don't go on N&P threads on GN: the scathing condescension they expect – having witnessed it from afar – to be met with should they dare to disagree with the usual N&P enthusiasts.

I suggest that many people's avoidance of GN N&P threads is for that reason and in no way an indication of their lack of interest in political matters.

Some will also stay away out of despair at the quality of many of our current politicians (of all stripes).

Absolutely! Life’s too short for a public flogging.

Just because people don't post doesn't mean they are disinterested. Or think politics have nothing to do with them. Huge assumption there.

It's not obligatory to post on those threads and there are a number of reasons why people may choose not to do so.

Baggs

That video, though funny, says as clearly as daylight why people don't go on N&P threads on GN: the scathing condescension they expect – having witnessed it from afar – to be met with should they dare to disagree with the usual N&P enthusiasts.

I suggest that many people's avoidance of GN N&P threads is for that reason and in no way an indication of their lack of interest in political matters.

Some will also stay away out of despair at the quality of many of our current politicians (of all stripes).

This!

I did think about starting a gentle thread for gentle comments about politics.

But didnt know how it would go or how it would be taken.

Perhaps this can be it!

You can believe in and work for equality and justice without having to "prove it" by engaging in lynchings and public executions.

Many of the "debates" in the news and politics threads are the equavalent of those lynchings, and many of those who dip a tentative toe in the discussions receive a public mauling for their audacity and never return. That is why the threads are full of the same people saying the same predictable things and re-enacting the same fights over and over, and why others stay away.

It is not because they don't think politics has anything to do with them, it is because they don't want to have anything to do with the personal savagery that the discussion is likely to descend to. They are not likely to change anyone else's vote in that polarised bear-pit, so what matters is how they vote themselves, and that they vote at all.

I’m another who’s generally interested, but rarely visit the politics threads any more because too often it’s the same old people with the same old predictable bangings-on, or having a go at each other.

I grew up in a very argumentative atmosphere with politics being rammed down our throats, so it's the last thing I want to discuss. I come on here for more light-hearted fare.

I am very interested in news and politics and think I am quite intelligent in my political views but I just choose not to join in with the political ones on here as I feel things can get nasty very quickly.

I can't say I've noticed much personal savagery on the N&P thread.
Plenty of robust views and challenging arguments. You may not want to make political statements but politics runs through all of our lives in different ways because it determines how public money is spent and what laws are enacted. I think it's better to have a say however ineffective that may be.

ShazzaKanazza

I am very interested in news and politics and think I am quite intelligent in my political views but I just choose not to join in with the political ones on here as I feel things can get nasty very quickly.

Exactly this.
It all gets rather like PMQs and I don't watch that either. I prefer less confrontational threads.
That does not mean I am not interested in the world around me.

Same as ShazzaKanazza too. I'm deeply interested in politics and always have been, but I'm no match for some snippy posters on here and prefer to keep quiet, mostly, for the sake of my blood pressure.

Interesting thread.

Yeah, agree mainly, the N &P threads should come with a subtitle ‘come and ‘ave a go if yer think yer ‘ard enough’.😖

As one who enjoys debating on the N&P thread, I am sorry to read that people are so put off by the challenging arguments.

I wish this was not the case as I’m sure that there would be some really good contributors.

But of course people make their own choice, which is just as it should be.