> why is it surprising that people feel like showing their own politics with stickers when the government they live under currently deports random people, blows up boats based on vague accusations, tries to reform the country with Project2025, ..., do i have to go on?
I am in my early-40s. I remember when Obama was droning people abroad based on iffy intel. I remember when George Bush/Dick Cheney started a war in Afghanistan and Iraq, which killed possibly millions (I heard all sorts of different numbers).
If I put a sticker on my laptop, it doesn't stop any of that happening. It doesn't bring back the people that killed in those wars. All it is trying to do is signal to other people that you have the "right opinions". It is a form of slacktivism.
> nice for you that you're able to ignore politics - you should maybe be aware that this is a privilege. lots of people would probably want to ignore politics, but instead they have to fear for their existence, dignity or way of life.
I am mature enough to understand that in the vast majority of circumstances I cannot affect in the outcome in any meaningful way.
Whether I ignore politics or not will have no effect on the outcome. I suggest you go back and watch old TV programs and documentaries. People were having the same discussions 20, 30 and some 50 years ago on the exact topics and making the same arguments, often they were word for word the same.
> "but not everyone on HN is american", well, other countries also have their fair share of political issues. and if you don't see them as issues, then again, you're just showing your own ignorance, privilege or both.
I choose to ignore the political issues in my country (the UK) as well. I can't do anything to solve the problems in the country.
No it isn't. I cannot do anything meaningful about it.
I have written in the past to MPs (many times). I was either ignored, or I was told I didn't know what I was talking about even though I actually was working in a related area.
If I talk to my friends, they don't care. If I talk to my relatives, they don't care either or understand. If I talk about it on the internet, I am told I am wrong and I should shutup, even when I post direct evidence of something and back it up with references. This hasn't been just one thing either, it been many different things.
So I want you to tell me what am I supposed to do exactly?
> if literally everyone around you is saying that you are wrong (Including your friends, even), then maybe it is time for some soul searching.
No I said they don't listen to what I say or are likely to understand it. I am normally talking about technical things and how it interfaces with law e.g. OSA, encryption, right to repair etc.
Many people in my family are laymen and work manual jobs their only use of technology is Whatsapp, Facebook and Xbox Live. My brother is a welder, my father is a joiner. My best friend loads purfume onto a truck and cannot do basic algebra and skipped school at 14, my other two good friends while more educated are completely non technical. I normally get a link to amazon as a screenshot in whatsapp as they don't know how to copy and past from the address bar.
What usually happens is that I am proven right like about a year or two later and it is never mentioned again because I don't want to berate my family and friends. I've learned over time not to bother discussing these subjects with them because it is a waste of time. One of my friends got quite upset once when I was talking about how bitmap graphics worked.
Thanks though for taking the worst possible interpretation of what I said and not answering my question I asked and doing pretty much what I am complaining about. I really appreciate that :-S.
I want you to answer my original question. If people don't listen to you (MPs, and other people in power) and you can back up what you are saying with good evidence. What are you supposed to do?
Giving up just ensures that your voice and values certainly won’t be heard.
But I guess it’s comfortable enough for you still so there is little reason to get active.
Soon it won’t be so comfortable anymore also for you, by then it will be too late to speak up.
It’s laughable that you think nothing has changed in the last 50 years politically.
Not so recently they were still putting people to death by the hundreds of thousands in my country and I’m sure as shit not gonna let it happen again, even if it’s a bit cringe for you to witness resistance to facism
> Giving up just ensures that your voice and values certainly won’t be heard.
It won't be heard anyway. It is a fiction that I as a fucking nobody can affect anything in any meaningful manner. It is a delusion that is sold to people so they believe that they have a voice.
The only thing I might be able to do is stop other people from wasting their time.
> But I guess it’s comfortable enough for you still so there is little reason to get active. Soon it won’t be so comfortable anymore also for you, by then it will be too late to speak up.
What you are doing is essentially a guilt trip. I don't want to spend possibly the rest of my life on a political project.
> It’s laughable that you think nothing has changed in the last 50 years politically.
No it isn't. Go back 40-50 years (1970s) and look at TV, docs, news reports etc. Many of the same issues are being discussed in pretty the same way word for word. I have read stuff about the Roman Empire where it seems people were making political arguments that sounded very similar to what is heard today. The human condition is constant throughout all of recorded history.
> Not so recently they were still putting people to death by the hundreds of thousands in my country and I’m sure as shit not gonna let it happen again, even if it’s a bit cringe for you to witness resistance to facism
I've heard this melodramatic nonsense my entire life. The Nazis and Fascists are gone, the few that remain are completely irrelevant. I was told George Bush was Hitler 2.0 back in the early 2000s. These days people talk about his bad paintings.
I am in my early-40s. I remember when Obama was droning people abroad based on iffy intel. I remember when George Bush/Dick Cheney started a war in Afghanistan and Iraq, which killed possibly millions (I heard all sorts of different numbers).
If I put a sticker on my laptop, it doesn't stop any of that happening. It doesn't bring back the people that killed in those wars. All it is trying to do is signal to other people that you have the "right opinions". It is a form of slacktivism.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slacktivism
> nice for you that you're able to ignore politics - you should maybe be aware that this is a privilege. lots of people would probably want to ignore politics, but instead they have to fear for their existence, dignity or way of life.
I am mature enough to understand that in the vast majority of circumstances I cannot affect in the outcome in any meaningful way.
Whether I ignore politics or not will have no effect on the outcome. I suggest you go back and watch old TV programs and documentaries. People were having the same discussions 20, 30 and some 50 years ago on the exact topics and making the same arguments, often they were word for word the same.
> "but not everyone on HN is american", well, other countries also have their fair share of political issues. and if you don't see them as issues, then again, you're just showing your own ignorance, privilege or both.
I choose to ignore the political issues in my country (the UK) as well. I can't do anything to solve the problems in the country.