politics

[illuvium]

despite the name, this isn't a totally political post, though my stances on most cases should be fairly clear from everything i've posted. recently, i discovered that contrary to my beliefs, most people that i see in my daily life don't think of politics as a subject to cut friends off about. i think that's firstly a testament to the privileged environment they and i are in, but i think secondly that it's such a naive way to think about things. common statements i heard them make discussed politics as if it were a passive bystander in their lives rather than something with real consequences to them and the world. i understand the argument that most relationships don't see you quibbling politics all the time, but i think that the fault in that argument is the notion that politics is able to be completely separated from how you interact with the things around you. this sounds pretty pretentious, but i do think that there's another issue with people being unable to understand that things in their lives are interconnected. environmental activism ties into your political stances even just beyond regular bills. ethnic cleansing masquerading as war will level ecosystems. things like that really do matter, so sure, not talking about politics won't directly impact your relationships, but your political perspectives inform and are informed by your stances on other issues, meaningless and important alike. it's just really disappointing to me when i see people arguing this, because yeah, coming from privilege affords you the opportunity to not care right now, but that won't last forever. it's not ridiculous at all to cut someone off if you disagree with their political takes. it's just further compounded for me personally that many of these people would cut a friend off for something like being friendly with their ex. if you're so willing to draw the line at that, what makes politics any different? whatever, though. i can't force people to change their opinions as much as i'd love to and despite how much some of their stances repulse me, but that's also just the way life is.

Comments

[megastalin]

Due to the sensitive nature of interpersonal relationships it's hard to take an absolute stance on this topic, but it's something I've been thinking about.

It's not that the things you wrote are untrue, but consider this: neither you nor your friend(s) are political parties or state or institutional actors. Your favor or disfavor toward certain events, policies, or phenomena is almost always on a rhetorical level, the things we say rather than the the things we do.

If you're a common citizen, the "the things we do" part is mostly as you wrote previously, drops in the ocean. And perhaps, once every 4 years you will vote.

Now sure, I'd "cut off" a literal Nazi, but to be honest, I don't frequent such places where a literal Nazi and myself could even become attached in any way, so that's actually moot.

Then also consider, since you mention privilege, that "cutting off" is an act that entails some privilege. Some people can't cut off their family even if the family is extremely toxic and abusive because they rely on them for financial support. Even if we're just talking about friends, many people are in such conditions that they can't simply stop relationships, because the complex interplay of these relationships also affects their material circumstances, that is to say, if you're reduced to being nearly homeless, couchsurfing with friends and acquaintances, let's be real, you won't be cutting anyone off.

Which is to say, that looking at this sociologically, those with more material privilege are more likely to be "cut-happy" because these acts of distancing won't affect their material security.

Now, I may only be saying this because I am a hardcore communist, but it also seems to me that the establishment would be quite happy if we just cut off people for minor disagreements because this reduces our overall levels of solidarity.

But in the end, a hard stance here is impossible, because interpersonal relationships are so idiosyncratic that I could never really tell you what to do with your friends, and you could never really tell me. But it's something to think about.