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Post by Noah on Apr 19, 2005 8:30:02 GMT -5
I've never been into sports, and when I talk to friends who are, they often seem mystified by my apathy. To them, a good game of baseball or football is an exciting and important event, and I am missing out on something. (When it comes to sports, I usually feel that I am missing out on something.)
Some friends have the same attitude toward politics -- a realm which, for me, is exciting and important. When they watch the presidential debates, for example, they assume the same frustrated, glazed-over look that I get watching a baseball game.
Nobody is born political. In my case, my parents were children of the sixties who met in Greenwich Village against the backdrop of Vietnam protest. My family is mostly liberal, so that's an obvious influence. My earliest memories of Reagan's presidency are from the pages of Mad magazine. I was vaguely aware of the Reagan/Mondale race, but the first election I really followed was 1988. I always identified myself as a liberal and took some interest in what was going on politically, but I was a lot more interested in music and theatre than in current events.
My increased political interest and involvement of recent years is the direct result of two events which really shook me -- the 2000 election, when I felt that democracy was yanked out from under us, and the events of 9/11/01. In early 2003, I started writing occasional political opinions on the blog, but it didn't become a full-time political soapbox until the 2004 presidential race was underway.
All of which is a rather cumbersome lead-in to my real question: How, and when, did you develop an interest in politics? Was it brought on by a specific experience?
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sisk
New Member
Don't fake the funk
Posts: 46
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Post by sisk on Apr 19, 2005 10:28:01 GMT -5
I don't know - I kind of think I was born political. I can't think of a time when I suddenly became political, just as I can't think of a time when I suddenly became liberal. Or aware that my politics didn't jive with the politics of just about EVERYONE around me.
Must work. Can't really get into this now...hope to write more later.
Love,
Sisk
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Post by Darius on Apr 19, 2005 11:34:16 GMT -5
I don't recall when I got my liberal bent - I can only attribute that to growing up in a liberal household. I clearly didn't know much about politics as a child - I remember, in grade school, in an in-class mock election, I voted for Bush Sr. based solely on his look, knowing nothing about him or Dukakis. And I remember in the years following becoming more and more disconcerted with my faux-vote and how many people may vote for real based on something similarly superficial. So, I guess that's when my interest started - to make sure I didn't do something like that once my vote counted.
I had a very small surge into politics after the 200 election. But then, I really started to follow it as the 2004 election season started.
...though, God, I do love a good baseball game...
Darius
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RevArt
New Member
Rev. Art
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Post by RevArt on Apr 21, 2005 11:10:06 GMT -5
I follow politics in the way a sports fanatic follows stats and player matchups. I characterize my team as the "Rationalist-Progressives" (hint: atheist-liberals). I recognize no gods, no masters and "angel" jabber and kitsch make me nuts! I'm a fiscal conservative; a social liberal; and generally predisposed to maximizing personal autonomy. If I a religion, it's sacred text would be the Progressive Income Tax tables that made this country so great for much of the last century.  |
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Post by Noah on Apr 26, 2005 13:54:39 GMT -5
Rev, I have always felt the same way. I became acutely aware of it late last year, when watching the presidential debates. I realized that every time Kerry knocked Bush out of the rhetorical water, I felt a visceral thrill -- probably comparable to the way others might feel watching a boxing match.
C-SPAN is our ESPN!
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Post by Marie on Apr 29, 2005 13:20:49 GMT -5
Why not, everybody is political these days. Its the new kind of sexy out on the market, even if you don't completely understand it. I feel sexy just being on this site.
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Post by Noah on Apr 29, 2005 15:09:32 GMT -5
That's because it's so well-designed, right?
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Katie
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Post by Katie on Apr 29, 2005 18:06:34 GMT -5
I've been having a tough time trying to remember when I wasn't a political junkie. OK, I'll admit Eisenhower was just a nice old grandfatherly figure when I didn't really know a Republican from a Democrat, but starting with the Kennedy/Nixon election, I was pretty hooked. There followed political assassinations, draft card burings, anti-war protests, and the flag-draped coffin of a 19 year old husband. Not being political really wasn't an option ... Of course, practically living on a large university campus and being just 40 miles from Berkley kinda helped that spirit along at the time. But I never really lost it, serving on city councils, working for campaigns, and firing off letters to congressmen through the many years since. Now a new generation is unfortunately caught up in the current debacle. Perhaps, though, we were overdue ... catastrophe tends to bring out the best and, right along with all us old hippies, the youngsters are rallying. But there will always be another fight coming ... don't lose the verve and get complacent or your grandchildren will be in for a fight, too. Stepping down off my soapbox ...  Katie |
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Post by Noah on Apr 29, 2005 19:29:45 GMT -5
"Don't lose the verve and get complacent." This has been on my mind a lot. I think it has something to do with the "changing the world" thing; people get very political, do activist things, are passionate about it for a few years -- and then they see that the world hasn't really changed much, and it's discouraging. It's a lot more immediately satisfying to find another hobby.
But as you recently said, setting out to change the world is a difficult thing to live up to. Changing a small part of it is enough. But activism shouldn't just be about changing things. Sometimes it's about nothing more than the importance of making a statement. How could anyone not do that?
"Political activist" shouldn't be a social type! Political involvement shouldn't be a cult. I really think everyone should be interested in politics; it's not like art or sports or any of the other things we called "electives" in high school.
Someone asked me recently if I'll stop writing the blog if a Democrat is elected president in 2008. I see where the question comes from; there's a Bush-bashing industry, just as there was a Clinton-bashing industry. To those who like the current president, all opposition appears coordinated. But I also think it's a silly question.
The idea that everyone on one side of the political fence will suddenly have nothing left to say about politics the minute their candidate wins the presidency is very disturbing. Had Kerry won the election -- excuse me, I mean had Kerry taken office -- I hope liberals would be watching him just as carefully as we're watching Bush, making sure he acts in our interest.
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Katie
New Member
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Post by Katie on Apr 29, 2005 20:31:21 GMT -5
"I really think everyone should be interested in politics"
Exactly, Noah ... hopefully, this little lesson we are now being offered will teach everyone that it's not only your country and your life, it's what we leave for those who follow. Being political can't simply be fighting the big battles -- no matter who might be at the helm, there are always local, state, and national issues to be challenged or supported.
We dropped the ball the last time, allowing one win to justify turning our backs ... and that's how we wound up where we are now. Just maybe, this generation will learn from our mistakes and keep up the scrutiny that is, after all, what our government is suppoed to be. By the people and of the people obligates one to keep an ever-watchful eye on those we designate to keep the wheels turning.
Now, if we could just figure out how to un-rig the voting machines ...
Katie
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aaa11
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Post by aaa11 on Aug 24, 2008 22:45:40 GMT -5
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Post by wowposter on Nov 8, 2008 6:46:50 GMT -5
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