Introduction
So in case you haven't noticed, I haven't really posted anything political on Facebook lately. All I post are memes, film-related rants and anything to do with Doctor Who and that's because I'm basically done with it. There are many reasons why (I'll get into those at the moment) this is the case but the long and short of it is that it's become a hostile environment. Like Gatsby pointed out above, it often descends into pointless arguments and I just hate that.
Now, just to be clear, I'm not entirely a-political. I consider myself to be a feminist (in the sense that I actually want gender equality!), I'm also rather PC (In that I don't mind when it shows up in media and I think people do need to be more accepting of those different to them) and I support those currently oppressed such as the LGBT+ community. And obviously, as an autist, I will continue to educate people and raise awareness about autism. But I will also concede that I keep these views to myself and in terms of if I lean left or right, I'm basically in the middle.
But enough beating around the bush, here's why I'm not really comfortable talking about political issues.
The Main Flurgemon
Thing 1: Politics is a shambles
Let's face it, the government aren't looking good. We have PMs changing more frequently than they should, multiple attempts at a vote of no confidence, Parliament disagreeing on what to do about Brexit and of course, Brexit. But here's the thing, I'm talking about the government in general. The Tories, Labour, UKIP, all of them seem to make unpopular decisions and if nobody is giving me a reason to follow them, then why should I? And don't get me started on America...
When the next General Election comes around, I genuinely would have no idea who to vote for! They're all problematic and, dare I say, broken so why should I? Besides, the election periods themselves gave me another reason to have disdain for politics.
Thing 2: It's become too angry and hostile
So I have friends who have different political views to me and to each other which is fine, everyone is entitled to their own opinion. But during election periods, those views come to a head and honestly, it got ugly. There were pointless heated arguments left, right and centre and I got so sick of it that the only political rant I made was about how I'm sick of it bringing out the worst in people (which in turn inspired this blog funnily enough!)
But it's at its worse on the Internet. No matter what political view a person held, they would always rant and argue against those with a different view and it's gotten to the point where people continue ranting and pushing their views onto people despite there being no election. It's gotten so bad, it's one of the reasons why I unfollowed most of my friends on Facebook (that and seeing them constantly have an active life is not only mostly inaccurate but it also induced unhealthy jealousy).
Now I get it, people have a right to be angry in most cases, particularly when someone acts corrupt or immoral but it gets a bit much. I know of people at either end of the political spectrum who get angry and offended at the tiniest thing. And it can very easily turn personal to the point where insults are hurled. Plus, admittedly, it gets me angry too which is why I tend to avoid it to avoid the risk of hurting someone. If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all and that's exactly what I'm doing. Otherwise, I'll just lose my faith in humanity.
Thing 3: I don't personally experience racism, sexism and homophobia so I'm not the best person to talk about this
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| (Apologies for the strong language but it kind of reinforces the point I'm about to make) |
That being said, once again to be clear, I am neither racist, sexist, homophobic, transphobic, Islamaphobic or any of the other 'ists' or 'phobics.' It genuinely baffles me as to why they exist (and no the Bible doesn't count, Jesus taught us to "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you" [Matthew 7:12 and Luke 6:31] meaning that He expects us to love everyone, regardless of alleged sins) and I do consider those kinds of people to be backwards in their views.
But I don't rant about it as much because I am a cis-gendered, heterosexual white male who also happens to be a Christian. I don't exactly have a leg to stand on when it comes to these things. That is except for ableism because, as someone with a learning disability, I have a leg to stand on. But even then, for the reasons explained in Thing 2, I only intend to educate and raise awareness, not rant. And when a man does something abhorrent, I do everything I can to prove that not all men are awful human beings and try to make sure that both men and women aren't being sexist to each other. But for the most part, every time I stand up for the LGBT+ community, the Black community, women and the Muslim community, I feel like a white knight rather than someone trying to help.
Thing 4: I'm not an expert!!!
Speaking of having no leg to stand on (for the most part), the biggest reason why I don't talk about politics is that I simply don't know enough about it. The reason I primarily talk about film and TV is that I consider myself to be an expert in that. I'll happily rant about problems in the film industry or badly done films or TV shows because I'm passionate about it whereas I'm not as passionate about politics.
There's no point in talking about something I know little about because I could be talking out of my donkey for all I know. It's best to leave political talks to those who are passionate about it.
Conclusion
To be honest, all my grievances with politics all boil down to hostility. Whenever anybody talks about politics, it's always with anger. Angry about how the governments are morons and about how everyone is oppressed. Anger is sometimes good if you want to take a stand but all they're doing is painting yourself as an old man yelling at a cloud. What people like that need to do is balance things out. Advocate charities, educate people (especially about transgenderism and homosexuality because I feel like there isn't enough), showcase the good things people do as well as the bad things. Just spread positivity!
That's why I frequently share memes. I know too many people who post angry rants on Facebook (often with good reason, don't get me wrong, but as I said, it gets too much!) so I post memes to remind people that it's okay to laugh and have fun. I also share them to cheer people up because no matter where you are on the political spectrum, these are dark times so it's good to hold on to the things that make us smile for the sake of our own sanity.
And I know it seems like I'm ignorant when I choose not to talk about these things but let it be known that I'm not ignoring them, there's just too much sadness, anger and fear going around social media already. You don't need me to add to it.
But as Dumbledore said in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, "Happiness can be found in the darkest of times if one only remembers to turn on the light," and that is exactly what I'm doing (or trying to do) on Facebook.
Thank you for taking the time to read this. Please do as Gatsby says and keep the comments civil! And I hope you at least understand why I have chosen to be a-political. If you like what you see here, please comment below or message me on my Facebook page 'Joel Mole' for more topic ideas as my brain can only come up with so many ideas regarding real-life issues and autism.
Until then, be sure to share this around as Facebook's algorithm tends to bury my posts behind a paywall and any likes and comments go a long way. Until then, fare thee well good people of the internet.
