I've had people (in person) quite literally tell me they are for a one party state government that works to make workers lives better. They say the government should consult with all stake holders, but I mean, this is functionally the same as any absolute ruling class consulting with the people below them.
People will always disagree, even in a future socialist world, and if one's idea of governance being benevolent dictatorship, then I think you're cooked to think that can ever work out in the long term.
Needless to say, I was not convinced, and surprised that this kind of thinking does exist on the left also (though much less commonly I'd say).
I'm for a socialist democracy actually controlled by the workers.
What if they are fed up with how many people support the arsonist in their area while personally feeling the arsonist should be publicly executed, avoiding discussion on the fire is their way to avoid getting overly angry with every single person they talk to who keeps insisting on talking about their support for the arsonist.
Or everyone keeps on talking about pro-anti arsonist, and they are one of the few that think dealing with the fire first might be a good idea instead.
Most people I talk to like this, in the analogy, used to be firefighters, but realized for every fire they put out, some literal idiot lights 3 more, and to them, they end up feeling like they're the only one who cares. Pun intended, but they're literally burnt out.
It means “I don’t want to hear your politics, I don’t want you to criticize my politics, I just want to keep acting like my support of shitty things isn’t my responsibility.”
I've never met someone who says they're not political who is actually not political. They just prefer to think about the things they care about as "above politics" or don't want the heat for their opinions.
I say not political because I haven't studied our politics and I know basically nothing about it. Otherwise I'd get "What's your opinion on what [name I never heard of] posted on their Facebook profile yesterday morning?"
Perhaps not so specific, but I don't know the people and what's going on.
It's a lot of history, specific events, constantly something new, and I have to study other things too.
Don't sell yourself short. Politics, at its core, is just the description for group dynamics and decisions. Those impact all of us, and we all care about at least some subset of them. The dramatics and window dressing most media focuses on is just a small portion of the whole.
It's totally understandable that you may not be super knowledgeable about certain topics that are getting a lot of attention, but your values are worth being represented as a meaningful political issue.
"not political" means they are okay enough with the way things are that they don't need to engage with it. It's conservative. Not necessarily far right reactionary that wants to change things for the worse, but they don't care about other people. (Or, rarely, don't recognize or care about their own suffering)
meh, i'm a registered independent who votes democrat. I'll never join the dnc, but i won't vote for republicans. I don't particularly like talking politics with people either. I don't relish circle jerking over hating politicians, I just get fucking angry.
I mainly dislike the increasing authoritarian push we are seeing from all sides in the UK. I don't give a shit about your left or right politics if I am not even allowed to look at a fucking meme without verifying my ID. After that the next priority would probably be environmental, only then followed by anything to do with the economy.
its kinda double edged sword, the less people trying to engage it , the worst it gets and allows legitimacy to the offending side, aka conservatives. and the other hands you odnt want to start arguments and lose relationships.
Real talk, it's what I used to put in my profile maybe 2 years ago.
I didn't watch the news much, I had always stayed out of the discourse and I had refused to apply a 1-dimensional label to my beliefs.
Put plainly, I was privileged enough that politics rarely affected me directly, and I think until recently there were a lot of people like that.
One day in 2023, I took a political alignment test and found out I was a democratic socialist and it just so happened I was living in one (UK). Hence why I never felt the need to mess with things.
Of course, no country is perfect, and as I met more people, especially trans and disabled people, I discovered that there was a lot of terrible shit going on in my country and that's where I finally got my awakening. I also started watching more political YouTube.
Since then, I've veered slightly further left I'm involved in advocacy and I'm proud to wear the "Left" label as someone who cares for others and believes we can all do better.
I still believe that left and right are a bit reductive, but I understand now that it's more like the more of the things you believe in, the further on that axis you go. For example, the UK's Green Party is bringing together some conservative environmentalists with leftist progressives in their interests to keep our green spaces and maintain traditional trades and crafts.
Anyway, the point is some "non-political" people are just sheltered. That said, you have to be extremely sheltered in the US to not experience the upheaval currently happening.
I took the test and I’m not particularly surprised at my result.
I’m strongly of the opinion that a lot of people simply do not have the bandwidth to be deeply involved in politics, even if it is in their best interests. We have so many people in the US drowning in debt, stress, unresolved mental health crises, and uncertainty about how they can afford the next big repair on their house/appliances/car/body that they do not have the luxury of spending time and energy advocating for the changes that would improve their lives.
I think of it like the airplane oxygen masks - you need to secure your own before you help others. It’s hard to expect people to organize and push for monumental change when they are a paycheck or two away from homelessness. I don’t see an easy way forward unless a lot of people are willing to sacrifice.
I would have a hard time describing my political affiliation. I would guess "leaning libertarian-socialist", but I don't fully subscribe to all so IDK in which category I fit in.
I like the idea of workers owning the means of production, but don't like production for use (that never works). Simply remove the C-suite leeches and distribute their paycheck and parts of the profit among workers that actually produced them.
States and governments can stay and should mainly act as a developmental/economic guide. Taxes are okay, but they have to be spent in a way that benefits the public, not bailouts for banks or corporations. They should pay for social security, roads, healthcare, schools and universities, imports/exports, stuff like that.
I'm not foolish enough to believe that humans can behave themselves, so there needs to be a way to hold perpetrators accountable in front of a court of peers. But as long as somebody doesn't harm or endanger someone else (or the environment because that affects everyone), they should be able to do whatever they damn please, including owning things.
There needs to be a wealth cap. Period.
Exceptions need to be made for goods and property that are required by everyone, like food, water and housing. Buying houses and apartments as assets is morally deplorable because all you do is enrich yourself on other's basic needs.
Well I’m a lot more conservative but usually call myself progressive. I don’t blame corps or ceos, nor do I think large scale workers owning the means of production can work. It’s all a failure to regulate the markets, and a failure of tax policy
It wouldn’t take many changes to
restore a progressive tax ladder
reduce income inequality
add worker protections
mandate healthcare one away or another
Capitalism can be a useful function if the market is regulated for the good of the people. Power dynamics can be ok if there are protections against abuses. Wealth inequality can be a good force to drive capitalism if the excesses are moderated. But things like education and healthcare should be a right afforded to all citizens
You need an Elon musk to make Tesla happen, but that would still be true if he were limited to say ten times the income of his lowest paid employee, rather than 1,000,000 times whatever he’s at now.
You need a responsible government to guide the market toward long terms good that capitalism can’t handle.
You need a strong enough government to protect employees and consumers from corporate exploitation, and to prevent corporate ownership
And somehow we need to restore the effectiveness’s of the balance of powers we believed in for the last two centuries
Not on any dating apps, but people I know who describe themselves as non-political are just so sick of it they can't bear to talk about it anymore, which I totally get. Especially since any good discussion always ends up ruined by someone who's very "political" but only gets their news from Facebook or something worse.
The chud losers know they won't get any women if they put the truth on their profile. Who wants to go out with someone who doesn't respect you as a human being? Who sees you as lesser, as an object? Who wants to take away your rights?
Their only option is to lie and hope they get someone without a spine or someone too nice to tell them to fuck off, then they take advantage them.
The person is so far right they don't see their views as political
The person is filled with apathy and has enough privilege not to care about anything or anyone
The person is the most uninformed unmotivated milquetoast liberal who doesn't really care about anyone else but vaguely supports values like "being nice" and "respectability politics"
You can't have no stance on social constructs you've been introduced to. The moment it's existence has been made aware to you by other people, you now have a stance, even if that's to dissociate from it. "Not political" doesn't clearly say anything, but I'm inclined to think they don't like hearing the stance of other's—what political discourse is—implying they may actually have a very strong and unwavering stance but they don't recognise it.
If politics make life shit for everyone except a special little group of people which benefits from this human created catastrophe, who do you think announces they are 'nonpolitical' or 'doesn't want to talk about politics'? Certainly not those who are being crushed by the political decisions, but rather the benefactors, don't you think?
even in the west coast i met someone at college that became more "conservative" when they moved here, which makes me think alot of transplant migrate to the west coast because thier "conservative" shithole must be too far right for them.
I've lived in two and spoke towards progressive politics all the time. 90% of the time people are receptive if they're a smart and genuine person. Obviously I'm not approaching or hanging around someone with the maga hat with Trump flags and punisher stickers.
The culture wars exist for a reason. The actual policy decisions of the Right and their consequences are not especially popular. Stirring up fear and hatred for the other and encouraging blamelessness and self-righteousness amongst the base allows the oligarchy carte blanche to do whatever otherwise unpopular things they wish.
It's a red flag for "approves of police brutality against those people" at the very least, but context is important. Single Punisher skull on their Dodge Ram? MAGA gun fetishist. If there's at least one other comic reference the odds are way better of them being fine actually.
Mine was just a custom punisher logo with a Subaru symbol inside of the head portion. Idk I always liked Punisher, long before the cops started touting it.. but that’s a shitty thing about getting old I guess. Things that used to be cool are now symbols of hatred. I wonder if this is how the Buddhists felt when the Nazis hikacked the swastika.
On my old Subaru wrx, I had blacked out the entire thing, and in the small windows in the back I had a punisher logo on either side with a Subaru symbol inside of it. I thought it looked neat haha, am very far from maga though. I always liked Punisher, long before dude was co-opted by those turds. I can see how it’s a bad look though.
The Republicans (30% of voters) have a secret right-wing army of Independents (40% of voters), that's hmmm 30% Rs plus 40% Is, why, that's like 70%! That's crazy
Fortunately, the Ds are super smart. That's how they win even when outnumbered by over 2 to 1 , clever observations like this prove it (taps temple).
58 Comments
MrStankov@lemmy.world · 72 pts · 217d
"I don't want to think about politics, but when I have to I lean heavily right."
edgemaster72@lemmy.world · 46 pts · 217d
Trump rallies and conservatives in a nutshell
MisterFrog@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 211d
Goes equally for Mao/Stalin style communists.
I've had people (in person) quite literally tell me they are for a one party state government that works to make workers lives better. They say the government should consult with all stake holders, but I mean, this is functionally the same as any absolute ruling class consulting with the people below them.
People will always disagree, even in a future socialist world, and if one's idea of governance being benevolent dictatorship, then I think you're cooked to think that can ever work out in the long term.
Needless to say, I was not convinced, and surprised that this kind of thinking does exist on the left also (though much less commonly I'd say).
I'm for a socialist democracy actually controlled by the workers.
Tollana1234567@lemmy.today · 1 pts · 216d
another favorite is i dont do look up anything on his policies, or i dont like politics in this or that show.
HazardousBanjo@lemmy.world · 50 pts · 217d
Mental exercise:
There is a serial arsonist going around
A house is on fire
You meet a stranger who says they don't like to discuss whether the fire should be put out or not, nor whether the arsonist should be stopped.
If this person isn't the arsonist, their actions (or lack there of) benefit only the arsonist. They are, at least, an arsonist supporter.
Korhaka@sopuli.xyz · 14 pts · 216d
What if they are fed up with how many people support the arsonist in their area while personally feeling the arsonist should be publicly executed, avoiding discussion on the fire is their way to avoid getting overly angry with every single person they talk to who keeps insisting on talking about their support for the arsonist.
Or everyone keeps on talking about pro-anti arsonist, and they are one of the few that think dealing with the fire first might be a good idea instead.
MummysLittleBloodSlut@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 5 pts · 216d
If I'm angry at someone I just say swear words at them. I don't hide it and I don't try to avoid getting angry.
HazardousBanjo@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 216d
Complacence is compliance.
If everyone in your town was pro-dog rape, would you prefer to never speak up? Would you prefer to stay silent while your dog lives every day at risk?
pachrist@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 216d
Most people I talk to like this, in the analogy, used to be firefighters, but realized for every fire they put out, some literal idiot lights 3 more, and to them, they end up feeling like they're the only one who cares. Pun intended, but they're literally burnt out.
Lucidlethargy@sh.itjust.works · 28 pts · 217d
"Not political" in 2025+ America means they have the mental capacity of the average Idiocracy civilian.
Like, I'm sure they just rewatch people getting hit in the balls all day, every day.
LuxSpark@lemmy.cafe · 25 pts · 217d
Undercover Trumper. You shouldn't talk politics, but announcing it is a red flag.
RememberTheApollo_@lemmy.world · 24 pts · 216d
It means “I don’t want to hear your politics, I don’t want you to criticize my politics, I just want to keep acting like my support of shitty things isn’t my responsibility.”
Karjalan@lemmy.world · 7 pts · 216d
Yeah... When I was on the dating apps I pretty much treated "centrist" as "conservative" for a filter
awfulawful@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 24 pts · 216d
I've never met someone who says they're not political who is actually not political. They just prefer to think about the things they care about as "above politics" or don't want the heat for their opinions.
explodicle@sh.itjust.works · 8 pts · 216d
I'm not political, I just think you should work your whole life for rich people and get a small fraction of that in return.
user224@lemmy.sdf.org · 3 pts · 216d
I say not political because I haven't studied our politics and I know basically nothing about it. Otherwise I'd get "What's your opinion on what [name I never heard of] posted on their Facebook profile yesterday morning?"
Perhaps not so specific, but I don't know the people and what's going on.
It's a lot of history, specific events, constantly something new, and I have to study other things too.
awfulawful@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 2 pts · 216d
Don't sell yourself short. Politics, at its core, is just the description for group dynamics and decisions. Those impact all of us, and we all care about at least some subset of them. The dramatics and window dressing most media focuses on is just a small portion of the whole.
It's totally understandable that you may not be super knowledgeable about certain topics that are getting a lot of attention, but your values are worth being represented as a meaningful political issue.
whitecollarcry@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 216d
jjjalljs@ttrpg.network · 19 pts · 217d
"not political" means they are okay enough with the way things are that they don't need to engage with it. It's conservative. Not necessarily far right reactionary that wants to change things for the worse, but they don't care about other people. (Or, rarely, don't recognize or care about their own suffering)
It's an idiot or monster's stance.
dreadbeef@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 12 pts · 217d
meh, i'm a registered independent who votes democrat. I'll never join the dnc, but i won't vote for republicans. I don't particularly like talking politics with people either. I don't relish circle jerking over hating politicians, I just get fucking angry.
Korhaka@sopuli.xyz · 8 pts · 217d
I mainly dislike the increasing authoritarian push we are seeing from all sides in the UK. I don't give a shit about your left or right politics if I am not even allowed to look at a fucking meme without verifying my ID. After that the next priority would probably be environmental, only then followed by anything to do with the economy.
Tollana1234567@lemmy.today · 1 pts · 216d
its kinda double edged sword, the less people trying to engage it , the worst it gets and allows legitimacy to the offending side, aka conservatives. and the other hands you odnt want to start arguments and lose relationships.
Armand1@lemmy.world · 11 pts · 217d
Real talk, it's what I used to put in my profile maybe 2 years ago.
I didn't watch the news much, I had always stayed out of the discourse and I had refused to apply a 1-dimensional label to my beliefs.
Put plainly, I was privileged enough that politics rarely affected me directly, and I think until recently there were a lot of people like that.
One day in 2023, I took a political alignment test and found out I was a democratic socialist and it just so happened I was living in one (UK). Hence why I never felt the need to mess with things.
Of course, no country is perfect, and as I met more people, especially trans and disabled people, I discovered that there was a lot of terrible shit going on in my country and that's where I finally got my awakening. I also started watching more political YouTube.
Since then, I've veered slightly further left I'm involved in advocacy and I'm proud to wear the "Left" label as someone who cares for others and believes we can all do better.
I still believe that left and right are a bit reductive, but I understand now that it's more like the more of the things you believe in, the further on that axis you go. For example, the UK's Green Party is bringing together some conservative environmentalists with leftist progressives in their interests to keep our green spaces and maintain traditional trades and crafts.
Anyway, the point is some "non-political" people are just sheltered. That said, you have to be extremely sheltered in the US to not experience the upheaval currently happening.
Car@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 2 pts · 216d
I took the test and I’m not particularly surprised at my result.
I’m strongly of the opinion that a lot of people simply do not have the bandwidth to be deeply involved in politics, even if it is in their best interests. We have so many people in the US drowning in debt, stress, unresolved mental health crises, and uncertainty about how they can afford the next big repair on their house/appliances/car/body that they do not have the luxury of spending time and energy advocating for the changes that would improve their lives.
I think of it like the airplane oxygen masks - you need to secure your own before you help others. It’s hard to expect people to organize and push for monumental change when they are a paycheck or two away from homelessness. I don’t see an easy way forward unless a lot of people are willing to sacrifice.
Blackmist@feddit.uk · 10 pts · 217d
Aware enough to feel ashamed.
Selfish enough to still vote for it.
PurpleFanatic@quokk.au · 8 pts · 216d
This puzzles me especially when it’s a trans or enby person on a dating app… I’m like: girl wtf
MummysLittleBloodSlut@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 3 pts · 216d
That's called lateral violence
Karyoplasma@discuss.tchncs.de · 8 pts · 216d
I would have a hard time describing my political affiliation. I would guess "leaning libertarian-socialist", but I don't fully subscribe to all so IDK in which category I fit in.
So what am I?
Armok_the_bunny@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 216d
A rational and compassionate human being.
AA5B@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 216d
Well I’m a lot more conservative but usually call myself progressive. I don’t blame corps or ceos, nor do I think large scale workers owning the means of production can work. It’s all a failure to regulate the markets, and a failure of tax policy
It wouldn’t take many changes to
Capitalism can be a useful function if the market is regulated for the good of the people. Power dynamics can be ok if there are protections against abuses. Wealth inequality can be a good force to drive capitalism if the excesses are moderated. But things like education and healthcare should be a right afforded to all citizens
You need an Elon musk to make Tesla happen, but that would still be true if he were limited to say ten times the income of his lowest paid employee, rather than 1,000,000 times whatever he’s at now.
You need a responsible government to guide the market toward long terms good that capitalism can’t handle.
You need a strong enough government to protect employees and consumers from corporate exploitation, and to prevent corporate ownership
And somehow we need to restore the effectiveness’s of the balance of powers we believed in for the last two centuries
RidderSport@feddit.org · 5 pts · 216d
Yeah that's just democratic socialism or as it was coined in post Ww2 Germany: "market socialism"
Almacca@aussie.zone · 1 pts · 216d
I agree with all of that. I think of myself as a pragmatist.
shalafi@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 216d
So, nobody here actually used online dating? Here in the deep red South, "not political" means liberal and don't talk your MAGA shit at me.
pachrist@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 216d
Not on any dating apps, but people I know who describe themselves as non-political are just so sick of it they can't bear to talk about it anymore, which I totally get. Especially since any good discussion always ends up ruined by someone who's very "political" but only gets their news from Facebook or something worse.
papertowels@mander.xyz · 3 pts · 216d
For the uninformed, what happens if you put liberal?
switcheroo@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 216d
The chud losers know they won't get any women if they put the truth on their profile. Who wants to go out with someone who doesn't respect you as a human being? Who sees you as lesser, as an object? Who wants to take away your rights?
Their only option is to lie and hope they get someone without a spine or someone too nice to tell them to fuck off, then they take advantage them.
Tollana1234567@lemmy.today · 1 pts · 216d
its also very obnoxious when conservatives talk, they will keep ranting nonstop without fail.
kittenzrulz123@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 4 pts · 216d
There are three options really
ajoebyanyothername@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 216d
Or they recognise that identifying themselves as right wing could have a negative effect on their dating prospects, so try to disguise that fact.
Unless you mean reasons they might genuinely consider themselves non political, in which I agree with you.
Tollana1234567@lemmy.today · 2 pts · 216d
the last one also applies to conservatives, they also can be super uniformed, most of them are.
saltesc@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 217d
You can't have no stance on social constructs you've been introduced to. The moment it's existence has been made aware to you by other people, you now have a stance, even if that's to dissociate from it. "Not political" doesn't clearly say anything, but I'm inclined to think they don't like hearing the stance of other's—what political discourse is—implying they may actually have a very strong and unwavering stance but they don't recognise it.
Formfiller@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 216d
That is a sign natural selection has selected them for the male loneliness epidemic
Ilovethebomb@sh.itjust.works · 2 pts · 217d
It could also mean they'd rather talk about pretty much anything else.
TribblesBestFriend@startrek.website · 36 pts · 217d
Because if they talk about politics they dig their tombs
WoodScientist@lemmy.world · 13 pts · 217d
You can ignore politics, but politics will not ignore you.
Wrufieotnak@feddit.org · 12 pts · 217d
If politics make life shit for everyone except a special little group of people which benefits from this human created catastrophe, who do you think announces they are 'nonpolitical' or 'doesn't want to talk about politics'? Certainly not those who are being crushed by the political decisions, but rather the benefactors, don't you think?
Tollana1234567@lemmy.today · 2 pts · 216d
even in the west coast i met someone at college that became more "conservative" when they moved here, which makes me think alot of transplant migrate to the west coast because thier "conservative" shithole must be too far right for them.
drunkpostdisaster@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 216d
I guess no one here has ever lived in a red state
keyez@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 216d
I've lived in two and spoke towards progressive politics all the time. 90% of the time people are receptive if they're a smart and genuine person. Obviously I'm not approaching or hanging around someone with the maga hat with Trump flags and punisher stickers.
Aljernon@lemmy.today · 3 pts · 216d
The culture wars exist for a reason. The actual policy decisions of the Right and their consequences are not especially popular. Stirring up fear and hatred for the other and encouraging blamelessness and self-righteousness amongst the base allows the oligarchy carte blanche to do whatever otherwise unpopular things they wish.
JamesBoeing737MAX@sopuli.xyz · 2 pts · 216d
Well, than ~90% of people I know are idiots.
SoloCritical@lemmy.world · -1 pts · 216d
Does the punisher symbol alone associate a person with maga?? Damn.
Soggy@lemmy.world · 8 pts · 216d
It's a red flag for "approves of police brutality against those people" at the very least, but context is important. Single Punisher skull on their Dodge Ram? MAGA gun fetishist. If there's at least one other comic reference the odds are way better of them being fine actually.
SoloCritical@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 216d
Mine was just a custom punisher logo with a Subaru symbol inside of the head portion. Idk I always liked Punisher, long before the cops started touting it.. but that’s a shitty thing about getting old I guess. Things that used to be cool are now symbols of hatred. I wonder if this is how the Buddhists felt when the Nazis hikacked the swastika.
keyez@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 216d
Just generally the not terribly smart conservative tough guy demeanor, not even using the symbol correctly is a dead give away.
SoloCritical@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 216d
On my old Subaru wrx, I had blacked out the entire thing, and in the small windows in the back I had a punisher logo on either side with a Subaru symbol inside of it. I thought it looked neat haha, am very far from maga though. I always liked Punisher, long before dude was co-opted by those turds. I can see how it’s a bad look though.
thatradomguy@lemmy.world · 0 pts · 216d
I much prefer Catherine Tate.
Mulligrubs@lemmy.world · -1 pts · 216d
Ahhh, poor Democrats. (30% of voters)
How do they ever win an election?
The Republicans (30% of voters) have a secret right-wing army of Independents (40% of voters), that's hmmm 30% Rs plus 40% Is, why, that's like 70%! That's crazy
Fortunately, the Ds are super smart. That's how they win even when outnumbered by over 2 to 1 , clever observations like this prove it (taps temple).
titanicx@lemmy.zip · 2 pts · 216d
As an independent voter I take offense to this.