Why should one care about politics? As an individual I can do nothing to change it...

Why should one care about politics? As an individual I can do nothing to change it, but only go with it and disengage at points it's convenient to me. And don't tell me that everything is political, that's your discourse, not mine.

Politics is the force of the lion in the eye of the dragon.

Try the energy of fire and suffer the torments of the rivers.

—Lao Tze Tung

>As an individual I can do nothing to change it
That's where you're wrong.
>And don't tell me that everything is political, that's your discourse, not mine.
It's true though.

You can't change the laws that govern the universe either, but that doesn't mean physics isn't rewarding.

If everything is political, how does the tiger hunt the sheep of sleeping shepherds? And does not the smile of the child run faster than the horse?

you make me want to shoot myself


what this guy said, OP

you're almost there lad

What does this even mean

Trump is the most intelligent man in America. Isn't that reason enough?

The Tao cannot be changed, but it can be ignored:
The insect that ignores the Tao gets smacked,
The man that ignores the Tao gets sick,
The river that ignores the Tao dries, or floods,
Without the Tao what is the Moon on a white rabbit night?

If the wise man speaks to the fool, should he speak foolish words?

>As an individual I can do nothing to change it, but only go with it and disengage at points it's convenient to me
You don't have to be an individual. You could organise with like-minded people and campaign to bring about change. The greatest political movements have been brought about by organised communities, not radical independents. A political interest is wholly useless unless you can engage with others.

>If the wise man speaks to the fool, should he speak foolish words?
That's what I am doing at the very least.

He shouldn't.

Learning about economy and politics can teach you to not waste time in useless endeavors.

>on a literature board and is unaware of the written works that have had political impact

Material conditions determine culture

>2016
>Being anything other than apolitical

>post-death-of-God
>being

>tfw not Übermensch

>post-death-of-God
>not enthusiastically being

You're not a nihilist, are you?

I don't want to be [a nihilist]

politics is something you should grow out of by your late twenties, earlier if you are smarter

it's perfectly fine for a 20-year-old to be highly opinionated and heavily engaged with popular politics but by 24 or 25 you should have learned enough through your engagement to see the triviality, cyclical hypocrisy, and the bread and circus nature of its conduction

by 26 or 27 you should have learned enough to stop believing in utopian or progressive teleologies and realized that democratic immunization is foolish

by 30 you should be getting all your information from quarterly summations that offer deeper, detached engagement

You think things about political arguments and issues. These issues effect your daily life and it is naive of you to assert that you are apolitical.

In truth, you are a stone in a river but the sum of all the stones shifts the course of the river.

You can't depoliticise yourself or many of the problems you face on a daily basis without simply pretending not to see their political implications.

Ever been dissatisfied with your pay or the way you job treats you? Ever thought that large corporations have disproportionate power in the modern world? Ever thought that information technology is sapping your energy and distracting you from things that matter?

I'm far left, of course as you can tell by my examples but if you're right, or center right there are issues you presumably care about too. I'm just not going to sit here and pretend that all political positions are as well thought out as all others.

The point is though, you already put a lot of effort into these things, talking politics is simply making your thoughts on these issues rigorous and testing them in the public discourse and everyone, including myself, needs or has needed to learn that some political positions they hold are extremely stupid and poorly thought out.

The discourse is one of the most important element in being a politically aware citizen.

>it is naive of you to assert that you are apolitical
>I'm far left, of course

Yeah, I think we know where the naivety lies - and it's not with being apolitical.

Shitpost elsewhere.

Go ahead punk, make my day.

ooh, good idea. he could try reddit =)

>As an individual I can do nothing to change it
That's completely true. That's completely true for every individual in your country.
And yet, when all of your irrelevant votes are counted, the future of the nation is decided upon. Weird, huh?

By caring about politics, I make myself more unhappy than any effect of politics could make me.
Also nobody cares about my former-left-wing-turned-right-mostly-because-of-OCD-and-unironically-platonic ideology to be quite honest

I'm just attempting to be honest with the kid.

I've met and discussed with many extremely intelligent and articulate people that completely disagreed with me. That's never happened on /pol/. I don't want to gaslight anyone into believing that all political positions are equal. They aren't. And of course I think I'm right. Anyone that doesn't think they're right isn't worthy of respect.

Identifying the biases of the people you converse with is important and I'm keen to identify them.

Maybe you should try it yourself some time instead of purposefully disengaging with things that are important to you.

kys

Bringing up politics constantly is a bad idea.

The point is that you need to test your ideas among others or you risk having an ideology that is completely impossibly poorly thought out.

You are not capable of critiquing problems with your thought processes. I'm not saying Ho talk to everyone but find someone who is smart and shows political intelligence and talk with them.

Yeah, not everyone is going to care and it's hard and tike consuming but it's important to your development as a citizen.

>Anyone that doesn't think they're right isn't worthy of respect
What did he mean by this?

You don't get it, my friend. I am unironically autistic. I'm better off in my cave where I hear none of what's going on out there.

>By caring about politics, I make myself more unhappy than any effect of politics could make me.

You might have a different opinion if you lived in, say, Aleppo. Or Flint Michigan

But I don't.
Was that a serious argument? I'm not an advocate for anyone else. "But what if" is a massive spook.

AMA

I have the noblest, easiest and safest politics.

>Maybe you should try it yourself some time instead of purposefully disengaging with things that are important to you.

Politics isn't important in general, never mind to me.

Politics is what happens during the interim between great leaders. It would be unfair draw a parallel with bread and circuses, because at least bread and circuses are recognized as distractions for the rabble - politics, less so.

>when all of your irrelevant votes are counted, the future of the nation is decided upon
>sheeple believe this

>le Eastern mysticism meme

>le degenerate american """culture""" image

Who should I vote for in the upcoming US presidential election?

Has interval between great leaders grown longer or shorter or is it relatively constant?

It's highly irregular, which isn't necessarily a bad thing- although it is certainly unfortunate if you happen to have not been born in time for one, or die before the next.

A few examples include Napoleon, Borgia, Caesar, Friedrich der Große.

Do not vote.

Donarudo Toranpu.