politics
Welcome to the discussion of US Politics!
Rules:
- Post only links to articles, Title must fairly describe link contents. If your title differs from the site’s, it should only be to add context or be more descriptive. Do not post entire articles in the body or in the comments.
Links must be to the original source, not an aggregator like Google Amp, MSN, or Yahoo.
Example:
- Articles must be relevant to politics. Links must be to quality and original content. Articles should be worth reading. Clickbait, stub articles, and rehosted or stolen content are not allowed. Check your source for Reliability and Bias here.
- Be civil, No violations of TOS. It’s OK to say the subject of an article is behaving like a (pejorative, pejorative). It’s NOT OK to say another USER is (pejorative). Strong language is fine, just not directed at other members. Engage in good-faith and with respect! This includes accusing another user of being a bot or paid actor. Trolling is uncivil and is grounds for removal and/or a community ban.
- No memes, trolling, or low-effort comments. Reposts, misinformation, off-topic, trolling, or offensive. Similarly, if you see posts along these lines, do not engage. Report them, block them, and live a happier life than they do. We see too many slapfights that boil down to "Mom! He's bugging me!" and "I'm not touching you!" Going forward, slapfights will result in removed comments and temp bans to cool off.
- Vote based on comment quality, not agreement. This community aims to foster discussion; please reward people for putting effort into articulating their viewpoint, even if you disagree with it.
- No hate speech, slurs, celebrating death, advocating violence, or abusive language. This will result in a ban. Usernames containing racist, or inappropriate slurs will be banned without warning
We ask that the users report any comment or post that violate the rules, to use critical thinking when reading, posting or commenting. Users that post off-topic spam, advocate violence, have multiple comments or posts removed, weaponize reports or violate the code of conduct will be banned.
All posts and comments will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. This means that some content that violates the rules may be allowed, while other content that does not violate the rules may be removed. The moderators retain the right to remove any content and ban users.
That's all the rules!
Civic Links
• Congressional Awards Program
• Library of Congress Legislative Resources
• U.S. House of Representatives
Partnered Communities:
• News
view the rest of the comments
You're wrong about about what's causing the apathy and disinterest. It's not being caused by phones and tablets, social media addiction, or doomscrolling. Those are symptoms of the real problem.
That 22 year old cashier is zoning out because that's their 2nd or 3rd job, and they're exhausted. Those folks who refuse to watch the video? Some of them simply can't, because they're burnt out from just trying to survive. Those cynical kids with no hope for the future? After 2 recessions and a pandemic, that's kept them out of the jobs market, I can't blame them.
A lot of people are struggling to survive. Struggling to ensure they can keep a roof over their head, struggling to afford groceries, struggling to afford that car they need to get to the 2 or 3 jobs they work.
The cost of living is ridiculous now, and wages are stagnant. A large amount of people are simply surviving. All their energy is going to getting their basic needs met, and not all are able to meet those needs. They can't spare the attention to care about the rest of the world, when they are worrying about which bill to pay and which can wait. Or how to keep that car running just a bit longer until they can get it fixed.
Trump and his goons are absolutely taking advantage of this too. Don't fight back, or we'll make things worse. Argue with us and we'll take away that benefit you're using to survive. So you're absolutely right when you say something has to be done. And the sooner, the better. But understand that for those folks we are talking about, they won't be able to help. Not yet. Unfortunately, things will have to get worse before they are forced to act. And not "ICE is killing more people" worse. It'll be "I'm getting evicted, I can barely afford to eat, and a lot of people I know are the same."
I agree with you about the harms social media causes. It's not helping matters at all, and actively harms people. But so does alcohol. Drinking can relax people, make them feel numb and happy for a short while. Doesn't help them at all. But we don't point the finger at alcohol, we say it's a symptom of a larger problem. In this case I'm saying social media consumption is the same, just a symptom of a larger problem.
And like alcohol, it doesn't actually help at all. It just takes a person's mind off their problems for a while. It lets them unplug and just mindlessly scroll Tiktok or Instagram. Say stupid shit on Twitter.
Building community is an answer to this problem. Arguing on the internet is like yelling at the void, where speaking in person tends to make someone think more and be more mindful of what they say, since the repercussions are immediate and right on front of you. And it's just better for the person too, getting to feel that connection to other people.
The problem though, is that it takes a lot more effort, time, and money to participate in community. The people I'm talking about, simply can't. They don't have that time, energy, or money. They can't afford to meet friends for dinner, even at each other's homes. They can't go meet friends at a nearby park because they're exhausted from work. They can't go hang out at a friend's place because of the time commitment. The couple of hours they might have at the end of the day is spent browsing simply because it's low energy and doesn't cost them anything more. It's the only thing that lets them unwind, or unplug, or blow off some steam.
I think the answer is to have the community meet these people where they are. That's a huge undertaking though, which is probably why we haven't seen very much of it yet. But it's going to be sorely needed.
Good comment. You see a lot of why dont all Americans just strike? type comments from people living in countries with workers protections.