what is the actual purpose of the convos in the politics threads

what is "politics" doing here

Think dlh is saying you’d as well ask what is the actual purpose of the convos in the threads ymp

who isn't here for the banana pellets, after all?

they’re specifically to annoy people who don’t post there

it seems like they do more to annoy the people who do post in those threads, than those of us that don't?

for reference:
Best Album on My Favourite Albums of......1981!! [Started by . (Michael B) in April 2019, last updated twenty-four seconds ago by Le Baton Rose (Turrican) on I Love Music] 2 new answers POLL closes: April 26 (in 6 days)
2020 Democratic presidential primary [Started by slathered in cream and covered with stickers (silby) in February 2017, last updated forty-eight seconds ago by A is for (Aimless) on I Love Everything] 226 new answers

xp you didn’t post this thread though, did you?

I'm just biding my time and gambling that when Glenn Greenwald's pee tape comes out, it will show up there.

Glenn Greenwald's pee tape is one of the best albums of 1981?

Why hello Agent Sarahell of the FBI that is not what I said.

how would you rank the different acts of urination on the tape? Is there a best track, as it were?

frederik, im gonna say this again
please shut the fuck up

― be the 2 chainz you want 2 see in the world (m bison), Saturday, April 20, 2019 10:19 AM

the purpose of the politics threads is to serve as a support group for people who are having a hard time getting past the idea that there's no longer any particular point in talking about "politics"

what is the actual purpose of the convos in the politics threads?

before answering that, why don't we consider what it would be like if there were no politics threads

('fucking great' is probably the plurality of the answers there, but if there were no politics threads on ilx my reaction would be 'wow, these people don't give a shit about politics, that's fucking lame', and i probably wouldn't be on ilx because that's a bad sign of any community)

karl: so would you say that the presence of political discussion signals virtue to you?

i'm not saying that to criticize you, am more interested in criticizing the stereotype that "virtue signaling" is always a bad thing

giving a shit abt something and discussing something are different things though

karl: so would you say that the presence of political discussion signals virtue to you?

not so much as that the shunning of political discussion signals doubleplusbad unvirtue. imo if you don't like a thread on a messageboard just don't click on it. there are lots of threads i don't like here, but it's no big deal

critical personal background info: i grew up in a town where if you tried to "know about things" and "talk about things" people would fucking HATE you. i know that sounds like an exaggeration but small-town people will get me

so i have a predisposition against the whole anti-politics movement. reminds me to much of people who would spit tobacco in my hair in shop class

obviously not accusing anyone here of that kind of ignorant thinking, either, i'm just saying it veers toward that territory and i have a natural reaction toward anything that gets within 1000 yards of that zone

like i wonder if ppl really “care” abt politics so much why they discuss it in such counterproductive ways

giving a shit abt something and discussing something are different things though

― the late great, Saturday, 20 April 2019 17:15 (fifteen minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

different again to discussing it in any good useful or fair way

xp tlg otm as always

the answer is obvious - what they really care abt is not so much producing a political outcome but rather sublimating their personal issues

sublimating personal issues is the actual purpose of pretty much every human interaction, it's not limited to political threads

oh?

every single person is taking the inherent pain of the human condition and trying to hold it together long enough to have a conversation and convince the other person that they've got it figured out enough to be worth talking to again

is that true for everybody or only certain toxic posters

sounds like you’re in a dark mood, friend

Guess no one here belongs to a besieged minority that isnt "triggered ILXER"

no way, 420 4ever! i'm doing fine. maybe i'm just goth.

anyway, as usual i've said too much. i would do better in life if i would just stfu, because anyone who questions my opinions will quickly find out that i think the lord satan lives inside us all

xp

xp i'm not going to touch that because it's inevitably going to lead to beef

re: who is or isn't a besieged minority

we all belong to a besieged majority

I get a ton of news from the politics threads. They’re full of smart people.

so are mass graves mannnnn

xp i agree which is why i read those threads even though i don't participate

discussing politics in "a good way" isn't really possible—politics is in inherently polemical, undignified, not sexy

personally I more enjoyed the wide lens and being above it all, not especially digging my renewed "interest" these past few years

maybe we should have a thread that is exclusively "policy" instead for ilxors who don't wanna get the stink on them

Mainly to make sense of whats happening. I'm not anti-twitter but I don't really follow political stuff as it is too dense and often obtuse. I find the threads actually pretty good distillations and don't really find anyone's posts annoying even when I disagree - partly because most things I disagree with I can see merit in opposing view, and could potentially be swayed, I just don't currently share it

as usual i've said too much

That's Karl in the korner

i grew up in a town where if you tried to "know about things" and "talk about things" people would fucking HATE you. i know that sounds like an exaggeration but small-town people will get me

yeah, i totally get that ... I had that experience as well ... also the futility of trying to have informed discussions/conversations with people whose opinions are so fixed to the contrary ... probably that memory of futility makes me avoid threads about national politics, as opposed to threads about local or regional politics where I feel more comfortable? Idk why that is ... probably lower stakes, thus less posturing?

not so much as that the shunning of political discussion signals doubleplusbad unvirtue.

― these are not all of the possible side effects (Karl Malone)

same coin, though, right? i've been working really hard lately at not framing things in negative terms

i think i do have an interest in how political discussion is conducted. i mostly stay out of it because i'm not in a position to force other people to act in accordance with my personal beliefs, but since i choose to avoid the political threads sure i'll at least try and work through what my beliefs are.

just like you have your background, i have mine, and that is that political discussion is inseparable from questions of mental health. i had to work hard to make it through 2016 alive. i have friends who didn't. there are different, equally valid ways of understanding our present political moment, and my inclination is to construe the moment as a tremendous mental health crisis.

over time i've come to understand certain key aspects of depression and anxiety. catastrophising, for instance, is a big part of both of them, and given that the entirety of global politics is an ongoing catastrophe it's hard for me to control that and still be engaged in politics. the other really negative thing for me is learned helplessness, which, again, our current political moment lends itself extraordinarily well to.

so i've stayed away from discussing politics because it tends to play out in ways that are, for me, personally highly toxic and destabilizing, and i am, to an extent, concerned that it may play that role in the lives of many other people. i try to be healthy, i try to be kind and compassionate towards other people to the greatest extent that i can, and it's extremely difficult for me to do either of those things while still thinking in overtly political terms.

Chance to catartically clown on the assholes who run/ruin everything

Gotta say this thread is much worse than all the politics threads

Gotta say this thread is much worse than all the politics threads

― person industrial complex (voodoo chili)

then go the hell back there and stop bothering us, i don't go to the politics threads to talk about how fucking awful they are

They're a substitute for religious threads.

what is the purpose of any thread

Sorry, ACTUAL purpose

they're just threads

lies

do you have a second favorite?
do you ever wish that lies could be remastered with the best of contemporary technology to make an even better murder?

i wish i could half speed master the liar in chief

chopped and screwed, maybe?

ghostwrite the tax returns™

appetite for destruction was an obviously superior murder

https://i.imgur.com/TsEq5hr_d.jpg

hmm try again

https://i.imgur.com/m6eiYyF.gifv

oh well, it's a gif of hitchcock saying "i think everybody enjoys a nice murder, provided he is not the victim"

When a man lies, he murders some part of the world
These are the pale deaths which men miscall their lives
All this I cannot bear to witness any longer
Cannot the kingdom of salvation take me home?

good if you want to hear what the haute bourgeoisie are haüting on these days

Posting in politics threads ime has the effect of releasing the pressure valve just a smidge such that a vessel inside my brain doesn't break loose and start whipping about my cranium like an unmanned firehose.

Maybe that's just me.

It's sure to happen someday despite my preventative efforts but I'm all about kicking that can down the road.

dlh ilu

(for the Anne McCaffrey ref)

To the extent that they personally are materially unaffected, many people apparently regard details about their elected officials as mere trivia, perhaps something you'd come across in an issue of People Magazine just after the latest in-depth coverage of the current season of The Bachelorette.

― Artisanal Personality Disorder (Old Lunch), Friday, May 10, 2019 1:01 PM (forty-nine minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

'Did you see this, Helen? That goofball Trump was laughing about shooting immigrants! What a goofball! Say, did you see that Big Band Theory finale? What a hoot that was!'

― Artisanal Personality Disorder (Old Lunch), Friday, May 10, 2019 1:02 PM (forty-seven minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

can you imagine being a normie, just making blithe observations about trump then going on to discuss pop culture? leaving us ilxors have to fight the war against trump w. hitler on our own, one chapo ep at a time? beyond fucked.

Feels like there's a distinction you're missing except that instead of missing it you're just intentionally ignoring it in order to make a TrenchObv, but that's cool bro.

capn save a normie

xp jokes on you, 'Helen' + her partner actually both queer female poc, they just also happen to not care. mind = blown yet?

They also both work for a carnival as barkers, know all the words to the second and third verses of God Bless America, and are allergic to tree nuts!

xp jokes on you, 'Helen' + her partner actually both queer female poc, they just also happen to not care. mind = blown yet?

― lumen (esby), Friday, May 10, 2019 1:19 PM (nineteen minutes ago) Bookmark

this is "estranged uncle's Facebook post" level of humour