How do you feel when someone tells you that they're "not-political"?

[JanMichael]

Better yet how can anyone even say such a thing?!

"Not Political"? Wow:shrug:

Yet many, 50% of the population, do.

So how do we penetrate the intentionally(?) obtuse with messages that resonate, awaken, within the echoing walls of their minds?

[JitterbugPerfume]

1. They don't understand what "political" means

I scream inside when my sister says it

Every aspect of living it touched by politics

[RichM]

2. I feel they are typical products of their ignorant culture.

The solution is simple: a people's revolution. That's all it would take. (Nothing to it! Piece of cake! ) We seize power, then make sure the school systems teach all the little kids that there's no such thing as being "non-political."

We sez to them, "Keeds, EVERYONE who lives in society is political. Even if you try to be apolitical, that itself is a political position. There's no escaping it."

[AnnabelLee]

3. When I hear someone say that

I think of Paul McCartney's answer to someone saying that worrying about the environment is "boring". He said (from memory) "Well, we'd all better get boring or we're all gonna get dead".

<So how do we penetrate the intentionally(?) obtuse with messages that resonate, awaken, within the echoing walls of their minds?>

I don't know. People with talents in that area have been doing their best. IMO, some people will not take an interest until their own economic situation becomes untenable.

[asjr]

5. political

AnnabelLee, you hit it with your last paragraph!

[skippysmom]

4. people who claim to be "not political"

really frustrate me. I feel as if so many scary decisions about our future are being made in the political arena, yet so many people seem to plug their ears.

Education, I guess, is our only option. Talk about politics and try to make them care.

[Touchdown]

6. I ask them a simple question...

"Do you think Al Gore said he invented the internet?" If they say "yes", then I say their full of shit! They may not know much, but they are political. Some people genuinely don't know what I'm talking about though, then I believe them.

[drdigi420]

7. Its the same type of thing

when someone says the drug war isn't an important issue because they don't use illegal drugs.

They fail to see the implications of their apathy. It's up to people like you and me to convince them that politics IS important. It's a frustrating but necessary mission.

[southernfried]

8. some people only see politics via their pay stub

and to them all pols are alike. Get a "huge" tax cut, see a few bucks. Then a few bucks disappear.

This is the crux of the matter.

[DinahMoeHum]

9. Did you ever consider this: They may not want to tell you. . .

what they're really thinking when they say they're "not political".

They may be telling you what they think you want to hear.

Methinks we're getting more and more people who are pissed off at * and the BFEE day by day. But they don't feel ready to tell it to the face of a stranger, or a pollster, or a news media source. If they discuss politics, they do so only among trusted friends.

Something to ponder. We may have more allies than we know.


:smoke:

[ibegurpard]

10. The same way I feel when I hear:

"Well, the Democrats are just as bad as Republicans...they all do it" or "We are just in the conservative swing of a political pendulum"...these kind of answers are completely dismissive of the unprecedented things that are going on right now.

[blondeatlast]

21. Yup.

nm

[LWolf]

11. I understand.

The people I've known who have said that they are "not political" tend to see politics as a corrupt, meaningless process. They tend to see politicians as the worst examples of corruption and greed in our country.

Those views are sometimes substantiated. And they lead to hopelessness, which leads to a disconnection from the process. I've been there. I have 2 sons there now. They won't vote because they are convinced their vote doesn't count for anything; the monolithic corrupt system continues on. They don't see any difference between one party and another or one politician and another. They believe that all politicians are greedy corrupt liars who don't care about anything but their own career and their own feathered nest.

To counter that, we need to see the rest of the picture; the intent behind the process, the values it supports, the things for every day people it has achieved, and the alternatives.

We need to help them feel connected. A part of the process. A viewpoint with value. We need to reach the disenfranchised and bring them back in. We need to reach the young voters before they reach the point of disconnection from politics.

I'm trying here at home. Young men don't always take mom's opinions seriously. They often know more or better than mom. I've done a better job in my classroom with 8 and 9 year-olds than with my own sons.

[HootieMcBoob]

12. Here's what Lou Reed says...

On the excellent "Take No Prisoners" album that was recorded live at The Bottom Line in NYC some time in the 70s.

Something like this...

"people ask me, Lou, are you political? Give me an issue I'll give you a tissue...you can wipe my ass with it"

I'm not sure what that means, but that's what Lou said in the 70's. Please discuss...or not.

[Demobrat]

13. I met one this weekend.

A 50-year old female neighbor who told me she didn't know the difference between Republicans and Democrats and had never voted. Let's put it this way. We wil not be becoming friends.

[SharonAnn]

23. Hmmm, like my fundamentalist hairdresser

who said, one day, when she learned I was running for office "Oh, I've never registered to vote. You probably think I'm terrible."

So I responded, "No, not at all honey. It's a real pain, the hours are so inconvenient, and it probabaly doesn't make that much difference anyway."

No way did I want another fundamentalist, Southern Baptist voting who would vote like her preacher told her. We have enough of those around here.

So, to people like her I smile and say, "You're probably right."

[tom_paine]

14. I tell them that was all fine and good as long as the Old Republic

was healthy.

But now is a completely different story.

[TahitiNut]

15. It's a self-referential lie,

... typically from a passive-agressive and/or one who merely follows where someone else "leads". Politics is being concerned about what others think and believe and acting in a manner that both effects such perceptions and is affected by such perceptions. All politics is local and the most local is two people. Thus, I interpret such a lie as the equivalent of "I've made my choices and don't want to hear anything to the contrary." It's all about effects on thoughts and behavior. The 'apolitical' person seeks to influence the behavior of the person to whom they say this, if only to forestall their attempt at discussion. That's politics.

[PROGRESSIVE1]

16. Everyone's Political

They say that there not political yet everyone I know has a political view!!!

[w4rma]

17. I used to be "not/non-political". Ignorance really was bliss.

I almost envy them, but I know that we'll need their help to change the direction this country is heading from moral, economic and democratic bankruptcy.

And that's the way things are.

[edward]

18. Simple answer: They are conservative.

Anyone who is not conservative knows what politics are.
Never heard anyone say they are not political who I did not
think was conservative.

[w4rma]

22. I was not political and I would not characterize myself as a conservative

at any point in my life. I considered myself moderate, actually. Now that I am well informed, I'm quite liberal.

[edward]

24. Well, perhaps that is what I meant by "conservative."

A moderate seems by definition to be conservative, like a centrist.
Not ideological or right wing, but anyone who is "mainstream" is conservative by definition. That is what used to be called the establishment.

[SharonAnn]

25. Exactly! Especially if they're firm about being non-political. nt

nt

[blondeatlast]

19. I was once asked on a final if every action is political.

Of course, I replied yes; blahblahblah, but was astonished when most of the class, like 66% or something said no (either way, you had to explain your answer, of course, so it wasn't a cop-out).

It makes me ill--I'd rather talk with a Bushista than to someone who is that apathetic.

I said ill; I think it is more likely that I am astonished and confused. I can't figure out how this can even be, but it happens quite often.

[blondeatlast]

20. A friend of mine once explained why she never voted (barf alert):

"I don't want to be responsible for what happens."

How could she be any MORE responsible???

[blm]

26. My reaction *groan*

Cannot understand it.

[sandnsea]

27. It means they don't like to argue

I really thought about it and I've never met anybody that didn't have political opinions. "I'm not political" usually means they don't want politics to interfere with friendships or are afraid they aren't knowledgeable enough to back up their own beliefs. My daughter would probably say she's not political but there isn't a week that goes by that she's not incredibly upset about seniors not getting proper medical care or friends who get married at 19 because God wants them to or some other issue that she's aware of because of her little corner of the world. Yeah, people are political, we just need to connect their concerns to an activist group. Come to think of it, I'll do that for my daughter today.

[Dyedinthewoolliberal]

28. Not voting

I feel anxious, passionate and frustrated. I want to shake them and say "how can you NOT be interested in whats going on?" I think more though, it's that they are afraid to think certain thoughts. Thoughts like the fact is, politics is a dirty, conniving game. I am interested in them only to protect my interests.
Again, I think it's because to be interested in politics requires thinking. Thinking about things not very pleasant. Thinking about how the American way of life is exploiting other nations natural resources. Thinking about how to change it all and realizing you can't. So you can only change yourself. That's where it all starts....