Pretending to be into politics and current events

It's okay to be ignorant on politics; it is a complex topic with many differing ideologies and it can be daunting when first stepping in the world of politics.

I mostly like to learn about anarchism and ideologies referring to anarchy. It is a complete lack of social order which interests me.

 

Understand that politics is all-encompassing. There's no escape from it. Politics is the organisation of all human society and the interaction between societies. Almost every aspect of politics will have an impact on your everyday life, especially in economic questions.

Pretending to be interested is not going to get you far. Understanding enough for the purpose of being better able to navigate the world you live in is far more important.

A good point to start is the two farthest ends: bread and butter issues, and the broad frameworks by which governments operate and citizens participate in them. Knowing both how your government is formed/the powers it has and what services you rely on gives you a clearer idea of what you expect from and demand from governments.

For example, as a Canadian, you might note the way your governing system is an independent, Westminster democracy. That includes the process by which the government is nominated by and responsible to House of Commons, with formal executive power invested in the Crown (exercised by the Governor General almost exclusively on the prime minister's and ministers' advice) and that the cabinet is bound by an informal but indispensable rule of solidarity to which the prime minister is equally bound, with a powerful Supreme Court and an established bill of rights.

That helps you understand why leaders act in certain ways and why politicians don't just do things that might seem easy if you weren't to understand of the constitutional limitations on their power. Know how the Parliament is elected, the powers of the Commons versus the Senate and what the government can do without the consent of the Parliament. Without these foundations, the way things function can confuse you in procedure before you even get to substantive issues.

You will also want to know what powers the provinces have and what powers the federal government has. Understanding who sets criminal law and who manages infrastructure can impact how you perceive the performance of the governments and parliaments you elect.

Then you might note in what ways those policies impact you. That's the bread and butter stuff. These are questions like, are your taxes too high for you to afford basic necessities? Do you have sufficient access to public services that it counteracts the negative impact from your taxes? Do you have enough job security and are your wages lower than you might reasonably expect?

Then also branch out. Try to break into basic economics and philosophy, above all. How does competition and trade impact goods and services prices and job security? What tradeoffs between higher wages, cheaper goods and higher unemployment are you willing to accept? Does state ownership of energy supply lead to cheap, fair and environmentally acceptable outcomes? What role should governments play in influencing economies? Should governments exercise powers over personal lives more extensively?

Politics is complex because politics is in everything. But nobody can afford to live in a world whose decision-making processes are alien to them.

This isn't about appearing smart or dumb. This is just about you learning to better engage in decisions that impact your life and others'. And to take a while to get to grips with it is totally fine, because nobody is, let alone starts as, the repository of all knowledge.

 

The beauty of living in a democracy is that you don't have to be involved in politics if you don't care about it. Or you can just be interested in the things that really matter to you. Whatever the case, I don't think you're being shallow, especially since you live in Canada. You can afford not to care about politics there.

 

I advise against this attitude. Low-participation and low-information democracies are low-accountability democracies. Canada is not a healthy democracy by inherent nature - it is a healthy democracy because it has an active culture of democratic participation and prominent political discussion. Even structurally sound democracies (eg. Japan) wither under conditions of a disengaged political culture.

 

Yeah, I'm pretty clueless myself, but I know enough to have opinions. I don't know how to stop being clueless though. I learn a lot from debating with people who know more than me.

 

I just wonder why Aussie spent a such an effort into writing a long piece essay on the benefits of knowing politics lol. Then it occurs to me that voter turnout among young people, especially in the 18-24 age group, is ridiculously low. This voting group has political power, one which they don't often exercise. And conventional wisdom states that yong voters are usually more cosmopolitan, more liberal. If this group could be arsed to go to voting booth, election result would turn out different...probably. There might be no Brexit, no Trump. Canada did see a jump in young voter turn out in 2015, probably thanks to Trudeau's appeal. I don't even like Trudeau but I think he's way more successful with young people than Hillary.
Oh it's all good fun

 

This is kind of me, but I listen to politics, I'm just not into discussing it because I don't know how?? Makes me feel ashamed sometimes, like I'm not bettering myself somehow.

 

Yea I'm the same way so you aren't alone on that. I know some things about politics but I wouldn't be able to have a good debate with someone about politics since I'm not super informed on politics.

 

The people who claim to know about politics are all liars, anyways. None of them know, either. Don't worry about it.

All the politicians are liars too. Oh well.

The only reason anyone ever starts a discussion on politics is because they are hoping to start a fight. When anyone around me even mentions politics I just ask them if they want to jump right to the part with the screaming, thrown objects, fists and blood to save time.