politics
Table of Contents
Politics
Politics is a complicated subject which deals with systems of governance and the power, or 'authority',1) which inevitably emerge from the fact that decisions are being made for large groups of people, which brings us to the seemingly constant strife over power and what public policies form.
Politics and the Internet
The internet has become a dangerously powerful tool, due to the fact that it connects people, so we shouldn't be surprised at the uptick in 'politically-motivated gamification' as this becomes the ideal place to manipulate content,2) spread propaganda,3) weave echo chambers, and divide people into factions, which brings us to the ancient divide and conquer strategy, now fueling political polarization near you.
For newcomers
If you happen to be new to politics, I'd simply advise 'observing from a distance' at first. You should make an attempt to understand every angle and approach, without any indoctrinated or preconceived notions,4) before developing a personal opinion and ideological affiliation. Of course, there's a lot of bullshit in politics, so it's acceptable to just say 'fuck it' and throw the entire damn thing away.
However, this does not mean that you should adopt a 'neutral' label (e.g. apolitical, centrist, moderate), since 'nothing' (i.e. going along with the status quo) is a decision itself. This line of thinking can possibly enable a dangerous set of 'feel good' mental gymnastics (e.g. argument to moderation, horseshoe theory) where one can make the crucial mistake of overlooking the dangers seen in the paradox of tolerance.
On that note, I must acknowledge that ideologies have turned into a biography or identity label, which isn't a problem, but the issues arise when people mirror this and blindly latch onto a label without knowing the connotations, consequences, or nuances. Your interests are not always shared by family, friends, billionaires, entertainers, celebrities, e-celebs, institutions, the media, shitposters, etc.5)
Political ideologies
There's an extensive catalog of ideologies, thus the 'ideology shopping' or 'ideology store' jokes, but I'll simply narrow it down to the few that actually 'matter' because I don't want to overcomplicate things. Besides, most people would be scared off or deterred by an extensive list,6) so here is a brief list of ideologies with very basic definitions that doesn't involve throwing away all logic and reason to imagine two cows.
- Anarchism - A system where the concept of 'no ruler' is the main focus.
- Capitalism - A system where the means of production is privately owned. Hope you love debt!
- Communism - A system where the means of production is owned by the people.
- Democracy - A system where the power lies within the people, mainly through popular elections.7)
- Liberalism - A system where the concept of 'free will' is the main focus. Allegedly.
- Monarchism - A system where the power lies within a, typically hereditary, head of state.
- Nationalism - A system where the concept of a 'nation' is the main focus.
- Republicanism - A system where the power lies within the people, through representatives.
- Socialism - A system where the means of production is owned by the state.8)
Charting the ideologies?
In political spaces, you will occasionally run into diagrams that attempt to 'organize' the political spectrum, such as the left–right spectrum, the political compass, and countless political tests (e.g. 8values, PolitiScales, etc.). These are useful tools for newcomers and demographic polling, but they easily fall apart once you understand nuance and how easy it is to misplace an ideology.
The reality is that 'political ideologies' are blueprints that consist of several abstract ideas, which will never fit perfectly on a diagram because of how complex the material world is. What is anarchism to the 'big–small government' scale? What is monarchism and libertarianism to the 'authoritarian–libertarian' scale? Where does one put left-wing labor rights and right-wing regime change on a 'liberal–conservative' scale?
See also
1)
It's important to remember that 'authority' is relative and, by this point, authoritarianism has become a funny idealist buzzword. It is an inevitability, like nature and its natural disasters. I probably won't be taking you seriously if you say 'horizontal alignment' or 'statism isn't poggers', like, what are we doing here?
2)
Content manipulation can technically be done at any level, from group moderators to website ownership. Subtly editing public conversations is scandalous, but it's also a massive waste of time and resources, yet we acknowledge 'bot farms' and 'troll farms' whose purpose is to make it seem like 'activity' is occurring.
3)
Some might say 'disinformation' instead, but the problem with this is that 'disinformation' is a subjective word. How do you know that your information isn't disinformation? Any thoughts on objectivity?
4)
A lot of political propaganda tend to exploit a fear of the unknown, which is why the false dilemma (i.e. 'us against them') is so common. This is why I emphasize that you should probably talk to people, before you jump to any assumptions or conclusions. However, this must be a cooperative dialogue, not a debate.
5)
The main lesson is that you shouldn't mirror somebody else's ideology and blindly defend it when you might not even agree with it, unless you have the misfortune of living in a 'mandatory conscription' country.
6)
The actual reason is “Are you insane? I'm not writing all of that”, which you can understand if you glance at Wikipedia's list of political ideologies or the Polcompball Wiki's list of ideologies and variants.
7)
Bringing hits like: “Why don't Americans just vote against the TikTok ban? Are they stupid?”
8)
Socialism is meant to be a transitional system between capitalism and communism, which brings us to the incredibly annoying debate on whether [insert socialist state] was more capitalist or more communist.
politics.txt · Last modified: by namelessrumia