A person in my life is moderately obsessed with politics
Watches world politics AAAALLLLLL the time. Says that politics are his favorite sport but dosent vote and actively encourages me not to vote.
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Watching has its uses.
The Dalai Llama once observed that Tibet fell to China because it had closed itself off from the world.
If Tibet had been paying attention to current affairs and what other countries were doing, it could have taken action years earlier to prevent the invasion.
Even in trade, the Tibetans never understood that the Chinese believed that the Tibetans were paying tribute and implicitly conceding their position as a vassal state. I doubt if there is any worse misunderstanding of a relationship with a neighbour - and I wonder if the old imperial China was deceiving Tibet.
If we don't keep an eye on what is happening in the world, we get what we deserve for our ignorance.
The Dalai Llama once observed that Tibet fell to China because it had closed itself off from the world.
If Tibet had been paying attention to current affairs and what other countries were doing, it could have taken action years earlier to prevent the invasion.
Even in trade, the Tibetans never understood that the Chinese believed that the Tibetans were paying tribute and implicitly conceding their position as a vassal state. I doubt if there is any worse misunderstanding of a relationship with a neighbour - and I wonder if the old imperial China was deceiving Tibet.
If we don't keep an eye on what is happening in the world, we get what we deserve for our ignorance.
@REMsleep I agree that it is better to be an active citizen, especially in a democracy. We are responsible for the government we get whether we like it or not. Abstaining from voting is no way to avoid it.
But by observing what goes on overseas, one does get a chance to act to prevent unwelcome events.
For instance, by observing China's recent shifts in policy and increasingly predatory behaviours on the internet and in trade, one can pass laws to prevent Chinese companies buying up land and businesses in one's own country.
By paying attention to the first outbreak of Covid in China, the world could have blocked all travel to and from China, and quarantined anyone who had recently been there. Those countries who immediately accepted the reality of the virus and locked down have had the fewest deaths and the least economic consequences.
I could cite examples from all over the globe. No country is isolated or immune from the effect of others, especially since financial deregulation, the development of megacorporations, and the realities of wars, refugees and climate change. Each of us can choose to take action in response to the information we get. I do.
If the person in your life doesn't, it doesn't mean he never will. His watching the news is fulfilling some kind of personal need.
If it annoys you, what need of your own is not being met?
What changes could both of you make so that you both get what you need?
But by observing what goes on overseas, one does get a chance to act to prevent unwelcome events.
For instance, by observing China's recent shifts in policy and increasingly predatory behaviours on the internet and in trade, one can pass laws to prevent Chinese companies buying up land and businesses in one's own country.
By paying attention to the first outbreak of Covid in China, the world could have blocked all travel to and from China, and quarantined anyone who had recently been there. Those countries who immediately accepted the reality of the virus and locked down have had the fewest deaths and the least economic consequences.
I could cite examples from all over the globe. No country is isolated or immune from the effect of others, especially since financial deregulation, the development of megacorporations, and the realities of wars, refugees and climate change. Each of us can choose to take action in response to the information we get. I do.
If the person in your life doesn't, it doesn't mean he never will. His watching the news is fulfilling some kind of personal need.
If it annoys you, what need of your own is not being met?
What changes could both of you make so that you both get what you need?