have an incoherent response like a year and a half after you posted this because I was looking EVERYWHERE FOR THIS post and couldn't remember where I read it. I kept looking through Freddie DeBoer's archives somehow convinced I read it on his substack woops.
Anyway this speaks to my experiences. The internet makes it so easy to signal that you have the right opinions while never doing anything remotely helpful. I unfortunately love living in a space where everything is theoretical and never emerges into reality, so also I have been very guilty of performative bullshit and behaving as if this was very, very important and helpful of me.
And then I realize what I'm doing and am ashamed. It's a tragic cycle and I'm confident I'll repeat it until I die. but hopefully with increased gaps in between the performative bullshit....
I like to think there is some value in people deciding to follow political news even if it ends up just being a type of fandom. At the least it involves considering public policy that impacts all of us on some level. It's better than just voting blue no matter who come election time isn't? Like its a decent first step.
Following and thinking about politics is good, but I'm talking about the kind of people who make it their whole thing despite not actually participating in the work of it.
I think you've put your finger on something pretty important here, unfortunately something political hobbyists will not want to hear.
I think a lot of them are going to have to hit total burnout before they realize they've been going about this wrong.
have an incoherent response like a year and a half after you posted this because I was looking EVERYWHERE FOR THIS post and couldn't remember where I read it. I kept looking through Freddie DeBoer's archives somehow convinced I read it on his substack woops.
Anyway this speaks to my experiences. The internet makes it so easy to signal that you have the right opinions while never doing anything remotely helpful. I unfortunately love living in a space where everything is theoretical and never emerges into reality, so also I have been very guilty of performative bullshit and behaving as if this was very, very important and helpful of me.
And then I realize what I'm doing and am ashamed. It's a tragic cycle and I'm confident I'll repeat it until I die. but hopefully with increased gaps in between the performative bullshit....
I like to think there is some value in people deciding to follow political news even if it ends up just being a type of fandom. At the least it involves considering public policy that impacts all of us on some level. It's better than just voting blue no matter who come election time isn't? Like its a decent first step.
Following and thinking about politics is good, but I'm talking about the kind of people who make it their whole thing despite not actually participating in the work of it.