Is becoming cynical towards politics a natural process?

[noname223]

When I compare myself to some peers of mine I think some are pretty idealistic about politics. Some of my friends or other fellow students dream of a better world. (contributing to it). We have to fight capitalism, abolish the systems and end the wars. Sometimes I am also like that, sometimes I need that a hope for a better world. I also can admire this attitude. On the other hand I sometimes think their stances are naive. I have the feeling it is pretty difficult to find the right balance between complete cynicism and naive idealism.

I think both can be dangerous. Yesterday I had a talk with someone who has an opposing politically view than me. I showed him that one of his favorite news anchors is pretty corrupt and hypocritical. His answer was (I paraphrase it). Maybe you are right but I think no matter who I vote for they are all corrupt. "Every political direction leads to a wrong path".

Yeah I think such a cynicism is very counterproductive. I think we should at least agree on that democracy is the right system and that there are nuances in politics. I think many people don't see the nuances in politics. I think this is a very controversial and unpopular opinion. (In my opinion) It often is a real difference for who we vote. It is not true that it does not matter who rules the country. Some are more corrupt and damaging than others. I sometimes try to think of it as the lesser evil vote. In majoritarian two-party systems this can be pretty frustrating and annoying. I can understand that.

But I try not to end up as my dad. He is completely cynical about everything. They are all corrupt, they all lie (which is true though) and in general they are all absolutely incompetent. I always think that this argument of him is ironic. For me he is the incompetent loser. I mean who abuses his children over a decade and destroys their lives. Then he scapegoats innocent vulnerable people for his failure. This is for me the definiton of incompetence.

I don't really buy this notion that all politicans were incompetent. I already expressed that opinion in this forum and many disagreed with me on it. I think making good decisions in our highly-complex world is extremely difficult. You need the support of your party and of the population and so much more. When you look at the biography of many politicians you see that many of them are highly skilled. I agree trying to behave morally rightfully is for many politicans not the case. Though there are even here nuances. Politics is determined by power. I could go in depth like the motivation for becoming a politicans is probaby diametrical to altruism etc. But I probably already lost the crowd by stating that I doubt politicians were that incompetent.

Have you become cynical about politics? I think many have the opinion there is no way around that. Especially if you grow older and with each politican who gets elected you can observe that they lie straight to your face in order to get your vote.

 

[Circles]

I don't know anymore. I feel politically homeless as all parties involved are corrupt and trash in my opinion. I mean let's be real, the government hasn't done shit for us atleast in the US in a long time and would rather support the ever growing and never ending military industrial complex. How can you not become cynical when almost every politician has forgotten about the people or the people that voted for them.

 

[whywere]

I totally agree with @Circles, as in the U.S. it is just all about money and ego. Human nature is all about self-preservation and as a human race, we have not evolved yet to think and include everyone.

In the U.S., no matter if Republican or Democrat or independent or whatever, it is a daily struggle to try and do right for the fellow folks that they represent.

Walter

 

[CrazyNihilist]

The two party system we have is irreparably broken. In order to get a political party nomination, a person needs to be far right or far left. Many centrists with altruistic goals are never given the chance and elections are always a lesser of two evils in my opinion. I admit, I have become more and more cynical as I get older. I think the youth really want to believe in the system, but everyone becomes disenchanted when they see the false promises and money games over time.

 

[Fragile]

It depends on the environment tbh. I don't expect someone who lives in a deeply corrupt country to develop a positive or even hopeful perspective when all they see is their party and their enemies being extremely slimy in every political move they make. Nothing will make you lose faith in humanity as much as reading about what politicians are up to, and who is in bed with them.

Maybe some magical country exists, where the majority of politicians are actually doing their job and not reaching into the pocket of the people they claim to represent and protect, but I'm done believing in fairy tales.

I'm sure that my perspective is very cynical with most topics, but I think that there is a lot of naivete in the mind of someone who's hopeful about the current political situation in many places, and I don't mean it in a pejorative or demeaning way at all. I whish I could purge the things I know about the political class out of my mind. Even the most "pure" politicians tend to have some monsters behind them.

 

[Capsicum_Corral]

Virtually all politicians (at least in the west) are employees, minions, or blackmail victims of the small group of people who own this planet. There's no level of cynicism that overestimates the evil we face. Epstein was paid billions to hook them up with children to have sex with. Then the videos were used to make sure they did as told. He was just one tiny piece of the whole operation that basically involves everyone holding a certain level of power.

If you want to be happy, you have to blind yourself to reality. You can have good experiences at the personal level. Make friends, garden, raise pets, pursue hobbies, and etc. Once you start looking out at the wider world, you're going to see the ugly and the evil demanded by our overlords.

 

[locked*n*loaded]

I'm way older than OP, and I can say that over time I've become more cynical of politics, and a lot of other things, too. It come with living, experiencing more things, seeing more corruption, seeing problems never really get solved, new problems always rearing their ugly heads, seeing how greed dominates, at least in this country.........I don't see how someone could not become cynical.

 

[odradek]

I'm very cynical about politics and I do think it's natural as you age. It's not only the politicians but the voters I'm cynical about. I guess I might be a tad misanthropic.

The systems and structures of our society have always been corrupt to some degree (understatement) and now just have a 2022 gloss of paint. That's a bit reductive but I am not perfect.

Nobody actually wants to do the things we as a civilisation need to do in order to meaningfully progress beyond our current era, for the most part, politicians or voter.