Irrele-rant: I am a 'Polid*ck'
We all have that one friend who loves a political debate. You know who I mean, the one who’s constantly checking their news app and brings up the ‘B-word’ at any opportunity. This person may be lovely, but you wait till their three glasses down and screaming “COMMUNIST SCUM” and its funny how quickly that opinion changes.
I’m sorry but these people are the actual worst. I actively avoid conversations with such people because 1) I do not have a good enough knowledge of any politics to keep up, and 2) because I am quite frankly petrified for being judged or called out for my opinions, or lack thereof, on any given political topic.
Now, let it be known I am fully aware how important it is to keep up with the country’s politics. I’m a strong believer that everyone should carry out their right to vote to honour those that couldn’t or still can’t have a voice in affecting change…BUT I cannot bear know-it-alls who spark political debates just to show off their own knowledge and drag others down. Since coming to university I have never met so many of these ‘polishamers’ to the point that I now declare myself as suffering from ‘polid*ck syndrome'. I define this as a fear of being made fun of for a lack of knowledge or opinions about politics.
My fear of being a “polid*ck” was especially triggered in early November, when pictures of Theresa May scurrying out of No.10 to talk about 'the deal' invaded my Twitter. Once I realised this did not mean a Noel Edmonds x Theresa collab (epic), I had to accept I truly had no blo*dy clue what was going on in British politics.
The thing is, I wish I knew enough about what's going on to agree or disagree with Sarah from Birmingham's passionate Facebook rants’. I genuinely try to take in the barrage of news stories we get on the daily. In fact, I blame the media's coverage of Brexit for inducing my current “polid*ck” syndrome. Their over complicated daily updates are literally impossible to keep up with. I also began to lose interest once I realised most stories were not updates on concrete developments, but redundant 'he said, she said' dialogues of non-existent proposals. Everyday someone else seems to quit, an opposing party condemns plans, and members of the public aire their dissatisfaction. Without being a cliché millenial brat, I have more success (and fun!) Keeping up with the Kardashians. When you think about it, this is incredibly disheartening. It’s almost scary having no clue about something that may have a huge impact on your future.
Essentially, I don't know how to sift through the noise of political news to find out where the UK currently stands, if any decisions have been made and which are important in terms of our future. The repetitive stories do nothing but leave those who are not experts in politics confused as to what information we need to know. Aside from Tresemmé, I have no idea who is left in the negotiations.
To make myself feel less alone in my life as a “polid*ck” I created a survey that I sent to a whopping 10 people, please hold your applause. I'm both pleased and concerned to report that 90% of those people also felt they had no clue what was going on with Brexit.
In an attempt to help I’ve linked some actually helpful, and largely neutral, websites which present more understandable updates on what’s meant to be happening and what is etc.
However, I think no matter how informed you are (or get) a New Year’s Resolution for all should be to not judge someone for their opinion, or lack thereof, on politics. We will all have opinions and its very much okay to feel a certain way without having to constantly justify yourself. Quite frankly no-one likes a judgemental know-it-all :).
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