Politics: real or not? Graphic by Anna Gritzenbach.
SADIA KHATRI | OPINION COLUMNIST | sskhatri@butler.edu
Not caring about politics is the hot new trend.
Being apolitical or keeping your politics at home — where they rightfully belong — is the way to go. If being apolitical is something new for you, do not fret! Here is a comprehensive guide on how to become the best apolitical version of yourself.
Defining politics
There are many definitions of politics floating around, and that can make it difficult to understand what the word truly means.
Junior political science major Claire Shaffer provided some insight on what the term means to them.
“To me, politics is whenever something I don’t like happens,” Shaffer said. “Anything that’s apolitical and common-sense [are] things I agree with … Those are just kind of like synonyms to me: ‘political’ and ‘I don’t like.’”
The first step to becoming apolitical is creating a good definition of what politics really means to you. Once you have a strong definition that resonates with you, you can define anything and everything as political as it suits you. Having a personal and totally subjective definition — one that is not empirically rooted in anything — is more than okay.
Remember that politics do not actually matter
I have found that repeating a helpful mantra can really be beneficial when trying to be apolitical. Every few hours, I like to remind myself that anything that is happening on the political level — whether it relates to state legislation or federal executive orders — simply does not matter.
Zohal Atmar, a senior biology and Spanish double major, emphasized that we should just leave politics in the hands of elected officials.
“They obviously know best,” Atmar said. “We have to leave it to the people who know what they’re doing … We just need to let them do their thing. And, you know, we need to be loyal followers. We don’t have to all think; we can just follow. And, you know, I think that’s what our role is, as citizens: let them do whatever they want, and we are their supporters.”
Make sure to think of legislation that is introduced and bills that are being passed as the niche hobbies of politicians. We express ourselves through exquisite Instagram photo dumps and posting links to esoteric Spotify playlists on our respective social media, while elected officials represent themselves through drafting legislation. And boy, are they good at their craft.
We all represent ourselves creatively in different ways. Let those elected officials write those bills, baby!
Politics only happen every four years
Many people think that politics are constantly happening. This is not true. We experience politics every four years when there is a presidential election. Yes, there are other elections that occur, but do remember, from the piece of advice above, that politics do not actually matter, especially if they are local!
Every four years, we do politics when we cast a vote, and that is it. A good way to determine whether or not you have engaged in politics is to ask yourself if you have received a fun sticker, preferably one that says you voted.
“It’s not a year-round thing,” Atmar said. “It’s like once every couple of years … It’s only important when someone new is coming into power, because that’s our time to cheer them on.”
To help yourself become more apolitical, remind yourself that we are past an election year and we do not need to worry about politics until 2028. Give yourself a break and do not worry about anything that is remotely political.
Decenter your identity
Some people like to argue that our identities are political. If you are someone who finds yourself with an identity that is purportedly political, I have a few tips on how to navigate that. It is important to remind ourselves that parts of our identity that are visible to others, such as race or gender, do not impact how people treat us. It is a lot easier to be apolitical when we keep in mind that our identities are really not all that political.
Shaffer provided an example of how they decenter their Muslim identity.
“I’m not like those other Muslims,” Shaffer said. “I’m one of the good ones, the hard-working ones. So clearly, all the things that are happening to Muslims, it’s not going to come back to bite me.”
Politics and current events do not have to matter in your life. Make the choice and start decentering these things to live in a way that is more fulfilling.
Ignoring the news
The news happens to be particularly political. All people talk about is how we need to be listening to credible news sources like The Associated Press, but that is just an immense amount of work. It is far too political to read and keep up with the news, but there are a few ways to circumvent it.
Atmar advises that we should embrace ignorance.
“Do not stay informed,” Atmar said. “Do not read the news. Someone starts talking to you about politics? That’s when you turn off your ears and you walk away … Oh, they’re trying to take away our rights? Nope, let them. Let’s leave. We’re not talking about it … Once you adopt that lifestyle of turning your ears off, then the world is your oyster.”
Ignoring the news can be difficult at first, but make sure to remind yourself of your privilege. The news does not impact people in America.
If full ignorance feels difficult to implement, there are a few ways to slowly descend into ignorance. Begin by ignoring sources like The Associated Press or NPR, and instead focus on what is being said on social media.
“The AP, they’re always saying things I disagree with,” Shaffer said. “To me, it’s propaganda. But my favorite verified X accounts say things I agree with. So I think they’re the most credible users … I want my news coming from everyday people like me who don’t know anything. And you know, these supposed journalists think they’re so smart with their peer-reviewed sources and verification, but like, what if I disagree with it? Then it’s clearly wrong.”
Social media accounts that still manage to talk about politics — and have talking points that you find yourself never disagreeing with — are great tools if you are unable to fully embrace ignorance.
Sophomore public health major Zarrar Khan provided his reasoning for using social media news sources, while emphasizing the unfavorable side effects that may arise when we begin reading news from non-social media sources.
“I think [X] is definitely a place to go, because it allows everyone to have an opinion,” Khan said. “Everyone can speak on what they want to say … It’s everybody in the same space, collaborating, talking about what they think is important … [But] when you’re reading the news, it makes you start to care, right? And then when you start caring, you kind of become insufferable … I think by caring, you’re just wasting your time.”
Caring about others and having empathy is not something we can afford to do. Keeping up with the news is a slippery slope. Once you begin developing an eye for the atrocities occurring domestically and globally, it becomes difficult to be ignorant and stay apolitical.
A full-time job
It can be difficult to embrace a life without politics, but it can be done. That does not detract from the fact that it is still a full-time job, though. Fully adopt the mindset that politics do not matter. Ensure that you find yourself embodying this in your day-to-day life.
“You just need to really lose that sense of empathy,” Shaffer said. “It’s holding you back from your true potential … I really think you should just solely and narrowly focus on yourself all the time and if a problem isn’t affecting you, then it’s not really happening.”
Khan echoed Shaffer’s sentiment, in addition to providing a unique mindset he likes to use when decentering politics in his life.
“I think it just comes down to focusing on yourself,” Khan said. “I think you just need to come to terms with the fact that nothing matters. You know, we live and we die.”
Reminding ourselves how nothing matters can be a useful method of decentering politics. As political talk becomes more and more popular and prevalent, taking control of your life by using these helpful tips will allow you to remain apolitical.
Do your part to help keep our lives and communities free of politics.
