Hey there 20 somethings! I know, I know– t’s been a long time! Sorry for that. Ariel was in charge last month and instead of doing her duty to the blog she was running around Norway with friends. Can you say troll-ific? Anyway, at last we have a condition of the month ready for you, and the question this time is about politics. Do you like to ‘talk politics’ or is it something you avoid at all cost? Is there something to be learned from hearing other people’s opinions on the issues, or is everything so partisan nowadays that there isn’t really any point. The princesses weigh in.
One of the great things about living abroad is that it sort of exempts you from caring about politics. Okay, not really—I know that some awareness is every citizen’s duty—but is nice to feel the pressure ease off. Like Cindy, I do not currently live in the US, so that means no advertisements, no twenty-four hour election news, no signs on the side of the road. The world of US politics is still there waiting where I can find it, but it is not banging on my door the way it would be at home. Honestly, I really appreciate the break. Politics is such a messy and complicated thing, and I don’t know where I stand any more on too many of the issues. I feel that by living in England, I have given myself a little breather—a time to try and figure things out. Also, I have found that living abroad is able to give a good sense of distance; I am now more easily able to see American issues in light of global comparisons, to see how different ideas are worked out in different places, and somehow avoid some the polarity that says there are exactly two ways things can be done: no more, no less. I think it has been really helpful for expanding my thinking.
The other great thing about living abroad is that not only are you kind of freed from politics back home, but you are also free to listen and learn abroad without being expected to have strong opinions. Previously, in the US, I found most political conversations a bit uncomfortable: you never know what people’s stances are on important (and touchy) issues, and before you know it a perfectly peaceful conversation has become a heated argument or even a fight. But over here, I have found that I can just listen. I have found being a foreigner to be a free ticket into political discussions on all sides of the table. No one tip toes around me, or expects me to share (or even understand) their stances. I can’t explain how nice it is to be able to hear people’s opinions played out without feeling the need to judge, condone, or oppose them. It is also pretty fun to get to learn about a new political arena and its issues. In England, for example, they have more than just two parties. There is the conservatives (aka the Tories) and Labour (I guess the classic left), but there is also this party called the ‘Liberal Democrats’ which has its own platform, as well as more minor parties such as Green and the radical anti-immigration UKIP party. Also, there are all kinds of different rules, like the fact that the Prime Minster isn’t directly elected, and the bishops of the church have seats in the House of Lords (the upper chamber of Parliament). Talk about a different scene!
Living in England, I have found I actually enjoy conversations about politics and exploring what other people believe. But I know part of that is the reduced amount of responsibility of holding and explaining my own positions. Certainly, that is something equally important, and is something over time that I will need to face. For the moment though, I am enjoying free swim in the political sea, content to learn from the events and people around me.
— Ariel
I grew up in a house where Fox News was often the default TV channel, with a brother who would talk your ear off about politics from a young age. Thus, I developed a bit of an aversion to the political world, because all I experience of it were angry debates—it seemed to be too easy to judge someone else for their political views as if those were moral failings and they were a bad person. These days, I still avoid politics for the most part, though I try to keep up on the news as much as I can. Living abroad has insulated me from divisive political commentators and, (thank-you, Lord!) political TV ads. With the presidential election coming up, I have been tuning it a bit more than usual, mostly because it seems like there’s a new candidate in the race every week, but I still wouldn’t say politics is one of my favorite topics. In the last decade or so in America, as I matured from a teen to an adult, I began to see clearly how inefficient our government is, and how corrupt it can be at times. It’s downright depressing to think about how so little gets done in Washington because the parties are at odds with each other and everyone’s looking to advocate for a small slice of special interests, rather than the good of the country as a whole. Living where I do, though, has also forced me to consider politics from other perspectives, and I have found it interesting to discuss broader issues, like the relative merits of democracy and monarchy, for example. As the country ramps up for the craziness of the 2016 presidential election, I wish you all good luck. I’ll be chilling over here, in a country where women only gained the right to vote this year.
— Cindy
Can we talk about how crazy Donald Trump is??
I think he’s super entertaining. He’s saying a lot of the things that a lot of the candidates are saying, but he’s saying them in a totally non PC (and offensive) way and everyone is like, wait WHAT?! There is no way he’d ever win, but he’s changing the game which I like. He’s forcing people to take a closer look at what the issues are and what the rhetoric around it is. I’m optimistic that this coming year will be a good one for the issues, that we’ll have a clear idea of where each candidate stands on each point. In the past I haven’t felt that as much as I would like.