Is This Thing On?

Politics is complicated. Actually, I’ll rephrase that. People are complicated. Politics is complicated squared.

Politics is complicated. Actually, I’ll rephrase that. People are complicated. Politics is complicated squared.

I like to discuss policy on Facebook, but when it comes down to it, is it a good idea? Most of the time, I don’t know what I’m talking about. At best, I spend a couple of hours researching and writing a post. Most of the time I just let my brain’s back room staff chuck out whatever they can rush together.

Worse, the more I do it, the more confident I get. I do some research into the cost of HS2 and feel I can write about it. Now I think I know about the topic! Next week I might be using that same low quality research to build a position on Heathrow or talk about the Green party.

I guess you might suggest these low level chats leave me better prepared to do proper research, but I rarely get down to doing it.

Perhaps you think I enjoy holding court, sorry, I mean holding discussions. Sure I like to talk. But it can be pretty tiring. I feel some urge to build a community that talks honestly about big issues despite their differing views. For some reason Facebook is that community — I guess because it’s full of people I know for reasons other than that they like discussing policy.

Do I enjoy it? My older brother sometimes jokes that I’m like Spock in A Journey Home. Perennially logical, it takes him a whole movie to learn to answer the question, “How are you?” While the odd Vulcan death grip might come in handy, it’s not so much that I don’t know, it’s that I can feel myself reaching around the back of my subconscious for an answer. I’m well, I guess, but ought I be happy with the current state of affairs?

I don’t know if having these discussions is good for me. I don’t know if it’s good for you. Does it trivialise hard questions and make us think we can put the world to rights in 20 minutes? Or does it give you the confidence that these problems are solvable, like all the other impossible trials we brush through on a daily basis.

Maybe I’ll do some intellectual heavy-lifting at some point. Suffice it to say that currently, I don’t know.