I took a week off watching news. No articles, no video, nothing.

It didn’t help.

There was a trickle of information. It didn’t help that the Nevada caucus was coming up and a lot of my friends seem to be politically active and went out to caucus for various candidates. Good for you guys!

But I don’t feel any better. There’s still this sense of hopelessness that comes every time I read an article about current affairs. I still don’t know what the point of it all is, because it feels like the status will stay quo and we’re all going to get fucked over by the politicians who care more about elections than legislations.

I don’t want to be an informed voter any more. I mean, what’s the point when we almost can’t trust the information we’re being given any more? We don’t need Russian bots spreading it about when we’ve all got that uncle who refuses to listen to facts, that grandparent who doesn’t understand that the empire doesn’t exist any more, that sibling who is a one issue voter despite hating everything else a candidate stands for.

I’m going to be an uninformed voter from now on. At this point, I don’t care who wins the Democratic primary.

Because while there’s a bunch of smoke and mirrors out there about what they’ve all said or stand for or will do if they win the job guaranteed to turn your hair greyer than a British springtime, I know what I believe.

I believe that everyone should have equal rights.
I believe that a country should protect its citizens from all enemies, foreign and domestic.
I believe that the citizens of a country should come before corporations.
I believe that the scientific method is the better way of doing things.
I believe that taxes should be progressive.
I believe that if you have to lie about the other side to get your own elected, and you can’t talk about your own policies without lying, then maybe you’ve got shitty policies.

There’s more, but you get my (leftward) drift.

Now, in my lifetime, all the above means I vote Democrat. And in the last ten years it’s become increasingly unlikely that I’ll have the option to vote for anyone else, because for Republicans to shift to agree with ANY of the things I believe will get them eviscerated and thrown out of the party.

So there’s no point in being informed. There’s no point in reading about all the bullshit, because, quite frankly, it’s getting me down. Knowing that I could steal a pair of shoes and get five years in prison, while some muckety-muck can steal billions and get probation is depressing. Knowing that I have to declare every cent of income and pay my fair share, while a corporation can contribute to a campaign to influence a senator to write in a tax loophole so they can squirrel money away, is frustrating.

And knowing you can be on camera confessing to committing crimes, but if you kiss enough arse your buddy will grant you a pardon and possibly a medal, well, it makes me want to go out and commit crimes.