Why you shouldn't become emotionally invested in politics

When I was younger, a good deal of my identity was wrapped up in my libertarian political beliefs. As far as I was concerned, many of the problems that society and individuals faced could be solved by less government intervention in our lives.

In retrospect this was a mistake. Not necessarily to hold those political beliefs (I still consider myself a libertarian) but getting upset about what I perceived to be government overreach and destructive incompetence - and more upset when the people around me supported or defended those actions. 

There are two reasons why you should not get too emotionally invested in government failure: you have almost no control over it, and it probably does not affect your life as much as you think. 

As an average individual you have very little power to influence government policy. Even society's elites cannot unilaterally mould a government or population into the exact form they desire. There will always be others with different ideas of how society should be formed and the ability to upset your plans.

No matter how well well designed your utopia: assholes and grifters exist and will exist in every civilization, throughout every time period and under every political regime. You cannot just physically remove them so to speak - they are adept at using any legal sanction as a weapon. Malignant individuals will always discover ways to use legal and political systems for their own personal benefit at the expense of others.

Finally - no political system is perfect. There will always be friction, unforeseen issues, coordination problems, incentive problems which mean any alternative political system will have its own issues. Your utopia may end up just as bad or worse than what it replaces. - just in different ways.

Don't overestimate the extent to which political systems affect your day to day life, at least in a reasonably functional Western country. Granted, living in Venezuela or Cuba or North Korea would mean your opportunities for living a fulfilling life are severely curtailed, but if you are in a position to debate politics on the internet worrying about it too much is mostly a waste of time.

Whatever your version of utopia, there are lots of problems in your life that no government will solve, and which are far more important and immediate:

• No political regime will mean you don't have to work hard and intelligently to succeed. You still need luck and perseverance and an appetite for calculated risk. You need to believe in yourself and your ideas: and bet effort that they will work.
• The biggest barrier to building your own financial independence and satisfaction with your intellectual and creative output is not the government or its regulation. It is the lack of drive and effort and risk taking. Even at the institutional scale things like access to skilled labour, to capital, to a community of people who share your goals is usually more important than the specifics of the political regime.
• No political regime will make you more motivated, or smarter, or harder working. Much more is determined by your immediate environment - who you work for, what company, what your team is like, what city you live in.
• No political regime will make you fit or strong or lean. No political regime will defeat aging or death or disease. Health is a big determinant of happiness and this is mostly under your control.
  
• No political regime will do anything for your social existence. It will not make you popular. It will not make you well respected among your colleagues, it will not establish for you a good group of friends, it will not stop you from feeling lonely.
• No political regime will not help you find a romantic relationship. It will not make your more attractive, it will not improve your social skills, it will not help you meet more people. It will not 'redistribute girlfriend' - and if it did, you would not want her. You must solve this problem on your own.

Most Western or reasonably functional governments basically tinker at the edges. They can't do anything too catastrophic, at least in the short term ; as they'll be voted out. For the most part within those constraints the thing holding you back is YOU. If your immediate environment - your colleagues, friends, city, company - is not helping you achieve your goals, it is up to you to change it.

So given all that, why do people get so wrapped up in politics? I think there are a few reasons: 

• It's easy. Given that even high quality political activism is usually doomed to failure, there is no penalty for ineffective or incompetent activism - the result looks the same. Trying to build relationships or a business or a career is hard: and it's painfully obvious where the source of failure is. 
• It's a cope. Complaining about the political regime you live under is an easy way to justify your personal failings. You're poor because of capitalism / socialism / whatever - not because you failed to work hard, work intelligently and take calculated risks. 
• It's about signalling. You adopt a political ideology in an attempt to exhibit qualities about yourself to the people around you. You become a libertarian because you want to signal that you are intelligent, unconventional and personally competent enough to do well under that system. You become a leftist because you want to signal that you are empathetic and care about those worse off in society. You become a liberal to signal your fealty to the most powerful in society and that you aspire to climb their ranks.

So what is my attitude now? Life is short. The culture of governance is practically impossible for any individual to change - whatever the details of law, it will always be paternalistic, technocratic, overbearing. Make peace with that, and learn to adapt - concentrate on the 99% of your life that it doesn't affect, and recognize the real barriers preventing you from achieving what you want.

I found a Reddit post a while back which I saved. I like this attitude:

Much of the government's power over you is psychological. You give governments a LOT of power by allowing them into your head. Don't give them that power. Stop dwelling on partisan politics, national elections, libs/Dems/conservatives/Republicans/etc.

The best way to live free is to think and act like a free person. Think about how you would live your life and arrange your affairs in a perfectly free world and then work towards making that your reality. Forget about what other people are doing in some far off place and focus on yourself.

Exemplify the ideals of individual liberty!

Start your own company and be your own boss. In fact, start several. School your own kids and teach the to be strong, kind, independent, rational adults. Stay out of debt. Invest and save for your retirement. Expand your network globally. Travel the world. Meet and talk to as many people as you can. Be kind and charitable. Help others when you can and don't be afraid to ask for help if you need it.

Above all, be empathetic to others. Assume the best in others and recognize that everyone has bad days. We don't live in a cartoon. There are no mustache-twirling villains with black hats, just flawed people. Help them to be better.

If you act free then, in many ways, you are free.