What’s the right amount of attention for a foreigner to give to politics ‘back home’?
In our consideration here, let’s presume that those very same politics had something to do with the thought processes that led us away from our country of origin, and to another, less blighted by the influence of politicians and their associates. And if not that, then at least a naive ignorance forming part of the bliss found in the new place and its more favourable lifestyle.
Yet, installed in the more cordial, less inflammatory and not so politically polar atmosphere, it’s hard not to take an interest in what’s happening where friends and family still dwell, and proffer the odd opinion on social media, and even comb X (which most of us still call Twitter) for news of what ails the old place, perhaps affirming one’s life choices with what we see in the rear-view mirror?
But do we have any right to comment on or question those with their hands on the levers of power, and doubt or promote their motives and results, having abandoned the ship aboard which we were once a passenger and now only view from a distant quayside?
Only last week, I warned (specifically anyone whose primary intention was to be peaceful) that “adding your rage or bitterness to a distant conflict of which you have no direct experience and over which you have no control, may merely be a virtue signal, effectively a worthy act of self-harm.” And this might equally apply to any interest, for some an obsession, in – for example – elections in which they might still vote from afar, but do not live with the day-to-day consequences thereof.
At the dinner table tonight, in the company of two Irish friends, the consensus was to certainly remain concerned and committed to the UK political landscape, in which I was born and subjected to (until I thought better of it with my move to Portugal). “You’ll always be English,” they reminded me, implying that my curiosity and interest would be well placed and proper, despite my exile.
From my own personal point of view, I’d like to think I’m done with what I thought was nonsense when I lived there, let alone be bothered to take any interest in, now. Yet, that said, I can’t help but be interested in the social and political upheaval of the UK that I left behind. But furthermore, and even more questionable, is my ghoulish interest in US politics that leaves me agog, every time I engage with it.
My excuse or explanation for this addictive behaviour, I put down to a male urge to surveil ‘the boundary’, staying alert to any threats that might affect me and my family’s safety. But honestly, I think I am just a straightforward rubber-necker who can’t believe what is unfolding before my eyes on both sides of the Atlantic. It really is a less-than ennobling addiction, more than it is a healthy attention to potential threats, that I claim it to be.
The first attempt at this week’s submission, was – I’ll be frank – fuelled with such aghastness after prolonged ‘doom scrolling’, having me draft a string of cheap jokes at the expense of all the US presidential candidates. Incidentally, I like to think of myself as an ‘equal opps’ critic of those hopefuls, whose personal foibles I can easily showcase offending either no one, with my across-the-board put-downs; or upsetting everyone, who feels attached to any particular candidate, which many obviously do, despite their great distance from the action.
And it was halfway through that draft that I was brought to my metaphorical knees, realising that it wasn’t big or clever, and certainly not peaceful, in the way I have previously espoused and called for. As easy as it is, and as rich the seam of comic material that is the US’s feast of political malnutrition, I see that ad hominem attacks only add to the pain that so many are feeling right now, as they fear chaos and civil unrest in the land where they once lived, and still in some way love.
It is this very attachment and inability to disengage that has me asking the question: Should expat politics matter? And is it wise to stay immersed in your political affiliations and subscriptions, even though you have a new life, in a new country, even a new continent, where you might now invest more wisely your precious attention?
Good luck if you are trying to distance yourself, American or not, from the rolling news, the distant rolling thunder, that is the constant newsfeed and timeline terror, given the insistence that the mainstream media has for sharing every utterance of the White House wannabees. I’ll freely admit that I take that bait, giving an opinion or crafting a quip such as: “At what point in the US electoral process do policies get discussed? Or is it ‘most personal attacks’ win?”, with a compassion-lacking condescension.
Such incontinence on my part inflames the ire of others prompting responses such as: “’Both sides are equally bad’, is the claim of someone who hasn’t taken the time to do a proper analysis, especially in the current (US) case,” (albeit from one of those Facebook ’friends’ who only ever pops up to disagree), inspiring me to do better, to be better, with my insensitive blurts.
As I considered taking a more learned look at US politics, beneath the crafty veneers of vote-winning and opponent-bashing hype, it dawned on me that I would have to make it a part-time job, getting adequately beneath the constant mortar fire of American culture war political consciousness.
How can we tell what’s really going on, and come to sound opinions, when we are thousands of miles away, with a deluge of mostly editorialised and partisan outpourings that diametrically and completely oppose each other on any given position? Even in real life, I have American friends and acquaintances who wholeheartedly say the exact opposite to each other on the same issues, citing facts and quotes, only leaving me somewhere between confused and cynical. I can’t find the truth, let alone handle it!
On balance, and in the search for peace and balance, (which is my overwhelming motive, and arguably the endgame of the political struggle we speak of here), I’ll stick my neck out and say – let’s leave the politics of our origins where it is, and live our new lives happily here, free of such preoccupation and projection. I hereby declare to make this my intention, having got present to the division and disappointment my morbid, and ultimately useless, fascination generates.
Ignorance, or at least ignoring it, could well be bliss. There are, after all, a million things that you might go looking for, in the news and on social media, that can ruin your peace; and pretty much just one thing that can guarantee it. That one thing is to BE peace, and stop upsetting yourself, and others, with information and speculation that ultimately you can do very little about.
By Carl Munson
Carl Munson is host of the Good Morning Portugal! show every weekday on YouTube and creator of www.learnaboutportugal.com, where you can learn something new about Portugal every day!
