Half a goodbye

[Filuwaúrdjan]

There was once a time – and not long ago either – when a General Election could have been relied on to produce in me profound feelings of excitement. True, this would often have been liberally mixed with a certain level of fear, but excitement was ever the dominant note, no matter the circumstances. Elections were endlessly fascinating; bizarre dramatic carnivals awash with data and positively begging for the sort of verbally flashy analysis that I have always loved to write. There were also maps; who does not love maps?

Yet here we are with polling day tomorrow and I find myself wishing for it to be Saturday already; not only the day after election night, but the day after that. At a deep and fundamental level I wish the election would, frankly, just fyck off and die. This is a huge shift for me, and I suspect that it might come as a genuine shock to anyone reading this as well, especially as I have made frequent posts here and elsewhere about the election. But this is not contradictory; I have not lost all interest in elections or in politics, but the love (if that is quite the right word) that once was there has departed.

How has it come to this? The short answer is that politics in Anno Domini Twenty Seventeen is so gross and disgusting as to be almost physically repulsive. The longer answer is principally an elaboration on this theme: it is difficult for me to take the sort of semi-innocent nerdish delight in the democratic process and its results, in the drama of political life and in their intersection, that I used to. Or, rather, it is difficult for me to do this in a way that is not psychologically and emotionally harmful. Politics has always been rough and tumble, I am not the sort of craven fool who believes there was ever any kind of golden age, but in recent years it has become increasingly dark and twisted. Hatred and resentment here, dangerous masturbatory obsessions about identity there, and on all fronts a deeply concerning absence; a total absence of any sense of responsibility, of the idea that actions have consequences. The landscape is polluted, the discourse dire, the level of analysis an absolute disgrace, the final product invariably hard to stomach. You are free to disagree, but this is how I see things and it appalls rather than fascinates. There are certain factors in this that are highly personal and while this is not the moment or the place to go into any particular detail about them I refer to their existence in order to further explain from whence all this comes and why there can be no question of resistance. It is not news to me that I do not have the strongest of stomachs and I do not seek to judge those whose insides are shod with iron.

Once again, however, I must stress that I have not lost all interest: I believe it is vital to be a good citizen and so I will always vote, will always try to be at least vaguely informed of whatever is going on, and will certainly never find the democratic process to be uninteresting. I also do not regret that that I spent as long as I did so deeply fascinated by the odd world of elections; I learned so much in the process and many of the things I might have done instead were, for various reasons that are also for here, not then plausible (I am happy to say that they are now). So I have no regrets; I do not feel as if I wasted a significant proportion of my free time as I most certainly did not. Yet life moves forwards and changes as it does; clinging on to a level and form of interest that right now would hurt me out of a sense of nostalgia would be nothing short of insane. I'm not exactly leaving, but you'll see rather less of me in the future.

[Tender Branson]

I have thought exactly the same in the weeks before the Austrian coalition busted in Mid-May.

Politics here has become disgusting, with everyone just wanting to shoot the other in the back.

[heatcharger]

I concur, but I'm sure Britain is also suffering from election fatigue from having three big ones in consecutive years, all of them mostly grueling for the Left.

[🦀🎂🦀🎂]

Damn shame Al. Hope you still remain on the Internet - I enjoy your non-psephological commentary as much as your thorough political knowledge.

[Zinneke]

I wish you the best
You've echoed a lot of my sentiments quite eloquently.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Your posts were one of the very few good things the forum still had in this day and age. I can't blame you for this choice, obviously (I probably have changed in the same direction, although since I started from a position of utterly naive idealism it hasn't led me quite as far yet), but it's really hard to take. The IE board was already a shadow of its former self, without you I can't even imagine what it will be like.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

I can't say I don't understand. I'm a Polish voter.

[parochial boy]

That's a real shame, your posts in the IE board were one of the reasons I started reading this board in the first place, it's still amazing to back and look at some of the older discussions that are on there.

Can't say I blame you though, the combination of the general terribleness of politics at the moment, and the complete joke that the UK election thread is are a bit hard to take.

[World politics is up Schmitt creek]

I'll miss you as a regular poster. I'm glad you'll still be around to some extent, and to be honest I sort of wish I had the perspective to take a step back myself.

[afleitch]

I will forever remember you in the dark Brown years cheering about Labour gains from the Lib Dems in Liverpool as authority after authority fell nationwide. Sad to see that optimism diminish

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSPmMcgGL-w

Thank you for all good things you've done, Al.

We'll never forget you as well, Lunar

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

RIP, FF and the smartest person on Atlas

[Badger]

Calling this a damned shame doesn't come close.

[Associate Justice PiT]

     I agree with the sentiment here much more than I wish I did. I can only say that I hope that things get better, but I doubt they will anytime soon.