Why I don't talk politics

This might be one of the most controversial posts I have written. Not because I will reveal my political views — only a fool would do that — but because I will explain why I don’t talk politics at all. Not online, not offline, not anywhere.

The 180

There was a time when I was quite active on social media, especially Quora and Reddit. I would argue day and night with people about politics, religion, and every other controversial topic under the sun. I was eventually banned from Quora after I became popular in a few spaces. I knew this would happen one day — India’s political climate is not exactly known for its tolerance of views that differ from the mainstream — so it was only a matter of time.

I was angry, I was frustrated and perhaps most importantly, I was powerless. But I still believed in standing up for what I believed in.

Not anymore.

Not because I think I was — or am — wrong, but because I’ve become the very thing I hated and chastised. I have become a hypocrite. While I can tell right from wrong, I’ve lost all the courage it takes to actually state it out loud.

And the weight of that hypocrisy is unbearable. But it’s also protective. When you live in a country like ours, you realize that the only way to stay safe is to keep your mouth shut. It’s unfair, it’s selfish and it’s a million other deplorable things but at what point do you accept that the country is destined to hell? That you are just a passenger on a bus heading straight for a cliff?

You can either scream at the driver or sit quietly, close your eyes and hope for the best. I chose the latter.

They say that ostriches bury their heads in the sand when they are scared. That is false. It is us humans who do that.

Where to draw the line

This is something I’ve been grappling with for a while now. True — self preservation is important but at what cost? Today, I’m ignoring the problems of people I have never met and will never meet. It’s easier to sleep at night when you don’t know the faces of the people you are ignoring.

But what happens when the faces start becoming familiar? What happens when the target isn’t a distant silhouette but someone you’re close to? This isn’t even about politics anymore — say a co-worker of yours is being mistreated at work. Do you ignore it because it doesn’t affect you? Or do you speak up and risk your own job?

I want to say that I would speak up. I want to say that I would stand up for what is right, even if it means putting myself in danger. True — the consequences of standing up to a mean boss are less severe than standing up to a rogue government — but even so, the fear is real. The fear of losing your job, your livelihood, your security. It’s a fear that is all too real for many people in today’s world.

I’ve always convinced myself that these two situations are different. That I can ignore the politics because it doesn’t affect me directly. But the truth is, it does. It affects all of us. And by ignoring it, I’m only making it worse.

I don’t know what the answer is. All I know is that we’re all part of the problem.

Why isn’t anyone talking about it?

Why are we all so afraid to speak?

Is it because we don’t want to rock the boat — or because deep down we know we’d be the first ones thrown overboard?

Conclusion

I wish I had a neat, inspiring conclusion for this. But the truth is, the more I think about it, the more confused I become.

Maybe I’m too small a fish for any of this to matter. But that doesn’t make it feel any less real.

For now, I’ll keep doing what I’ve been doing: stay quiet, stay safe, and hope that when I finally come out of this self-inflicted coma, the world will be a little better than the one I closed my eyes to.

People say ignorance is bliss. I don’t know if that’s true.

But I do know that ignorance is safe. And in a world where safety is a luxury — I’ll take it.