Why do people go on political rants? It's boring! in Thoughts, wishes and things

Here I’m wondering why people go on political rants. I know this is probably hypocritical, because this entry might turn into an anti-political rant itself. I’ll try not to let it be so.

I guess what I’m wondering is, why subject a) themselves and b) the people around them, to all that negative thinking, ranting and complaining? Instead, why not be constructive? There are more positive things in life to think of than politics. And instead of complaining about everything that they don’t like, why not instead express gratitude for the things they are thankful for? Friends, family, even something as simple as having food on the table, or sharing a joke with a friend.

It is immaterial if the political complaining is left-wing or right-wing. It really doesn’t matter, the issue is the negativity with which it’s delivered.

Continuing on from that idea, I wonder if people who go on and on about politics stop to wonder about the effect on the people around them. Maybe the people around them will start avoiding them because (at least in my case) I really don’t care about politics and I have no desire to be around a stream of someone else’s negative thoughts.

Of course, for some people, politics is a topic of interest, and this is something they’ll want to talk about. But if that is the case, why not phrase it actually constructively like “To solve the problem of (x problem) some avenues could be (solution x, y or z)”? - instead of the all-too-familiar “They’re doing everything all wrong” blah blah blah.

Instead of complaining about politics, here are some alternatives that people could do instead:

• Read a good book
• Go watch a movie with a friend
• Host a dinner party (hopefully without too much political talk!!)
• Play a board game or card game with a group of friends
• Go hiking, either alone or with friends
• Take up a new hobby. If time spent on political rants was transferred to learning a new hobby, imagine how competent they would become at the hobby!

Well, I guess that’s it for today. It made sense to me, I don’t know if it makes sense to anyone else, but that’s my thoughts for the day.

Last updated May 07, 2019