How old were you when you actually understood politics enough to choose a party or affiliation?

[WalterSlovotsky]

I was really late to the game on this. I pretty much ignored politics my entire life until the election in 2008 (which I think is going to be the most common answer here).

How old were you when you became aware of politics to the point where you started to form your own opinions, and was there a specific catalyst or event that got you involved?

 

[mightymuffy]

48 years old here, still not fukkin interested enough.

 

[WalterSlovotsky]

48 years old here, still not fukkin interested enough.

You're not missing much.

 

[HellGhast]

Liberal my whole life since childhood but I've never registered to vote ever.

Call me to vote the day when they line up politicians against a wall and I'll gladly cast my vote.

 

[Chris2055]

I never paid any attention until the pandemic, so in my 30s

 

[WalterSlovotsky]

I was definitely happier in life, in general, before I opened Pandora's Box.

If I could go back, I would, and would have ignored politics forever.

 

[Chris2055]

I was definitely happier in life, in general, before I opened Pandora's Box.

If I could go back, I would, and would have ignored politics forever.

That's something we can agree on, although I'm not sure ignorance is the answer either.

 

[WalterSlovotsky]

That's something we can agree on, although I'm not sure ignorance is the answer either.

Yeah, but it's the focus that is the fucked up part. I'd rather care more about music and shit that motivates me and makes me happy in life.

Weighing it out, politics is on the negative end of the scale when it comes to impact on my mental health.

I was happier being ignorant. And it's not like I am involved directly with politics in the first place, nor ever intended to be.

The world is going to be the world, no matter what I do. My vote has never mattered. I've never been able to change anything.

I'd be happy to just be along for the ride, at this point, if I could go back.

 

[EthanB]

Deletus fetus-ing everything from earlier on, I would say 2010 when we had a hung parliament in the UK which was the first that happened in my lifetime up to that point. So I would've been just about to turn 17.

 

[SylverReZ]

I would say when the 2016 election was a HUGE thing, but it started fully when the pandemic happened.

 

[WalterSlovotsky]

Deletus fetus-ing everything from earlier on, I would say 2010 when we had a hung parliament in the UK which was the first that happened in my lifetime up to that point. So I would've been just about to turn 17.

Dude, we never had a problem. Seriously. I don't take this nearly as cereal as you might think I do. No grudges, brother.

It's all fun and games. Nothing more than that.

Cheers.

 

[Dark_Ansem]

Deletus fetus-ing everything from earlier on, I would say 2010 when we had a hung parliament in the UK which was the first that happened in my lifetime up to that point. So I would've been just about to turn 17.

2010 was a hung parliament? I forgot.

 

[EthanB]

2010 was a hung parliament? I forgot.

Yeah tories and lib dems formed the coalition and then proceeded to fuck everything up lol. Remember the student riots? That was savage, I also kinda loved it lmao.

 

[Dark_Ansem]

Yeah tories and lib dems formed the coalition and then proceeded to fuck everything up lol. Remember the student riots? That was savage, I also kinda loved it lmao.

In my mind, I admit, i only saw it as a tory win since with that cursed coalition the lib dems burned their entire political capital.

To answer the OP question, hoping this is not yet another flamebait excuse, I started being interested in politics at 15. And the idea of ignoring politics altogether sounds not only irresponsible, but an invitation to be exploited.

 

[Taleweaver]

Pffff...hard to say. Unlike in some other countries (yes, I'm talking about you, UK and USA) this isn't a tribal thing but rather a buffet of what your priorities in values are. That isn't to say competence is always a thing, but the furthest I recall was in school around the same time we were taught to read. So...when I was around 7, perhaps? Oh, right...that'd be 1988.

Of course it didn't matter until I actually had to actually vote, but we've always considered it a civic duty. Besides: not only are there no hoops to jump through but it was actually obligated in Belgium (up until very recently, actually). Can't recall if my first vote was in 1999 or 2000.

As far as American politics go, that's an easy one: Bush W. vs Gore, late 2000. I honestly thought that was going to be close, even though I barely could tell their policies apart (it would still be 3 years before the assault on Iraq, and six years before 'an inconvenient truth'). That was until my dad told me that Gore had a couple million votes more, but because of this system none of those mattered and everything came down to Florida. I remember being naive enough to think something in the lines of "if it's so close...wouldn't it be better if the one with the most votes picks the other as vice president?".

 

[Dark_Ansem]

"if it's so close...wouldn't it be better if the one with the most votes picks the other as vice president?

It would be a very sensible idea for primaries, but I think it's been shown time and again that money and power warp brain and perception far more than most people can imagine.

 

[Karoi]

I can't be bothered with it. In my opinion, they do their own stuff anyways. When it's election time, they all have awesome plans. Then later the plans get adjusted and then when they got chosen, the plans will turn 180 degrees. Seen this so many times. I just stopped bothering with it. And I know people are going to say, if we all think like that we are doomed and you need to vote to help and bla bla bla. I know, but I just can't be bothered anymore.

 

[Dark_Ansem]

I can't be bothered with it. In my opinion, they do their own stuff anyways. When it's election time, they all have awesome plans. Then later the plans get adjusted and then when they got chosen, the plans will turn 180 degrees. Seen this so many times. I just stopped bothering with it. And I know people are going to say, if we all think like that we are doomed and you need to vote to help and bla bla bla. I know, but I just can't be bothered anymore.

And it's exactly this apathy that leads to disaster. You say that you can't be bothered, but interestingly enough you not only still complain, but are also bothered by the consequences of your apathy. The right to vote was conquered with blood and sweat, and the idea of simply not being bothered by it sounds absurd, especially considering that while you can't be bothered with politics, politics can, and are, very bothered with you, in no small part thanks to all your data floating around the web.

 

[Xzi]

Started watching The Daily Show the same year Jon Stewart took over, 1999 when I was in my mid-teens. Then the Supreme Court handed GWB the presidency in 2000, and we all know what happened the year after that. Didn't bother to choose a party affiliation until I was closer to turning 18, but I definitely knew by that point which party I wanted no part of.

 

[Darth Meteos]

i instinctively knew that donald trump was the greatest political candidate in history moments after i was born