Blog 4.0

I don't really like talking about religion nowadays since I've become an atheist for all intents and purposes, just not of the kind who enjoys telling everyone else about it. I have no problem with other people finding meaning, community and comfort in religion either. It's just not for me. I was however raised in the Roman-catholic church and never formally left it, so every now and then something related to that will still make my ears perk up. Such as the pope dying and a new one being elected. Oh the memes I saw on the subject... amazing (and yet never disrespectful, interestingly enough). I'm currently visiting my mother in Austria and she was switching TV channels yesterday just as the white smoke appeared, so we stayed on that channel to watch. I honestly thought it was hilarious how much the whole hubbub resembled a giant football event. They showed some people chanting "habemus papam" to the same tune to which they'd diss their football opponents ...

During my weekly phone call with my mother, the subject of politics came up, and at some point she said: "That X human is also terrible!" "Ex human? Do you mean Elon Musk?" "Yes, him!" "Yes, yes he is." It just amuses me that even my elderly mother in Austria who doesn't use the internet has heard of the guy at this point (and dislikes him).

I feel sorry for my American friends. More than anything though, I've got to admit I just don't get it. I watched a video of some analysts discussing the result and one comment that stood out was to me was something along the lines of: What everyone always gets wrong is that most people don't care about politics and don't pay attention to it. And I do get that to some extent. I'm not blaming people for not keeping track of all the crimes Trump was convicted of for example. But when someone goes out there and openly talks in his speeches about how he wants to let the armed forces loose on his internal enemies, roll back women's rights etc. - that's not complicated or niche. That stuff was broadcast globally and should have given people pause. How so many people can be either totally oblivious to what's in plain sight or just not care, thinking it won't affect them personally, is beyond me.

I finally opened my mail-in ballot for the upcoming Austrian national election today and actually had a laugh-out-loud moment when I finished fully unfolding it. You see, the final of the eleven options states: "Keine von denen - KEINE", which means "none of these - NONE", so my first thought was: Wait, did they add an "official" way to spoil your ballot if you want to take part in the democratic process but don't like any of the available choices? But no, it's an actual political party. Their whole thing is that they do say they don't feel represented by any of the current parties, so I guess their mission statement is in the name... but it does seem like a bit of a legal loophole and like they could potentially get a good chunk of votes simply out of confusion. Very Austrian, is all I'll say.