Mahanth S. Joishy is Editor

I struggled mightily with a toxic multi-decade addiction that began in earnest during the latter half of 1990 due to a deep personal connection to Desert Storm. The powerful addiction clung tightly all the way until an epiphany the week before the 2024 US presidential election when I prepared to be at peace regardless of the outcomes. If I ever went to rehab during that 34 year fixation my strange introduction would begin, “My name is Mahanth… and I am a Political Junky.”

Majoring in International Affairs at Georgetown was part of a grand strategy designed entirely to feed that persistent fix and absorb every morsel of info possible about Washington’s sprawling machinery of foreign and domestic politics – from deep inside the capital’s leading feeder school. A social butterfly surrounded by swarms of social butterflies. I was elected President of the South Asian Society on campus, because campaigning and running my favorite club brimming with friends and romantic intrigue were fun. Interesting 1990s summer internships at the US Department of Commerce (early frontier Internet policy), the Indian Embassy (nuclear weapon sanctions policy), and India Abroad Center for Political Awareness (networking with other college interns in US Congress) added additional summers basking in the DC swamp instead of anywhere else. Because four full academic years on campus were simply not enough to satiate the craving.

Perhaps I loved the swamp too much, especially during its most humid and hot season teeming with thousands of university students from across the world aspiring to become a swamp creature after graduating, just like me, armed with resumes gleaming with prestigious summer internships on and around Capitol Hill. By no coincidence my career has been all government all the time: five agencies, three cities, two local governments, two national governments, and a Master’s in Urban Affairs. MacroPolitics to MicroPolitics, and even advancing the unique niche field I’d coin the foreign policy of local government, I was a true junky the whole way. This has been reflected since 2012 right here at usindiamonitor, another channel designed to feed the insatiable beast by researching and writing about politics and foreign policy for fun over 13 years running. Hell, even my techno-thriller fiction is about global cyber warfare in the future. Our reality wasn’t even enough, I had to create more by building my own universe to plant a story into.

That all changed over the course of 2024 after deep reflection that led to me asking the following tough questions and answering each honestly:

(1) Would my mental health improve or decline by ignoring most or all the daily barrage of outrage and failure on every available platform related to US politics and international politics, not least the gushing sewer that is political social media?

Improve

(2) How much do I admire the top political leaders of the United States, the UN, or other nations, by word and by deed? If admiration is the word, who counts as a hero? Or do I conclude they’re probably just disappointing at what they purport to be doing to help people?

I admire George Washington, Ben Franklin, Mahatma Gandhi, MLK, Jr., Ross Perot, Bill Clinton, Michael Bloomberg, Manmohan Singh, and Barack Obama plenty for what they did in their time. But now? Can’t even come up with an inspiring name among today’s choices! This says… a lot. But I can within seconds produce for you a rogue’s gallery of those I despise.

(3) How much do I really know about what really goes on in politics anyway? For example, many women have claimed the president molested them behind the scenes, or worse. There were probably underage non-consensual acts by Jeffrey Epstein on some island involving boatloads of rich and powerful crooks from government and business. Yet many voted for this president anyway, including women, because they believed his denials, or didn’t care no matter how bad his deviant behavior was. It was enough for him to win again in 2024, so what are we supposed to do with that?

I probably know more than most about leadership/management behind the scenes in Washington, New Delhi, London, or other capitals. But honestly I have no idea what to believe most of the time, beyond core principles developed in my early 20s (fiscal conservatism, social liberalism, science-based technocracy, and above all pro-freedom except when it’s hurtful, violent or non-consensual). Too much happens behind closed doors, hidden from public view, for us to accurately judge the measure of any prominent man or woman in public service. At worst, too many appear to be batshit insane to me and I want nothing to do with them- don’t even want to make fun of them anymore.

(4) Do I identify as left or right, liberal or conservative, Republican or Democrat, libertarian or socialist, Marxist, anarchist, or none of the above? Do I have a home or a tribe anywhere across the modern American political landscape?

None of the above. I used to identify as and vote mostly Democrat. The closest I come to tribalism nowadays is the Indiana Pacers, an NBA team. Far more rewarding for sure.

(5) Was I changing anyone’s minds by debating political hot button issues passionately with other political junkies in person or on social media, year after year, decade after decade, whether against someone informed or ignorant compared to me?

Not for the last 25 years far as I can recall. Politics has become emotion and vituperation, not logic. Media has become entertainment and eyeballs, not education. Nobody changed my mind either during that span.

(6) Was constant political input and output making me smarter or dumber?

100% dumber. Me just not I many more too dumbing.

(7) Was my overt commitment to political action beyond voting (rallies, door-knocking, protests, researching public policy, contacting public figures, large campaign donations, creating long form articles or podcasts) making a damn difference in this world?

I really don’t think so. Now I’m not claiming anyone should quit voting or any of these other things if they make you feel good. Hell, run for office or become a political operative if you want. The game just doesn’t do it for me anymore. It’s not cynicism as much as boredom.

(8) By starting to keep politics at arm’s length (occasional headline browsing, reading an article here or there sent by a friend asking for comments) have I experienced any Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) at all?

Not for a moment, even when people talked about major events and I was the only one not up to date.

(9) Was the thrill of desirable outcomes and the crushing disappointment of dreaded developments really worth it?

I admit to feeling luscious euphoria when Barack Obama won the 2008 presidential election, especially that magical night he took the Iowa caucuses in January for his first of many wins. Experiencing 9/11 while living and working in New York City, the day W Bush foolishly chose to invade Iraq in 2003, and the day after the 2016 presidential election, were just as crushing “defeats” to my desired outcomes. With both highs and lows came inordinate influence on my personal happiness. Despite my opinions, the universe would just keep unfolding the way it wanted to anyway.

(10) Was all the time I spent on political media in all its forms the very best use of my limited time?

No way. What a waste as I look back on it now, though the dopamine hits were convincing me otherwise. This is why I absolutely needed to quit video games cold turkey in my mid-20s before I became too engrossed.

So clearly we didn’t even need all 10 questions and answers to determine that a deep addiction to politics, almost daily in its frequency regardless of what else was going on in my life, was not making that life any better. Sure, I was gaining knowledge and wanted to be a good informed citizen of America and the world, and an explainer for others especially in America and India, but there were better ways to achieve those things. Too much of current events are about man’s primal need for domination: War, crime, corruption, fear, tribalism, poverty, bad people doing bad things, weird people doing weird things, and everything seeming to fall apart whether the talking heads hailed from left, right, or center, North or South, India or Pakistan, IDF or Hamas, Ukraine or Russia. Evil lurks everywhere.

I don’t follow events closely like before, I don’t feel either positive or negative during dramatic political outcomes, and I make a conscious choice not to join in on the chorus of outrage. I believe that modern political systems are so utterly broken, they have totally disconnected from the issues that matter to the nation’s or world’s affairs. The policy decisions being made on our behalf are so poor that contemplations of societal rot are impossible to avoid.

There’s another way. I sometimes wonder if members of primitive cultures with limited or no access to newspapers, magazines, cell phones or Internet to consume news feel deprived. Whether living without knowing anything of the broken politics of faraway places that may or not affect them personally makes their lives any less whole than our world of hyper-awareness from constant media bombardment?

I think I know the answer for me, and have been working hard this year to find out. Choosing not to engage the beast feels quite good most of the time. I focus on other things I consider more interesting and productive like learning about sports, healthcare nonprofit administration, medical research, spirituality and new technology. Things I can use to impact the extremely thin slice of the universe I have some semblance of control over. I’d even venture it might be beneficial for you to give these important questions a gander too. We may not come to the same conclusions by any means, and that’s OK. You do you.

My name is Mahanth, and I am a recovering political junkie. Let’s see if this new chapter of letting go, surrendering to current affairs flowing just as they are meant to do without my paying much attention to them, lasts. Politics is one hell of a drug.