Replies to post #52935 on Simply Politics & News (GOV)

[Koikaze]

Hi, Paule

I'm not sure that apathetic complacency is the problem in politics as much as lack of viable alternatives. You can know the parties are wrong, but what can you do about it? That feeling of helplessness is the greatest cause of apathy.

If I understood the mechanism by which it was done, I'd allege that our society ... where the sustenance of ourselves and our families dominate our lives at the expense of reflection ... was engineered for the specific purpose of preventing our careful thought about those who become our leaders. That fanciful notion is probably wrong, but the point is people don't have time to analyze ... and our political institutions thrive on that reality. Thus, people appear apathetic when they're simply frustrated.

Is there any apathetic complacency? Yup. Lots of it. But vastly more important is the lack of an alternative which could inspire those folks to action.

Fred