Political Apathy In The United States
Political apathy is running rampant in our nation. Political apathy is the sheer indifference of the average citizen towards what happens in the political system. This apathy will eventually lead to stagnation and death of our nation. According the National Journal: Heartland Monitor Poll, just 1% of American people frequently participate in politics on some level. The same journal also states that up to 41% of Americans have never participated in anything political and/or will not in the future. The remaining 58% is categorized as only somewhat active. Reducing, or even eliminating, such apathy should be the top priority for to secure current and future generations freedom. “At one time or another most of us find ourselves wondering why
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This further highlights a problem and cause of political apathy. People know only the barest facts on account of nearly nothing of value being presented to them through news tv, and papers. The bulk of people do not care enough to dig further to find the facts. How can anyone be politically active when they do not even know what there is to be active about? Unfortunately the fact of the matter is that many people are lazy, if it is not handed to them on a silver platter it may as well not exist. This ignorance of government and politics leads an individual to be unable to figure out for themselves what the costs or benefits are in what the government does when making policies or laws. This blindness leads people to think that finding out more is useless to them and this rationalized ignorance, creates a feedback loop that few ever break. What needs to happen is increased spreading information, in depth information, not just surface facts, making it something you take in every day would help immensely. While this would never be a simple goal, it could be done with help from companies such as those who run the news. Increased knowledge of events, facts, and issues would lead to increased political participation through everything from interest to rage at a certain
This further highlights a problem and cause of political apathy. People know only the barest facts on account of nearly nothing of value being presented to them through news tv, and papers. The bulk of people do not care enough to dig further to find the facts. How can anyone be politically active when they do not even know what there is to be active about? Unfortunately the fact of the matter is that many people are lazy, if it is not handed to them on a silver platter it may as well not exist. This ignorance of government and politics leads an individual to be unable to figure out for themselves what the costs or benefits are in what the government does when making policies or laws. This blindness leads people to think that finding out more is useless to them and this rationalized ignorance, creates a feedback loop that few ever break. What needs to happen is increased spreading information, in depth information, not just surface facts, making it something you take in every day would help immensely. While this would never be a simple goal, it could be done with help from companies such as those who run the news. Increased knowledge of events, facts, and issues would lead to increased political participation through everything from interest to rage at a certain