Political Apathy: Democracy inaction, or Democracy in action?

Every time you turn on the news, scroll through your social media, or read the newspaper, it seems like the world is in a more precarious position than it previously was.

You mightn’t care as much about politics, but unfortunately politics very much so cares about the conditions you live under. You might not consider it, but a great deal of our lives are political.

Politics isn’t just how a country is governed; it is also the systems and services afforded to you by the state, and by society. Between global epidemics, and warming, and wars both militarily and socially, it can be difficult to care. It’s almost too easy to slip into despair.

Unfortunately, that is where you meet a lot of people: cynical, disillusioned and at the junction of apathy and a centre-right rabbit hole.

If we collectively step back and look at the political space we’ve been g(r)ifted it seems like subsequent generations always inherit the same cycles, under different circumstances. I suppose Billy Joel tries to distance the culprits and makes clear that ‘we (boomers) didn’t start the fire, [and that] it was always burning since the worlds been turning’. Perhaps so, but in the shadows of a superpower’s descent into fascism, should it not be in all our interests to try harder to leave a habitable and equitable place for our children?

Now it might seem cool to not care, or that political awareness and activism is an unproductive endeavour, but political apathy in an extremely political time, marked by great imbalances of power, can be detrimental. Desmon Tutu, when arguing against South African apartheid says, ‘If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor’. Neutrality and apathy as much as you probably don’t want to admit, are political. 

‘Give me a break’, I hear you say. 

‘That is a fallacy’ you call out. 

In situations of injustice, choosing to ignore, or –indeed– not choosing at all, maintains the status quo. It allows the power to remain in the hands of the few and allows for it to become even  more concentrated. Understandably between trying to keep yourself alive, pay for rent, and focusing on work and familial commitments, it can be and feel out of your way to keep informed about politics– and I understand that. However, I still believe it is still important to be somewhat aware of the situations and contexts in which you live in. Not participating in our democracy hands, the keys of society to those in power.

These power disparities can be democratic hurdles that do not provide for us and only exist to benefit those in charge. For instance, I guess if you have some form of empathy, understanding any oppressed or disadvantaged persons and their struggles, it is jarring to see the implicit support of the systems of oppression, whether that be genocidal nation states and their weapon suppliers, or national political inaction to combat a housing crisis, to policies that benefit and allow for price gouging.

As we’ve seen recently, and throughout history, politics and politicians can have a great impact on the lives of millions. It is our right as citizens to participate, criticise and highlight the implications of governments and monopolies, and how their actions and inactions impact us as a society.

If you’re not standing for your rights, who do you expect to do it for you? 

There is an implicit social contract we have with and for each other. Perhaps we should start looking at each other as an extended community rather than competition. We are, after all, a society of social beings. Sure, there may be someone holding the flag, but democracy in action, is democracy in numbers. 

If we want to see drastic changes, a great  first step is to drastically change how we look at politics and the power we can have as informed voters. 

~M~