[a_bonobo]

Then again, there's a million evil things in my news-feed every day about which I can do precisely nothing, usually because they're in a different country. What does me knowing (in depressing detail!) about The Evil Thing I Have No Power About improve the situation in any way?

[Arainach]

It makes you aware and prepared. Politics is not an island; tactics do not exist in isolation. As soon as one fascist proposes censoring school libraries in one state, others across the country look at the tactic and decide to stop it. It's much easier to proactively stop such things if you are aware of what to watch for.

[danenania]

I think it's valuable to have some baseline level of political knowledge and engagement, but there are definitely diminishing returns beyond that. Past a certain point, it seems to become a negative influence in most people's lives.

But being completely apathetic about politics is a bit like not getting vaccinated for measles. It might work out ok for you, but it gets really dangerous when a majority of the population has that mindset.