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by stego-tech 360 days ago
Apathy is always a symptom, never a cause, or so I’ve come to learn. What I used to blame on “voter apathy” was really just a symptom of politics in the USA becoming so stagnant and detached from the struggles of workers that any intense emotion or platform would’ve lit a fire under the electorate (see the optimism of the initial Obama campaign, the repugnancy of the Tea Party, or the naked hostility of Trump). Likewise, apathy in the case you describe is their way of communicating that they see no value in engaging with a system they perceive is broken, which is itself a profound warning that they’re susceptible to demagogues and populism. A healthy society recognizes apathy as a red flag and addresses it early, while declining societies ignore it (Japan) or blame the apathetic (USA) for the failings of the system.

Do not blame the apathetic for simply refusing to play a rigged game. Instead, listen to their grievances and work with them to bring about positive change.
1 comments
gabordemooij 360 days ago
Yes, I understand that. It all just seems so grim?
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pvg 360 days ago
It's grim because it's mostly a made up, self-centered, apocalyptic view of the world - great in one's youth and now fallen. I think your other instinct - 'maybe I'm just getting old' is truer, and better - that doesn't have to be nearly as grim as the coping-mechanism-cum-manifesto in the GP comment would have you believe.
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stego-tech 360 days ago
Alternatively, notice how detractors to a well thought-out argument that attempts to distill decades of history into a single comment within a larger thread, immediately devolve into flailing insults rather than offering a compelling counter-narrative.

Sure, pvg's bite-sized nugget of McWisdom holds generally true for any topic covering a span of time and wrapped in the cloak of biological aging, but notice how it also does nothing to provide sustenance in the form of tangible examples, counter-arguments, or advice. It's convenient, sure, but hardly nourishing.

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pvg 360 days ago
I don't think you misrepresenting the period in bombastic terms for effect provides sustenance or requires counter-arguments because it's just you misrepresenting the period in bombastic terms for effect. I think the advice of not taking a sequence of Manichean tropes and slogans too much to heart remains pretty useful!
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stego-tech 360 days ago
It is, and it sucks, but it's not forever unless we want it to be.

That's how I deal with it anyway. YMMV.

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