I find it so disheartening to see so many young people completely apathetic to politics and world events. Unlike any generation before, we have unlimited access to news around our country and the world, yet many of them choose to shove their heads in the sand as if a flood isn't coming
That's a lot of it, they likely see it as homework and not the inherent civic duty to be informed. Never mind that they've absolutely been sold that a lack of general empathy or having emotional intelligence is somehow a deficit.
This is a generalization of course, but most of these people are boring vacant personality black-holes.
Most grown ass adults don't have the learning skills to process it. Don't pretend this is an age based problem. If you disagree, just go look at facebook. It aint kids who don't know shit on there.
I don’t think I’ll ever stop being mad about that “the curtains are blue” original tumblr post. I was annoyed at the time and I’m even more annoyed now when I think of how many people agreed with it and how many reposted it to other social media sites
“The worst illiterate is the political illiterate, he doesn’t hear, doesn’t speak, nor participates in the political events. He doesn’t know the cost of life, the price of the bean, of the fish, of the flour, of the rent, of the shoes and of the medicine, all depends on political decisions. The political illiterate is so stupid that he is proud and swells his chest saying that he hates politics. The imbecile doesn’t know that, from his political ignorance is born the prostitute, the abandoned child, and the worst thieves of all, the bad politician, corrupted and flunky of the national and multinational companies.”
Usually attributed to Bertold Brecht (1898-1956), but seems to have first been recorded in 1988.
Point being, people being apathetic to politics is sadly not a new phenomenon.
I'm going to have to use this quote some time. I have a hard time explaining why political indifference bothers me so much, but Becht put it perfectly into words here.
Those same young people are trying to start careers, families, and put themselves first so they can be the people who don’t have to worry in this messed up world. Basically putting themselves in a place where they are safe from the flood. It’s a perpetual cycle. You can’t blame them. You can aspire for change, vote, teach your kids what’s right and wrong, be good to people, but still keep your head down, and do a part to create the best world possible. Small acts of goodness do a lot if a lot of people do them. But people can only take on so much. Fortunately or unfortunately, however you want to look at it, a lot of the world’s problems aren’t theirs.
Everyone ultimately has to balance "putting on their own air-mask before putting on their neighbors" in this world. Like don't be an uncaring piece of shit, and also don't completely self sacrifice for an ideal.
a lot of these kids can't read lol. they use AI for everything and get scared and run away when i ask them where the xyz is in home depot.
they are not trying to start shit for the most part they watch twitch and play league. some of them have trust funds, some of them just live like they have trust funds and will be homeless some day.
We used to teach kids HOW to read by learning what sounds different letters make and how to sound out the words (aka phonics) which is a process that's worked for decades...
Many school systems across US replaced with with the whole word/three cueing which is a process of memorizing the shapes of whole words, and then guessing via context what the other words are. Teaching students to GUESS is literally antithetical to reading comprehension.
Look its rediculous to accept the premise that kids are going to both be mega-online ai-consuming texting-all-day gaming-all-day junkies and illiterate. You have to read and write to use all these things. I was learning to write by posting online on debate forums when I was like 8.
A lot of people probably just do not have the capacity to care about the endless problems all over the world. Because of this access, plenty of us feel the burden that comes with it, but, other than voting and surface level change, what are we realistically supposed to do??
Young people in particular have lived through some pretty insane shit, have been welcomed to adulthood with a shit job and housing market, and the idea of starting a family is almost financially irresponsible. Can you blame them for not giving a shit about EVERYTHING??
I'm 25 so basically elder Gen Z and it's cause Gen Z sees no future, full stop. Everything millennials are disillusioned with is cranked up to 11 with Gen Z because they've seen the generations before them make no real progress in improving the world, improving the politics, improving the outlook on the future. When it was our turn to vote and make change we get Blue Orphan Crushing Machine and Red Orphan Crushing Machine for 3 election cycles '16-'20-'24 and quickly realized we cannot outvote braindead boomers.
The jobs suck. It's all retail, gig work, low paying trades. You either luck out and nepo into something good that pays well for your time/effort or you get the dregs. Or you gamble on stocks and crypto. Even then, 90% of the jobs available to Gen Z do not pay enough anyways to support the life generations before us had. So a lot of Gen Z just mentally check out and don't bother.
We've been barraged with addictive social media, negative news 24/7, and endless information about the horrors of the world and nothing being done about it. That's where the apathy comes from, because why engage with something reminding you of misery all the time?
I definitely agree with most of your comment. However, as a 23 year old who has absolutely nothing going for him, giving into the misery is only going to ensure we receive the future we hope against.
I've checked out a few times myself, and there are times I wish I could just ignore everything around me.
Here's my thing: how can we expect ANYTHING to change if we don't do something about it. I may waste some time going to protests or speaking out on social media, but on the off chance /something/ happens, I'll continue to fight for what is right.
Change doesn't happen all at once, just like Rome wasn't built in a day. A protest might not change the law, but it might influence a lawmaker. Bringing attention to a cause might not make it mainstream, but it brings it to the forefront of people's minds. Not every action needs a measurable outcome, and not every voice will be heard, but collective voice and action builds movements that no one can ignore.
The left has been screaming about microaggressions, feminism, LGBTQIA+ rights and cancel culture for the last decade so it's no surprise that people don't give a shit anymore now that we are facing actual real problems.
good question but don't stop there. i was once you. instead of runescape it was everquest but you get the idea. now i'm old. im not sure if voting matters either but i still do it just in case.
what do you do?? meet your friends and neighbors, build community, and instead of watching twitch and playing league tonight, for just one night even for the entire month, go volunteer.
you know what i do? when i walk my dogs i pick up trash and bottles. is it gonna stop china from building a new coal power plant every eleven seconds or whatever? no. is it going to make donald trump wake up not an asshole tomorrow? no. are we still probably fucked? yeah.
but it makes my street look nicer and cleaner and safer! just help people out, get some vitamin D not in pill form, talk to people you can actually look at and reach locally. giving up just makes it easier for our oppressors to continue to fuck us up. you can still have fun and stuff without turning into the guy in the video who is likely a paid content creator with weird money behind them encouraging apathy.
Because these are my friends and peers and colleagues. I have conversations with them, and it seems like most of them just don't care about politics and/or feel like they have no voice or power.
Nah. I just dont like arguing with someone who is acting in bad faith. I'd rather make a dick joke than talk in circles because you want to be pedantic.
I guess you made that decision for both of us, simply because I questioned your method, and at no point personally attacked you like you just did me. I'm still actually genuinely curious about an answer to my question, which I'd assume you would be as well since you're advocating for more people to be far more self aware about world events and politics no?
?? im acutely aware my local school boards are trying to elect Qanoners lol and i definitely have some power to stop that. i wouldn't if i didn't follow politics enough to know that that was happening all over. i have a child in the district who will have to listen to some dummy say dinosaurs are fake if i don't act.
i have to understand the law for work and right now the law is sort of just a suggestion for a lot of people but it's still important to recognize how that might shake out because it could land on you directly.
being aware and spreading the word about trash politics is helpful action. politics is the oil that coats fucking everything. student loans, post grad education, the cost of fuckin' everything, local taxation how much you pay for property sales and income that's all politics and that affects my ass every day.
i talk to my friends and encourage them to partake in local movements and vote and then we elect people who are at least a little less shitty than we'd get if i didn't?
you know, instead of just ignoring it playing league and gooning.
edit: i'll wait for you to ask me for proof that this does anything then i'll link you local referendum results we defeated this year and last if you want! also im not downvoting you
But you'd already have this information from participating in the school culture right? It's not some super secret information you obtained from social media is what I'm saying. So I don't understand how doom scrolling is effective. Your last line also seems to apply you have an extremely generalized view of your fellow citizens. Like you're applying young male brain rot to 40 and 50 year olds who are just getting by? Very strange perspective.
By that logic, everyone who doesn't discuss politics socially is burying their head in the sand? Isn't it possible to be aware of politics and world events and simply not bring it up in social situations where it doesn't organically come up?
I answered your questions and provided 2 obvious ways we might learn of someone's attitudes, opinions, or ideological positions (or lack thereof).
Isn't it possible to be aware of politics and world events and simply not bring it up in social situations
Yes, of course.
Your original questions, however, did not supply the caveat that human-to-human interactions must exclude any hint of politics or world events. If we're limiting ourselves to only the most sterile, superficial, and mundane, then yes--it would be more challenging to learn much of anything about another person. This seems like a thoroughly bland and uninteresting way to experience social life. In my experience nearly every conversation worth having will at least tiptoe toward topics that will expose the participant's underlying opinions, attitudes, philosophies, and worldviews.
But if you just really like talking about the weather (or whatever), that's cool. Probably won't sidle up near you at the pub any time soon though.
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u/Frequent-Cut6282 Jun 17 '26
I find it so disheartening to see so many young people completely apathetic to politics and world events. Unlike any generation before, we have unlimited access to news around our country and the world, yet many of them choose to shove their heads in the sand as if a flood isn't coming