Aggressive Apathy: The Problem of Fatalism

Greetings all!

This post comes as the first of 2013 for my blog, which has finally achieved the URL and name change I desired. While the actual name we have is temporary, the URL is final, and reflects who I am on this site best. This post will be short, but addresses an important point of politics I’ve noticed fairly often these days: apathy. People seem to have given up on politics and on governments in general, saying there is no use trying or arguing because nothing can be changed. This is a dangerous trend in my eyes.

At the core of the issue is fatalism. Many have decided that because there is so much to fight against, that no fight can ever be successful. That because societal norms haven’t changed yet, there is no use pursuing that change. This is exemplified by the people that say all politicians are corrupt, that all political parties are awful. People who denounce politics in general as a dirty business and decide to stay out of the entire process because of the negative blanket they lay over such subjects.

Initially, this would not seem like such a big problem. If some people want to opt out of it all in disgust, why make them stay, right? The problem is not when a few people do this; the problem emerges when this belief of absolute corruption and negativity spreads far enough to convince significant amounts of people to just give up on things. At that point, fewer people care to educate themselves or to participate in democracy, and the fewer participants a republic has the less success it will reap.

But how to argue against this attitude? Other than noting how inherently lazy it is, there are few ways to convince someone with such a belief set that it is worth becoming reinvested. However, there are a few things that can be said for having a little faith in government, politicians, and politics in general.

First, not all politicians are corrupt. This is such an easy thing to see. If it were true, we would be in an even greater mess than we are today. So would the rest of the planet; I seriously doubt we’d be in anything but a severe depression if all politicians were out for money and power. If entire governments were devoting themselves to such pesky inner squabbles, we would have absolutely nothing to show for ourselves in the way of progress. It can be argued that some politicians are indeed corrupt; this is obvious, and it will always inevitably occur. But deciding that because some are corrupt we should quit is just pathetic.

Second, many people seem to have lost faith in governments in general. I have encountered some that say all governments on Earth right now are corrupt and inefficient structurally, and that fighting systems so laden down already is pointless. The problem with this is that, even if it were true, giving up would mean agreeing with the corrupt systems. By rolling over and allowing such evils, these people accede to exactly that which they abhor. Any person who declares all governments corrupt or something along those lines therefore must fight against it; otherwise, they are being hypocrites in the most passive way possible. However, in the end, not all governments are corrupt in the same way that not all politicians are corrupt. Once again, if this were true, it would be more than apparent in our societies and economies by now.

The last point is the most important one, and that is the point of being apathetic politically. I have heard people say that all political viewpoints are awful, that political debate is poisonous, and that there is no point in challenging the status quo. This was exemplified when a friend of mine debated religion with me, and we got into why bad things happen to good people. He, being religious, suggested that because we cannot change god’s will there is no point in trying to change the way things are. He stated that tragedies will occur, and the best thing we can learn to do is accept them and move on with our lives. And while this philosophy is good within reason, it can be extended too far. We should be able to accept that sometimes houses will catch on fire for no good reason and people will die. We should learn to mourn the loss in these families, and then move on from things like this.

Yet we must be willing to try to change the things we have the power to change. If gender inequality persists, we must be willing to fight for the equal rights and treatment of both genders, even if it seems like societal barriers have been set up all around us. If educational inequality persists, we must be willing to make tertiary schooling easily accessible for those that deserve it rather than just those that can afford it. If economic inequality persists, we must be willing to do more to ensure that those getting the short end of the stick can make do while those with more give up a little to make things more tolerable for the rest of us. There are many things we can change if we put some effort into it; we can’t give in. We can’t stop fighting because we’re surrounded. Never lay down your principles; you lose the instant you do. As long as we fight, we don’t lose until we die.

That is all for this week, and all of my old contact sites are still intact. I encourage commenting here, or you can send emails to me at zerospintop@live.com. My Facebook, Google+, Twitter, DeviantArt, and Steam profiles are all also available for contact if necessary. Good night, and this is KnoFear, signing off.