Why are Americans so Apathetic?

Americans don't turn out to vote in mass like most other Western democratic countries do.

The US is in a constitutional crisis - yet most Americans don't know or care.

What is at the root of this?

Why are Americans so apathetic about politics, their own rights, and the basic welfare of the nation, in comparison to other Western countries?

and they mistake that comfort for freedom.

?

The rest are too busy making a living and trying to raise their kids and feed their family and hoping for medical treatment when they need it.

They don't know they are providing a better living for much of the world while their quality of life is slipping.

W and the rich aren't going to tell them about it and the shrinking middle class is trying to hold their heads above water.

Esp in comparison to European workers w/ their long vacations and what-not.

LAZY in Civic responsibilities.

to participate in civics as in Erica's response.

I come from the Appalachian mountains, I know what it means to keep my head above water.

Most Americans I see are just plain lazy, there is no excuse for it either.

stupid TV show on the planet, vote hundreds of times per day for American Idols, and shop til their credit cards dry up. They are lazy, self-absorbed, and most of them don't work 2 jobs or spend a lot of time on their kids, either.

work-ethic-savvy.

It's amazing how the Americans and the Euros manage to get all their work done in such far differing time ratios... and the europeans end up with more time for family and friends, as in, they've got their priorities much more in order, while americans have higher heart attacks, high blood pressure and stress related ailments.

Working hard isn't necessarily an ethical thing.

The man living in Belize who fishes for 2 hours a day then sells his catch in an hour or so, buys his family's dinner and laundry soap isn't any more ethical than the woman in NYC who works 60 hours a week at a law firm, who rushes home to get there in time to pay the nanny and have the dinner delivered, and to kiss her kids good night.

It's just all about how you want to live your life.

People in this country work 40-50 hours a week and sometimes more because it's the only way to make ends meet.

status, the right schools, the best education, the right cars and so on... the trappings of being an American.

The first time I went into the jungles of the Yucatan, I sat watching a child playing in a pile of dust with a simple spoon for hours on end. She absolutely absorbed, happy, clearly well adjusted socially, emotionally, and happy as a clam to just be with her mother at the stove while dad was off driving a truck for a stone yard.

I realized then that we are in charge of our own standards for what makes us "happy".

They lived in a palapa hut near a cenote, down a dirt road about 30 miles from the closest town. They have plenty of food, hammocks to sleep on, a sweet dog at the door, enough pots to make a meal, enough plates to eat on, enough clothes to wear, and so on. They're not poor. They're content. They know about city life, but they choose their jungle life. They're no more or less smart then you and I, they just have different values.

And sometimes it seems that with all our civilized material goods that we're the most *unhappy*.

:shrug:

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/TahitiNut/293

and 99 % of the population is on prozac.

What SIZE kahuna are you?

They are fairly SCREAMING their concern, but have met with such deafness in government, and such utter contempt and marginalization by the war profiteering corporate news monopolies that they DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO. You protest--with 100,000, 200,000...500,000 people in the streets, and it's barely a blip in the "news." They vote. They get all their non-voting family members and co-workers to vote, the country turns out 20 million new voters in 2004, the Democrats blow the Repubs away in new voter reg in 2004, nearly 60/40, and nothing changes.

Americans don't know what to do because they don't know what's wrong. They DON'T KNOW how George Bush could be president. They try to explain it to themselves in corporate news monopoly "talking points"--it must have been hatred of gays, or, there must have been an invisible rightwing get out the vote effort in the churches (as Dick Cheney or Karl Rove said). Americans smell it--rigged elections. But there has been such an incredible black-holing of the 2004 election fraud story, they don't know the facts. Most of them DON'T KNOW that Bushite corporations now control the tabulation of all of our votes with "TRADE SECRET," PROPRIETARY programming code and virtually no audit/recount controls, and that this corrupt, NON-TRANSPARENT election system was put in place by THE most corrupt members of Congress, Tom Delay and Bob Ney (abetted by Bilderberg 'Democrat' Chrisopher Dodd).

The riggable election machines and the corporate news monopoly lies and collusion--and the corruption, collusion or cowardice in the Democratic leadership--have combined for a "perfect storm" of disinformation, aimed at disenfranchising and demoralizing the American people.

These are people who have stuck with their progressive values and belief in democracy through thick and thin--through six years of 24/7 rightwing propaganda. Read the issue polls! Americans are LARGELY progressive in their views. They disagree with every Bush policy, foreign and domestic, way up in the 60% to 70% range. The Iraq war. Torture. Women's rights. The deficit. You name it. You should be amazed at the American people and their sturdy beliefs. You should be proud of them. They just DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO. They have been specifically and deliberately deprived of their right to vote--their sovereignty as a people, their right to change things--and they don't yet know it. That is changing very fast--did you see the Rolling Stone article by RFK Jr. published this week on election fraud 2004?--but it is and will be a revelation to most Americans.

And it will be very, very, very important in the next weeks and months to help inform other Americans about the facts of the fraudulent election SYSTEM, as well as fraud in the 2002 and 2004 elections. (We have many illegitimately elected Congress members as well.) And help guide them to useful and constructive action--such as the temporary use of Absentee Ballots, where possible, as a protest against the rigged voting machines, close monitoring of the '06 elections for suspicious results, and demands to their local/state election officials for TRANSPARENT elections.

Here is some useful information to help Americans to become re-empowerd and re-enfranchised...

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OVERVIEW: AMERICAN REVOLUTION II

What we now have --in addition to outright illegal suppression of Democratic votes by Bushite election officials and other operatives--is several big electronic voting corporations with very close ties to the Republican Party and rightwing causes--Diebold, ES&S and Sequoia-- 'counting' all our votes with 'TRADE SECRET,' PROPRIETARY programming code--code so secret that not even our secretaries of state are permitted to review it--with virtually no audit/recount controls. This is the result of the infamous "Help America Vote Act" of 2002, a $4 billion electronic voting boondoggle engineered by the biggest crooks in Congress, Tom Delay and Bob Ney (and abetted by Bilderberg 'Democrat' Christopher Dodd).

Our elections are now NON-TRANSPARENT and UNVERIFIABLE, and under the control of partisan corporations. The $4 billion and millions in lavish lobbying were also used to corrupt election officials from one end of the land to other. And those they have not been able to corrupt, they have driven from office (Kevin Shelly in California), or sought to intimidate (Ion Sancho in Florida, and others). Corruption or bullying by the Bushite Feds has resulted in the widespread purchase of this extremely insecure, unreliable and hackable--and very expensive--election theft machinery.

Restoring TRANSPARENT elections is a MUST DO, PRIORITY ONE, MATTER, if we want our country back. Without the right to vote, we can do little or nothing to restore lawful government. We can protest. We can be appalled. But if the will of the majority--which has always been for peace and justice, and good government, consistently over the last six years, in ALL the issue polls--cannot be enforced, then we might as well be shouting to the wind.

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SOME RESOURCES FOR AMERICAN REVOLUTION II:

Practical suggestions for the immediate future:

1. ABSENTEE BALLOT VOTING. Promote absentee ballot voting. It's not the ultimate solution, by any means, but it at least provides a tangible paper record for challenging suspicious election results, and for recounts and investigations. (Absentee ballots were a great help to investigators in 2004.) Absentee ballot voting is also a form of protest against the machines. 50% of Californians are now requesting Absentee Ballots. If enough people do it, the machines will be obsolete; then we can work on getting rid of the central tabulators.

2. MONITOR THE ELECTIONS. Join with others to closely monitor the coming elections and gather and document evidence. See www.UScountvotes.org, and other resources, below. UScountvotes.org needs donations!

3. DEMAND INDEPENDENT EXIT POLLS. Demand that the Democratic Party fund INDEPENDENT EXIT POLLS. Exit polls are used worldwide to verify elections and check for fraud. The war profiteering corporate news monopoly exit polls cannot be trusted (they are doctored to match the results from the voting machines' secret programming code; rather than being used to verify elections, they are used to confirm NON-TRANSPARENT "official results"). The Democratic Party owes us, big time, for their lack of vigilance--and in some cases corruption--on electronic voting. This is one critically needed thing that they can do to help.

4. THINK LONG TERM. Saving our democracy promises to be a long hard struggle. We obviously can't get rid of these machines before the '06 elections, so focus on doing our best with the Diebold/ES&S handicap (a 5% to 10% "thumb on the scales" for Bushites and warmongers), and getting rid of these machines afterward, for '08 and beyond.

5. TELL PEOPLE THE TRUTH. They NEED to know it. Engage them in the fight. Bumper sticker: "Help Us Beat the Machines--VOTE!" There is nothing more demoralizing and disempowering than constantly losing and not knowing WHY. There is evidence that the machines CAN be beaten by massive turnout. Get people involved! Help them to SEE what's happening! THEY will solve the problem, ultimately--if they can only IDENTIFY what it is!

6. PRESSURE LOCAL/STATE ELECTION OFFICIALS. Right now, the best place to fight this fight is at the state/local level, where ordinary people still have some influence. Bush's Congress is NOT going to give us back our right to vote--they are the ones who took it away (with the collusion of some corrupt Dems). Don't look to the Feds--look to your local county registrar, your state election boards, your secretaries of state. Demand TRANSPARENT elections. Also educate and mobilize your local Democratic Party groups.

The first priority in this historic fight for American democracy is restoring our right to vote--the mechanism by which we exercise our sovereignty as a people. Without it, we have no power. We MUST change this.

Never give up on our right to vote! NEVER!

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ADDITIONAL RESOURCES FOR AMERICAN REVOLUTION II:

Hopeful signs - latest news:

California voters sue the state over Diebold:
www.VoterAction.org is suing the state of California and 18 Calif county registrars on behalf of 25 California voter/plaintiffs, on the illegal Diebold "certification" by Schwarzenegger appointee Bruce McPherson.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2180496
Seven of these counties have promised the judge they would use PAPER BALLOTS, and were dismissed from this lawsuit (4/27/06).
http://kcbs.com/pages/29285.php
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2249205

Maryland rejects Diebold:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x418263

Florida - anti-trust accusations against Diebold, ES&S and Sequoia, re: heroic Florida election official Ion Sancho:
(FLA AG subpoenas the companies)
http://www.computerworld.com/governmenttopics/government/legalissues/story/0,10801,110192,00.html
http://www.tbo.com/news/politics/MGBKSY8W8LE.html
(info & discussion)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2183630

Utah county clerk fights back!
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x419226

(Tide turning?) New York Times: "New Fears of Security Risks in Electronic Voting Systems" (5/12/06)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2278829

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INFORMATION AND ACTIVIST RESOURCES for American Revolution II:

www.votersunite.org (MythBreakers - easy primer on electronic voting--one of the myths is that HAVA requires electronic voting; it does not.)
www.UScountvotes.org (statistical monitoring of '06 and '08 elections--they need donations)


(Activist sites with links to state activist groups or info)
www.votetrustusa.org (news of this great movement from around the country)
www.votersunited.org (good general info, and state links)
www.verifiedvoting.org (great activist site)
www.solarbus.org/election/index.shtml (fab compendium of all election info)

www.freepress.org (devoted to election reform)
www.bradblog.com (also great, and devoted to election reform)
www.TruthIsAll.net (analysis of the 2004 election)* :patriot: :applause: :patriot:
www.votepa.us (well-organized local group of citizen activists in Pennsylvania, where important legal issues are at stake, including state's rights over election systems)
Provisions of the PA lawsuit:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x423739

The Voter Confidence Resolution
http://tinyurl.com/rlnr2 (“We Do Not Consent”)
http://guvwurld.blogspot.com (GuvWurld blog main page)
http://tinyurl.com/amryg (Voter Confidence Resolution

www.debrabowen.com (Calif Senator running for Sec of State to reform election system)
www.johnbonifaz.com (running for Massachusetts Sec of State on strong election reform and antiwar platform)

*Some tributes to TruthIsAll, who is very ill:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x417007
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x417231
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x675477

Congressional bills:

Russ Holt's HR 550 requires a real paper ballot, bans secret software in "voting machines", and has more than 170 co-sponsors, but the audit required is too weak, it promotes electronic voting and centralized power, and the secret software might be permitted to continue in the central tabulators (the bill is not clear). At lot of discussion at DU of the loopholes/pitfalls in HR 550 (many DUers support the bill):
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x422926
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x421136
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=203&topic_id=422967&mesg_id=422967
To sign the HR 550 petition: http://www.rushholt.com/petition.html

(Note: Senate Bill-SB 330 and House-HR704 simply require a "voter verified paper audit trail" (VVPAT), which may be best for the moment.)


Also of interest:

Michael Collins (Autorank)'s searing election reform article for New Zealand's Scoop.com
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x971363

Bob Koehler (-- four recent election reform initiatives in Ohio, predicted to win by 60/40 votes, flipped over, on election day, into 60/40 LOSSES!--the biggest flipover we've seen yet; the election theft machines and their masters are now dictating election policy! Title: "Poll Shock" 11/24/05)
http://commonwonders.com/archives/col321.htm

Bob Koehler's latest: "Trust us: Take this box and stuff it" (3/16/06)
http://commonwonders.com/archives/col337.htm
More Koehler:
www.tmsfeatures.com/tmsfeatures/subcategory.jsp?file=20051124ctnbk-a.txt&catid=1824&code=ctnbk

Amaryllis (Diebold, ES&S, Sequoia lavish lobbying of election officials - Beverly Hilton, Aug. '05)
www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x380340

HOWARD DEAN remarks on electronic voting machines 04/06
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x994507

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Throw Diebold, ES&S and ALL election theft machines into 'Boston Harbor' NOW!

:think: :patriot: :woohoo: :patriot: :think:

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"That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it." --Thomas Jefferson, The Declaration of Independence

in US elections among other things?

Have you written or called of visited your Representative in the last 4 weeks to express your opinion of your government?

I'd be willing to bet my first born that the vast majority polled have not. It's all well and good that they express discontent when someone goes to THEM and asks, but what the fuck have most people acually gotten up off their asses and done about it?

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/TahitiNut/293

my xbox says so.

Older Americans are the ones who had to fight for women's rights, rights for blacks, gays, or what have you. Everybody now takes these rights so much for granted, that they just think their rights will never be eroded. Being spoiled is what makes you apathetic.

Americans on average work more hours, with less vacation, than folks in most other countries. This leaves less time and energy for citizenly duties.

I also think the American media, esp. corporate news media, is designed to lull us to a greater degree than in other democratic states.

Living a comfortable life results in apathy, except for "hot-button" issues like illegal immigration and gay marraige. It's happening in China as well, people who are profiting from the changes they are making don't care much for the political process, because they don't believe they can change anything, anyway, and they live a comfortable life.

and yet have these big voter turn-outs of 80% and more.

Why?

And some make it nice and simple like the UK where X marks the spot.

pop culture & throw away bullshit...oh, and little sense of communal commitment. we're all so 'i got mine, go get your own' x(

in part by our abundent diversity.

Humans may be genetically programmed to not relate as well to people that are "not like me" and maybe as a result we don't have the sense of community that others do.

Perhaps then there's less incentive for people to care about society in general and therefore government, since government exists to promote the general welfare (that we in theory care less about.)

Most of these other countries I'm comparing to are much more homogenous than we are. (Also alot smaller.)

This wouldn't have been as much of a problem at our countries birth since minorities and women were not even considered citizens at that time.

from the gitgo; while not as expansive as say: russia, 12 time zones & all, this is still a vast expanse america, when you fly over it. how to connect all what is below?

i have a theory all my own, and it goes like this. humans are in fact programmed to relate to others not like them. humans, in my little theory, are a 3rd tone, if you will; born of men & women. take two pitch forks and ding them, listen carefully and hear it...a 3rd tone.

it is not my intent to take this where it does not belong. but to my mind being 'human', is a higher calling. or 'different', if you do not care for the higher/lower thing; but the resultant nonetheless of a long, long, long, long march. many others with more nefarious plans, see those differences and scheme to disrupt them, keeping all three aspects separate for that matter. which is their intent. to keep men, women AND humans from understanding how important they are to one another. and they are these dissemblers, Bush is but one that comes to mind, successful to surprising degrees.

let it be known quickly here that imo men, women & humans are all kith & kin. too many men & women will walk, or traipse right past what clearly needs to be done. but humans trend, again imo, toward the solving of these greater issues between us. they facilitate creation.

they are able to dissemble dissemblers; we the people :-)

means nothing in the grand scheme of things. They see politics as dishonest and reguardless of which side dems or pukes, their lives will not change for the better. The poorer the person is the more he/she feels like they are being left out so why vote for rich white guys who never suffered a day in their lives and don't address their problems. Blame MSM for that one, they prove these non voters right every 2 years.

precisely b/c people are apathetic and don't pay attention. (Or maybe there's a cycle here.)

If we did have more choices and less corruption in government, it'd be interesting to see if citizen apathy decreased.

Wealth, security, ease of entertainment and a society that tends to condemn "eggheads" who know too much or care too deeply about political subjects.

Gay Marriage, 9-11, South Park, Celebrity Poker Playoffs, NFL et al,.................



We don't have time or space for facts.... we are enjoying our BREAD and CIRCUSES.

techniques of mental masturbation that people use in order to NOT look at what's happening in the world . . . very active avoidance behavior, whether they realize/admit it or not . . .

it's a lot easier to decide who to vote for on American Idol than it is who vote for for president . . .

who cares?

what did you think of American Idol?

The middle class is all pacified by prime time TV, shopping, going out to eat, etc. They're too comfortable so they see no reason to care about politics, especially because they often have no idea what's even going on. If you have no idea the problems really exist, it's pretty easy to live in a bubble. And it's incredibly easy to remain unaware of what's really happening - it doesn't even take effort to avoid it. On the contrary, I think it takes more effort to be aware, especially considering how hard our media tries to cover things up.

Meanwhile, a lot of the people who are fully aware of the problems society is facing are the ones struggling the most to get by. Unfortunately many of them are too busy working just to survive to devote time and energy to politics, and many of them (rightly, IMO) see that both parties are full of wealthy people who have no idea what it's like to be poor. They don't see themselves represented by anyone in government and feel like their votes don't matter anyway.

I was talking to my friend about the mayoral election in New Orleans who clearly disliked the incumbent mayor but said to me, "Dude, if one vote is going to make a difference then give me a call but otherwise I know it won't matter."

The problem is that when there are a few thousand people with that attitude, it DOES make a difference.

welcome to the site, btw

And a failed education system. But mainly television. The conservatives are right--Hollywood is destroying the nation, but not in the way they think. They've gotten so good at distracting us from reality that people care more about Brangelina than election fraud.

We've dropped the ball, and we deserve what's coming, and then we'll all stand around looking bewildered and asking, "how did it all go so wrong"?

First of all, our culture, nurtured and shaped by corporate media, encourage people to put all of their energy into chasing the elusive American Dream. Work hard, get ahead. If you're putting enormous energy into getting ahead--or for many people just getting by--you're not going to want to spend your few free hours boning up on what's happening in the world--you're going to spend time with your family, pursue your personal interests and just relax. Do the powers that be like it that way? You bet.

Secondly, Americans believe in individual initiative. Our hero is the lone cowboy out on the range. Politics--real politics--means working with other people and accepting their faults. We want perfection in our leaders. Since most Americans are not particularly interested in history--a subject that is taught abysmally in our schools--we don't get that the great leaders of the past were flawed human beings who managed to rise above their flaws to solve the problems of their day.

Third, we don't get rewarded for taking part in politics. We are a culture which values instant gratification and for the most part, political activity does not provide any sort of positive reinforcement. The powers that be, of course, want to keep it that way and even make it a negative experience for those who they particularly want to keep out of the polling booths. If we WANTED people to vote, Election Day would be a national holiday--or we'd at least hold elections on weekends. We'd have coffee and donuts at the polls. Think back to thousands of citizens in Ohio standing patiently on line waiting to vote in 2004. This should not happen in a Democratic society and the fact that we allowed it to happen is disgusting. Once again, the powers that be like the fact that Americans find voting inconvenient very very much.

Finally, Americans want to hang out with the cool kids. Look at our political stereotypes. The ruthless scheming corrupt politican, the bow tied conservative dweeb, the tie dyed birkenstocked liberal and that obnoxious jerk who kept running for class president in your high school--you want to hang out with those people? Hell no. Once again the powers that be like this attitude very much indeed.