A self-fulfilling prophecy - part I
What local media personality said the following back in 1994?
It may be difficult to believe for the pundits, politicians and activists who dominate public discourse, but politics is not, for everyone, the core of human existence, or life’s most interesting and important enterprise.
The option of being indifferent to politics is one of the unambiguous blessings of a free society. America’s habitually low voter turnout is not a sign of our democracy’s frailty, but unmistakable evidence of its hearty good health.
(…)
Americans are not seriously afraid of the outcome of elections because, as a rule, nothing truly fundamental is at stake in our elections. The nation’s constitutional institutions are strong enough that basic freedoms are secure, no matter who gets elected.
But if what is meant is that voting should be made so effortless and convenient and, in a sense, trivial as to encourage voting even among those whose minds are uncomplicated by a single informed political thought — well, then it is challenging to imagine how the republic would be strengthened in the process.
Hint: The answer is dripping with tragic irony, since the author’s bread and butter is now currently dependent on the public interest in politics. The answer later today.