Discouraged from attention

"Everywhere I went people told me that they were deeply worried about the future of democracy. The felt alianted from both the electoral process, and the culture wars and that were grouping about for plain language in which to express their discontent"

Is this why we don't "pay attention"? Have we become so disconnected that we no longer understand what is going on around us? Is it possible to understand the modern world of politics. I think this is why a lot of people don't participate or care about the government as much any more; it's simply because they don't understand. I have to say, I feel their pain. It's like when I sometimes pick up an abandon paper at breakfast and start reading the front page articles. They would make so much more sense if I had a better grasp on what was going on. It's really hard to do something like pick up a newspaper or vote in an election and really understand what is going on and what is being said when you have been neglectful for so long.

In the case of politics I think a lot of people would like to blame all the red tape, the bureaucracy, and the politics of the status quo instead of themselves. However, I don't think it's fair to blame it on the system. Politics have always been complicated and controversial and people still managed to get a grasp on what was going on and participate in government and community affairs.

Maybe we're just not as ambitious. Or maybe we've just gotten lazy.