Apathetic America?

The first thought to pop into my mind with regards tot hat is, ‘of course’. However, there are certain points of elaboration used by many to highlight the public’s inaction, that I rather strongly disagree with. That is comparing the reform movements of the 60’s to the body politic of today.
In NYTimes column, Bob Herbert declares that ,

Americans have tended to watch with a remarkable (I think frightening) degree of passivity as crises of all sorts have gripped the country and sent millions of lives into tailspins. Where people once might have deluged their elected representatives with complaints, joined unions, resisted mass firings, confronted their employers with serious demands, marched for social justice and created brand new civic organizations to fight for the things they believed in, the tendency now is to assume that there is little or nothing ordinary individuals can do about the conditions that plague them.

The problem with apathy is that it is so easy when you don’t know the answer. As recent news has shown, when people strongly believe in a issue, organization does happen (the gay rights march, tea parties, Obama - yes, Colin, Obama). While there are certain issues that are currently rather black and white for me (gay rights), others are increasingly complex (education reform, afghanistan, the actual mechanisms of universal healthcare).

Compared to granting someone equality, reforming bloated institutions, figuring out the skein of military and political factors, or fixing THE ECONOMY, is infinitely more complex, and as such not only will opinions be that much more diverse but people won’t align themselves along a clear ‘for/against’ line. I think that one would find a lot of Americans care an aweful lot about current issues, but if you ask them how to solve them.. it becomes a whole new ballgame.

What I think people should be up in arms about is not the movements, but the tone of the discussion. People should be angry over how the leaders of our government use their time and how news stations cover national dialogue. However, this all comes back to the fact that people vote politicians into office, and people give tv shows their ratings. Perhaps, we’re just not a very smart nation. How do you solve that?

P.S. one thing I’m still rather confident about is that (aside from those who were really fighting for their rights, and putting their livlihoods and often lives on the line) there was a huge mass of privileged educated and dissillusioned youth in the 60’s with a lot of time on their hands. Correct me if I’m wrong.