do you think american society is being complacent to politics, world events, and civic duty in general? why?

Question

more details pls. thanks in advance

Answer 1

Education...all the answers start there.

Answer 2

I think it would be more appropriate to say Americans are more indifferent about those three things than they are complacent. Complacency implies a certain self-satisfaction that is lacking in the American public. I think the phenomenon you're touching upon is apathy caused by the feeling that politics is out of reach and cannot be affected by the average person. Since people believe they can't have an effect, they give up.

So with reference to politics one could refer to the events of the 2000 presidential election, where the popular vote was cast in favor of the losing candidate. This loss of control could plausibly be the cause of many people turning a blind eye to politics and perhaps shirking their civic duties, such as voting, because they feel it makes no difference.

As for world events, this may be more of an instance of complacency because of American global predominance. Americans may take international affairs for granted because the United States has traditionally been so dominant and they have had little to worry about in the way of rivals.

These are just some ideas, if you want details you should probably research them.

Answer 3

I think that the American society is becoming complacent; they're used to our government doing everything for them.

Many call this the "dumbing down of America."

Unfortunately, the government can't continue this rate of growth, has gotten too big, and can't continue to do everything for it's citizens. Our founders founded a country, calling for a small government and giving more power to individual states.

However, Americans aren't used to needing to become involved in politics, etc. However, for us to change the way WE want to change, citizens will need to become involved in the political process.

They don't need to run for office, but they can be active in letting their legislators know what they want THEM to do. They can write letters to the editor, when they find an article in a paper to be disagreeable, or they have an opinion. There are lots of forms of involvement.

Answer 4

Look at the questions in this section. Tons of them asking how to get out of jury duty. Less than half of eligible voters are even registered to vote. Less than one in five adults has ever read the U.S. Constitution. Most adults can't locate Iraq or Afghanistan on an unmarked map of the world. A lot of Americans think our offensive military operations against Iraq were about weapons of mass destruction when that issue is barely mentioned in the Congressional Act which authorized those operations (Public Law #107-243). A lot of Americans think our involvement in Iraq is about oil, even though 85% of Iraqi oil production is under contract to a French firm. And there's a growing membership in the Ostrich Society whose goal is to stick their heads in the sand and avoid the reality of our having been attacked and at war.
Complacency? No, just absolute mind-boggling ignorance!

Answer 5

Yup, I sadly think so. We need to be part of the everyday society my dear Americans. My dad served in Vietnam, was a paramedic and was honorably discharged. He told me that at his time, there was so much going on and he protested against the war with other vets, protested for Civil Rights in Mississippi and Alabama with black friends he had and lived in San Francisco during the best days of gay pride. I want to come back home soon after I finish studying (didn't go to war because of my sick mom) and want to do the same stuff my dad did. I don't take other people's lives for granted, they fought for freedom, I plan to do something useful with it to help my country out. We want our country back, let's make ourselves heard, man! We've been in tight situations before, let's all unite again and show the world why we are what we are. I hope it's not too late my friends, let's be prepared for a long fight but we can and will be heard! Thanks!

Answer 6

After WWII, propaganda encouraged Americans to be big consumers and very materialistic.

They depend on the knowledge of the forefathers to protect them through the US Constitution.

Now that they are buried in debt, they are just waking up to the fact that their rights were not protected and jobs and resources were sent overseas while they were buying all of that stuff and trying to look pretty.

So now they allow their government to steal resources from other nations, using the excuse of war. They have no idea the Administration is bribing other nations with billions in tax dollars. It's a fiasco of great proportions.

Americans are hoping that by stealing, they will feel wealthy again.

Answer 7

There are a couple of different reasons for the lack of participation in elections that I just read about. One is that the younger people do not vote, they voice their opinion but, don't bother to follow up & vote. Voter fatigue. Some states have one election after another, my state just had an election for county elections, then in May we are to vote in the primaries, & in Nov. of 2008 the general election. I don't think I will be too tired to vote but, the idea is that there is just too much voting & that people are confused by it all. Hey, I don't care what we are voting for, I go & vote! Then I can gripe all I want!

Answer 8

Americans are very with football, baseball, NBA and Hollywood gossips instead of being serious with politics and civic duty.

Answer 9

I agree with the first poster, education is key, but also, staying current with many different sources of information is important as well, without that, too many things fall through the cracks.

Answer 10

1) Education: Poor understanding of the real issues.

2) Misinformation: Government doesn't want us to know what goes on behind the scenes.