"Not interested in politics"
What is the politics that people aren't interested in? Is there another kind?
One of the most frustrating things about talking to people who aren't Extremely Online is how often they say they aren't really interested in politics. Some of these people are just extremely complacent; they're happy with the way their lives are going and see no reason that would ever change. But others, I think, have a serious misconception about what politics really is.
When you say "politics" people imagine the bureaucratic process of passing a new law or drafting a new policy document - something that's probably rather humdrum even to the people directly involved. Or they imagine representatives of the major parties braying coded insults back and forth in the House of Commons, treating it all as little more than a high status game. Or perhaps they just think of voting for one of those parties every five years and noticing that whoever ends up elected, nothing seems to really change. If that's politics, it's no wonder people aren't interested.
But politics is about so much more than that. At its heart, politics is about what kind of world we want to live in and how we can best create that world. How do we make sure everyone has what they need? How do we balance personal freedom with the responsibilities we have to each other? How do we prevent the strongest, the most aggressive, those with the most power, from simply taking whatever they want and leaving the rest of us to bear the consequences?
Elections and parliamentary debates are ideally a method for agreeing amongst ourselves how best to address questions like that, and the bureaucratic processes are the method for turning the decisions into practical results. But in practice, elections become popularity contests about who can make the most compelling promises or tell the most convincing lies about the other side. Nuanced questions with no simple answer are reduced in the media to oversimplified soundbites which then get repeated until a majority accepts them as truth. Career politicians do what is right for their career rather than what is right for the broader society, and anyone who won't play along is sidelined as a crank.
There are ways to fight back. We can contact our MPs and let them know we will hold them accountable for the decisions they claim to be making on our behalf. We can stand for election ourselves at a local level, where it's much easier for one highly motivated person to make a noticeable difference. We can connect with politics indirectly by organising with a union or joining a protest. This too is often humdrum, but it's better than falling into apathy.
As for our politically disengaged friends and neighbours, we can try to meet them where they are. It's tempting to yell at them that these things are important, that they will ultimately affect everyone's lives, and that they owe themselves more than thoughtlessly believing whatever soundbites the media are pushing today. But that will only put their backs up and convince them to disengage further.
Many people who "don't care about politics" do care deeply about things that politics affects, even if it's something as simple as the state of the local car parks. Get them talking about that, and you might find an opening to explore how they can translate their concerns into action. It's a slow process, and they will probably never see themselves as people who care about politics as an abstract thing. But showing ways that they can stand up for the things they care about is a much more useful goal than changing their mind about the concept of politics.