Politics is important ?? UK QUESTION.?

Question

It is quite common for people, especially aged 16 - 25 to moan about things, such as getting the sack or can not find employment or other restrictions in a free society, to then say - "I hate politics I aint interested" - many dont even know who the UK Prime Minister is !!
Dont you think they should participate in the political decisions affecting their life. ?
I dont mean they should stand as MPs but just simply get involved and gain some knowledge as politics affects everything that happens to them ??

Answer 1

I have just read an article in the news this morning about the decline of interest in politics.



In that article the following was stated.



"The Hansard Society has reported a poll in which only 42% of people say they are interested in politics"



http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/aug/19/decline-interest-politics-worse-for-labour



It did not give any age ranges and personally i wonder how diverse the age ranges for this are. I know lots of older people that also have no interest in politics.



Im sure a lot of people will disagree with me here but i think perhaps politics should be taught in schools at secondary level.



One of the things i find fairly staggering is the amount of people who have no understanding of the different political philosophies. So many people have no understanding of what the differences are between Communism, Socialism or National Socialism.



So many people seem to lack the basic understanding of what our current Democracy really is and what it should really be.



These basics should be taught in school. If the younger population of our country had a better basic grasp of different political philosophies they may be more interested in politics. Of course i think we need to be careful as we do not want a system where young people can be indoctrinated into certain political ideologies but we also can't afford to just sit back and do nothing.



The benefits of teaching these basics in school would be that in time we would have more people interested in politics. It would also mean that our politicians would have to be better because more of the electorate would be aware of and interested in politics.



In the UK at the moment we have had successive governments that think it is acceptable to tell lies to the electorate. The Iraq war over weapons of mass destruction and the election campaign promise by Cameron stating no top down reorganisation of the NHS are good examples of this.



The way that politicians can tell lies to the electorate and get away without any form of punishment is truly disgusting. This does huge damage to our democracy as it causes people to become apathetic towards politics.



The House of Lords is also another example of why our politics is not very democratic. The Lords are not voted into office by the people.



There are a great many reasons why some people decide to take no interest in politics. Lack of interest in politics is not just the preserve of the young.



EDIT:- To respond to your response to me.



I agree with your response to me pretty much.



"But how do you change this ??? The only answer is a peoples revolution - a general strike."



I wish i had all the answers but unfortunately i do not.



I agree that MP's appear to take no notice of protest, letters, people dying etc. They only appear to be interested in what gains they can secure for themselves. Our system appears to be suffering from a lot of corruption and there appears to be not accountability.



Sadly i do not think a general strike will change anything either. When looking at strikes such as the miners strike it would appear to me that the government would fight them tooth and nail. A general strike would be hard to organise and i have doubts that the 58% of people who are not interested in politics would have any real interest in taking part in a general strike. On top of that 58% there would also be a section of society that want to see the system carry on as it is as they are gaining from it.



I would love to think that a general strike could work but sadly i have little faith that it would.



I really only see two alternatives and i do not think that either is likely to happen within my life time.



1. Education.



Educate the young about politics like i suggested in my answer.



2. A full blown revolution like we are witnessing in places such as Egypt.



Personally i prefer the education route as it means that less damage is done to our society. It means that lives will not be lost in any of the fighting that may occur from a full blown revolution like we are witnessing in places like Egypt.



I would love to see society change into a society that truly knows the meaning of empathy, fairness, equality, civilised, enlightened and the like.



I would love to see a brighter future than the one that we currently see for our society but given our past history is seems like it is nothing more than a distant dream. Im sure it will come one day but i think it is a long way off. We have come a long way since the days of cavemen and for sure we have a long way still to go.

Answer 2

Bifta - best answer I've seen in a long time.



Myrtel - I'm with you on Mac's response. I'm only old enough to remember one labour government but if that's what they do to people when the economy is going well then I don't want them when it's doing badly.



I think interest in politics can be sparked when decisions that politicians make directly affect you, or something you care about. So I had no great interest in politics in the 1997 election (1st one where I was eligible to vote) but having seen how much worse off I was in 2001 it suddenly occurred to me that it mattered who got in.



I had no real concept of left & right wing, but looking back I realise that the things they did that I didn't like were as a result of their lurch to the right. Tony Blair's government made me a staunch tory for over a decade. In reality, I was just anti-labour.



I still didn't really understand politics (as I said, I was a staunch tory) until as part of my first degree course I took an Environmental Politics module. It was an eye-opener to see the various options, pros & cons of each, the constraints that politicians work within etc. It made me question far more & a few months before the election I realised that my views were closer to those of the LibDems.



When you see political decisions affect you, or affect things you care about, you take notice. Note the protests over tuition fees - students took to the streets because they cared. Granted, it seemed that they were more concerned about the repayments for wealthy graduates rather than the stifling of access to education for poorer students (unless that was just the way it was reported) but either way, it was obvious that they cared.

Answer 3

Absolutely! It's the fundamental basis of a democracy that citizens SHOULD be interested and DO something instead of just moaning. That's how Labour started amongst the working classes, isn't it? With the unions as a starting point for organisation. They got off their backsides and DID it. Labour these days is only "Tory-lite" - well you've heard that from me before - but what it used to be has left a legacy we can all be grateful for. Say what you like about the EDL but they're DOING something about what they believe in, and I can't help respecting that.



I can't help agreeing with your comment to Bifta - all young people are interested in is celebrity. God forbid that I should ever agree with Ann Widdecombe but as presenter of "Cleverdicks" she often complains about some of the questions she is given to ask when they are about the latest pop sensation rather than "proper" general knowledge. Now that I CAN agree with. In the big scheme of things, who cares?



I can't help thinking the young have lost touch with reality. The world doesn't owe us a living and we get the politicians we deserve. They've taken the trouble to get involved. So should we all.

Answer 4

Well, when you witness the way our politicians behave, in PMQ's for intance, as well as their private lives, it's no wonder people have no interest in politics. I personally had no real interest in politics or politicians until Thatcher came to power and introduced the poll tax. My father was a staunch Labour supporter, I therefore followed the trend for many years, just voting Labour, with the understanding that they were the party of the working man and the Tories the party of the rich, I have continued to support Labour ever since, but do so now as my party of choice and not because of my father, who incidentally said, a couple of years before his death, that he wouldn't support Labour again after Blaire.

My thoughts on the Tories haven't changed, they are still the nasty party and the party of the rich. My thoughts on Labour are that they aren't the Labour of old, but are the only other viable alternative. As for youngsters and politics, they should perhaps be made aware in their final years at school, just what life is like in the real world. The cost of renting a flat, the cost of buying a home on a mortgage, the cost of paying bills, the cost of raising a child, the cost of food, the cost of owning and running a car, etc, along with the minimum wage, homelessness and other things that may impact on their lives. They could then be asked to write an article on just what they would do themselves if they were in power, to solve issues that are important to them.

Answer 5

As much as politicians are , they still run the country , good or bad. You just have to look at the London Riots to see what exactly what would occur...complete and utter anarchy all over the four nations of the UK. Is it not the 'right of passage' that most young people have no interest in politics? and I don't think this anything new. In the last 10 years or so , the race for technology , with the advent of the social websites , there are sure more things to worry about in the minds of the youngsters (cyber-bullying) that the powers-that-be and they are so far detached from ordinary lives.

Answer 6

MYRTLE.. some good basic answers here to your question. Politics to the younger generation is on a similar footing as telling them to ensure for their future security in pensions. The attitude is the same for both, in as much that Politics to them is an institution blessed with dishonesty and self interest, while the mention of Pensions is far to far to be even considered with any interest.

From my experience in my locality, those who speak about politics because of media coverage, only do so, with no respect to anyone who they consider to be in authority. They regard them as their enemies.

Having said all that, you have to understand the lack of interest that Politics in this Country has produced.

All it has shown to the younger person, is what shambles it has become. I am sure many have been turned away,because they have seen PMQS, which truly shows, the circus of clowns, who at the end of the day have produced nothing of note.

You have probably gathered, I am not a particular Party animal, I just speak as I find.

All the best as always.

Answer 7

I think politics is important to a degree and that people should be well-educated on it so that they can make their own decisions and not the media's, but there is more to life than politics and I think it's more important to actually make the most of life rather than sit on Yahoo Answers and moan about it all the time (people do this more than they would like to admit).



But yes if people legitimately aren't happy with the way this country is run, it is kind of their responsibility to learn and do something about it.

Answer 8

H.L. Mencken said ~ "All elections are advance auctions on stolen goods."



You either get the swag or you lose it. Which do you think will happen if you don't vote?



The best way to stop the process is to limit government. Not many people seem to want to limit government. They only want government to work for their side. Since government created 75% of the mess, they think government has a duty to clean it up. The problem is, government never does things correctly, so we are left with a bigger mess.

Answer 9

f the greatest flaws in democracy is that the majority of the electorate have no understanding what so ever of what they are voting about. In my experience young people who have been radicalised are the worst of the lot. You've only got to look at UAF and the SWP to see how dangerous a small amount of knowledge is.

Answer 10

The decline in political interest is intentional.



They want people to be disinterested in politics so they can further their goal of eradicating Britain and signing it fully over to the EU and the unelected dictators there.