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Low Information Citizens

 Have you all heard the story about the two friends discussing the sad state of our country? One man says. “Don’t you think our problems are caused by ignorance and apathy?” The other thinks a minute then says, “I don’t know and I don’t care”.

I fear that the second man speaks for a great majority of American citizens. We have become a nation of uninformed people when it comes to politics and our economy.
Some are just too busy to get involved. Others just grow tired of the cacophony of talking TV heads with their shrill voices and rude manners. Some feel that it just doesn’t do any good to even care. They are panocitzens, another word I made up to describe the people who just don’t want to be bothered by it all. They say however it all pans out is fine with them.
Surveys routinely show that the general public is poorly informed about government and politics. In a survey conducted in 2010, for example, fewer than half of respondents even knew which political party held the majority of the seats in the House of Representatives.
If you ever watched Jay Leno on late night television, you were probably astonished at how many “people on the street” had no idea who our political leaders were at any given time. They couldn’t identify their pictures when asked.
Political pundits refer to such people as “low-information voters”. Political scientist Samuel Popkin says their views are more moderate sometimes than high-information voters, but they are less likely to vote, and they look at candidates they find personally appealing.
They are also identified as swing voters and tend to vote split ticket, according to other researchers who believe they lack a “coherent ideology”.
It is hard for most young people to become interested. As a young wife and mother, I did my civic duty but unfortunately sometimes I voted in alphabetical order just because I didn’t know anything about the issues or the candidates.
Then in the early 70’s, in the controversy over the Equal Rights Amendment, I began to do my research, attended hearings at the State Capitol, and did my share of lobbying our state legislators.
That led to a full scale political involvement and I worked in various campaigns for the next several years, for President Ronald Reagan, Governor John Ashcroft, State Representative Paul Busiek, State Senator David Doctorian and several others.
I was in full blown political mode until the late 80’s when my perspective in life changed and I was ordained to the pastoral and preaching ministry. I’m not making any judgments on any one else but I could not in good conscience mix politics with the pulpit because you cannot minister to people with whom you have an adversarial position on important matters, and for the next 25 years I literally dropped out of the political scene.
And since pastoral ministry takes a full commitment of one’s time and energy, I became one of the uninformed. Not apathetic, because I still cared very deeply, but I just didn’t have the passion for the details of politics any more. I addressed moral issues in my sermons and teaching but never in the context of political candidates or parties.
Now that I am no longer preaching or teaching anywhere regularly, I am finding my political voice again and enjoy it as much as I ever did. I am one of the passionate ones, and since my mobility issues keep me pretty much house-bound, I have the time to listen and research and write.
But I understand not everyone can do that. I get it - I really do. But there is no glory and should be no pride in being so uninformed or misinformed.
There are cable news programs airing around the clock so almost everyone can fit fifteen or twenty minutes into their schedule. You don’t have to watch the ones I like, I am not pushing partisan involvement of any kind this week.
If you are hooked on the Internet you can find political resources anywhere you look. I read at least three newspapers daily, but I understand many people can’t.
And maybe it’s the “preacher” in me coming out, but I sincerely believe that we are living in very dangerous times as far as our safety as individual Americans and our security as a nation is concerned. We can’t afford to keep our heads in the sand. It is imperative that we learn about the issues and the candidates, regardless of which side of the political aisle you tend to gravitate toward.
But while we are focusing on enemies from without, I fear that our neglect and apathy and willful ignorance is causing us to rot from within.
Abraham Lincoln warned us that “America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.”
So I am calling on those of you who read this column to stay informed on what is happening in our country. Whether you agree with me or not on my political opinions, you have an obligation as a citizen, and to your children and grandchildren who are going to inherit your place in America to keep our
great country free, and to preserve the values embodied in the writings of our founders. If you don’t do it, who will?

© Joan Rowden Hart 2014

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