"I don't like politics"

I keep hearing the phrase in the title from a lot of people. The phrase is usually followed by an explanation that all politicians, or some prominent ones, are corrupt. The people who say this are well-meaning, but they don't realize how dangerous their stance is.

In the context of countries with an electoral system, a citizenry full of people who "don't like politics" is precisely what the most corrupt and craven politicians want. They want an electorate where no one but their followers will bother to go vote. Or vote, but without any real information.

Let me provide an example that will show how this is already working in most countries with an electoral system. In those countries, people with the smallest incomes either do not vote or often vote for whom they are bribed to vote (this is real; it's been captured on film). 

The result is that there are few countries whose governments, run by elected officials, are serious about tackling poverty. So, don't care, don't bother to learn how your government works. That's a recipe to guarantee that government will worsen.

Now granted, roughly from 1945 to 1968, when a majority of the people in the world had experienced dislocation and near-poverty as a result of the Great Depression, the Second World War, or some remaining form of colonialism, most governments responded to majority needs. 

In western Europe, Canada and Australia, governments approved national health systems, vast income supplements, housing assistance and unemployment compensation  — this was the famous "Welfare State." Even doggedly capitalist USA, got old age social security and unemployment insurance.

Have you noticed that ever since waves of conservative governments have trimmed the sails of these general welfare programs? Reagan, Thatcher and their successors: today Johnson in the UK, Bolsonaro in Brazil, Modi in India and the very strange coalition in power in Spain. 

Their opposite numbers are weak and barely have enough support to stop them. Biden won as "anybody but Trump" but not for the reasonable agenda he has always espoused.

What happened? The children of the generation that lived through the Depression and war took the gains their parents got for granted. Even when youth was most "radicalized" (in the 1960s, 70s, 90s and 2000s) the youth vote continued to be very low given the numbers.

Politicians serving their own interests, or those of the people who finance campaigns, took notice and began to trim public benefits so they could cut taxes on the wealthiest. We are drifting toward plutocracy or societies governed by the very rich for the very rich.

So, go ahead, don't care. By the time you realize what is happening to electoral democracy, imperfect though it may be, it will be too late.