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Once known as the "silent majority," now as the nation's "low-information voters," these citizens perform their civic duty on election day. But they have no real clue for whom or what they are voting. Yes, when it comes to their occupational callings, investment, or sport picks, they may be highly rational. It's just politics and public affairs that hold no interest for them. It has long been hoped that the silent majority would one day wake and grow politically engaged. In 2010, the Tea Party Movement did just that. But it yet speaks as no more than a marginal voice. The majority remains politically asleep. And this silence understandably draws the ire of those who can see the fiscal calamities to come and care deeply about the country's future. But perhaps the community of the concerned should reconsider its position. The "know-nothings" may yet hold the key to "taking our country back."
For one thing, low-information voters are not committed liberals or progressives. They are more given to common sense than some "higher" utopian vision. And it's easy to respect the mood that drives apathy. First, there is cynicism. Americans have little use for their elected leaders and disdain for the political process, as such. Politicians plead for their votes but rarely keep their word. Any position or solemn campaign "promise" can be "recalibrated" two weeks or two campaign miles down the road. "They are all only in it for themselves." Sadly, that's all true. But apathy is also fueled by skepticism. If the cynic believes there's nothing we can do about the hopelessly corrupt system, the skeptic believes that there's no way of knowing what to do. He easily sees that the so-called "experts" all sound persuasive one at a time, but sharply disagree when pitted together. Both the cynic and the skeptic withdraw, feeling helpless to put things right.
But most of all, public apathy is the simple desire to live and be left alone. It is a penchant to care most about the things that matter most: making a living, managing expenses, handling emergencies, and raising the kids. Leisure hours are given to rooting for favorite sports teams, escaping into entertaining fictions, and spending quality time with family and friends. Americans place a premium on the sphere of privacy. They go about their business and, to evade government's interfering ways, will do business "under the table" or "off the books." They'll fudge on their tax returns and trade in the "black market." "[N]ot since the days of Al Capone," a top tax official told NY Post columnist John Crudele, "has the underground economy been so pervasive." It was a story about "zappers," cash registers rigged to make transactions "disappear" and enabling store owners to avoid paying sales taxes. America's legendary spirit of independence is alive and well and living all over. Long accustomed to doing as they please, citizens aren't likely to put up with backbreaking taxes and onerous mandates forever, much less goose-step to any would-be-tyrant's tune. As Jefferson wrote, "Mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing [or just reforming] the Forms to which they are accustomed." Most families do not yet feel the heavy yoke of government on their backs. Those that do, "vote with their feet."
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Let's Hear It for The Low Information Voter
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