I don't think it's one or the other. I think it's a little bit of both. The less people care about what's going on in politics and about defending their rights, the more oppressive and invasive the Governments become.
I would consider myself much more aware of international events than most and still believe that there is realistically no chance of defending my rights in this age of a two party system where both are equally interested in seeing the nightmares of Huxley and Orwell come to pass.
Sure there may be a lot of people who aren't educated about the dangers we face, but from my own experience the bigger problem is all those that understand but feel powerless to do anything meaningful about it.
Between women's suffrage, the civil rights act and pretty big reductions in corruption, the story of the U.S. from 1900 to the present is one of massive expansion of personal rights.
The last half of the 1800s wasn't so bad either.
(I'm not saying the U.S. does not have corruption, I'm claiming that it has mostly gone down over the time mentioned)
Yes, but all of these changes didn't just happen because people were posting displeasure on reddit. There were nationwide movements. Where's our movements now? We have some, and what happens to them?
I don't dispute for a second that we are better off today than ever before. I just wonder if we've peaked...
