Apathy

One of the most pernicious forms of societal detriment by far, is Social Apathy. The fact that this cultural disease is so wide spread and multifaceted, lends impetus to its destructive capacity. Apathy comes in many forms, and it boasts a multitude of causes and effects. Most people manifest an apathetic outlook on the world by not voting, and otherwise refusing to get involved in their social environment. We will begin by considering three basic categories of Apathy that directly impact human society, spiritual, political and behavioral.

(Basic) Categorization Of Apathy

From a political standpoint, especially as it relates to Britain and the U.S., there is one glaring fact that stands out from all others. The strength of any representative democracy lyes in the erudition and activism of its people. When the people cease to inform themselves concerning the functioning of their government, and when they no longer feel it necessary to become personally involved, the liberties and other advantages of living in a democratic nation will slowly but inexorably erode away. The consequences of abusing freedom is its ultimate loss. In his book Culture Of Surveillance, Staples describes how government can gradually metamorphose into a technological monster that is decidedly and disturbingly similar to the Orwellian Big-Brother.

Apathy possesses some markedly personal and even spiritual nuances. According to Miller (March 1995), "the phrase "who cares", is now a wide spread excuse not to care". Miller feels that for most people, Caring, thinking, learning and growing, take too much effort. It is much easier for people to adopt a passive role and allow themselves to be led. Some especially adventurous souls will develop an awareness of their leader's doctrines and or beliefs, and out of this awareness comes the formation of political, and or spiritual groups. Miller believes that people are far too involved in bolstering the ideologies of others, rather than developing ideologies of their own.

For the purpose of considering Apathy from a behavioral standpoint, we again refer to Miller, who suggests that it is natural for people to have a high degree of self interest, and yet it is not at all natural for one to be apathetic. Social Apathy, therefore must have some root cause or set of causes. In his treatise of Apathy as a social illness, Miller describes violent crime as an amplified type of Apathy. The extreme form of Apathy which leads to violence stems from a condition of total burnout, where the perpetrator no longer cares about his, or anyone else's future. Moreover, the consequences of their violent acts have ceased to be relevant. Miller views the progression from one's simply not caring to actual outbursts of violence, in terms of a gradual series of circumstances and or events. Ultimately, it is very difficult for many to develop a positive awareness of the world around them.

Political Apathy: Micro Level/ As concerns Individuals

Miller says that most people can't even identify the Speaker of the House of Representatives. For that matter, the majority of Americans don't even know the name of their representative in Congress. The fact that one reads the opinion column in their local newspaper, puts them among the politically aware. This says nothing about someone's political awareness; rather, it speaks to the unawareness of others.

It is interesting to note that we live in the information age, and yet according to Bristow (June 2000), citizens in both the U.S. and Great Britain who are under the age of thirty, are much more poorly informed concerning their political milieu than their parents and especially their grandparents. In her article for the British political activist publication called Spiked Politics, Bristow observes that those few voters under the age of thirty vote along party lines, and not for the individual candidates based upon their merits. Bristow observes that almost everyone has opinions concerning what is wrong with the world, but they seem to come up short when it comes to solutions, especially solutions directly involving themselves.

Anthony Giddens observed that British politics has gone beyond "left verses right", and the term no longer has the same meaning as it once did. Just a few generations ago, there existed a set of very clearly defined political ideological groups ascribed to by highly informed and passionate citizens. Back then, political participation was a part of the fabric of every-day life. There never seemed to be any question concerning the importance of political participation. According to

Bristow, personal involvement in one's government used to be a fact of life that was taken for granted. Now-a-days, one's political stand is rather akin to their lifestyle, carrying no more weight than the style of clothes one wears and the music they listen to.

According to Bertrand Russell, in his "Proposed Roads to Freedom", people are apathetic and content to live for the moment, never giving thought to anything outside their current experience, "like"the beasts of the field". Most people are lulled into proverbial ruts consisting of day-to-day existence, because forethought and subsequent action seems to require too much effort. Russell sights ambition as being the chief motivator for most individuals who choose to climb out of their ruts and strive for a higher level of existence. This ambition of course, is self serving, so the ambitious one almost invariably ends up occupying a role which puts him above others in one way or another. Russell feels that those achievement oriented persons motivated by altruistic ambition are very rare indeed. These eleemosynary individuals strive, first in thought, and then through action, to improve the condition of their fellow humans. However, very few of these reform minded figures have achieved any appreciable measure of success down through history. This fact is largely owing to the apathy induced by fear and ignorance on the part of those who stood to benefit the most from positive change/ reform.

Political Apathy: Macro Level/ As Concerns A System

Russell offers an interesting comparison between Marxist Socialism, the guild system of the British and the market and union based anarchy of the French called Syndicalism. He feels that Marxist institutions would give too much power to the state, whereas French Syndicalism would eventually find its self needing to construct some form of central government in order to meet the needs and demands of its unions. Russell concludes that the guild system would be by far, the most advantageous type of institution to bring about significant and long-lived reform. The guild system would be the most practicable, because it is able to address the Syndicalist fear of state authority, and the claims of Marxist Socialism through the creation of what Russell calls Federalism.

Russell offers an intriguing analysis of the mentality of many reformers and their consequences. One particularly deleterious inhibiting factor encountered by many would-be reformers, is the misunderstanding of the people. Although true reformers seem to be selfless and possessed of the most benevolent of intentions, most of them cling so tenaciously to their ideals, that they cause those ideals to disintegrate into dogma. They seek to denigrate other thinkers who offer differing viewpoints, regardless of whether those alternative viewpoints are in direct opposition or not. This of course causes many reform minded thinkers to seem like self- aggrandizing fanatics. Many potentially successful reform doctrines have subsequently sunk into ignominy.

The Economics of Apathy

One can consider a host of social problems, and according to Foldvary (May 1998), each and every problem considered, shares the same progenitor, Apathy. From an economic and political standpoint, the scenario is almost invariably the same. The bulk of the benefits are distributed among a very small minority, and the cost is spread throughout the population. The incentives of the greedy and powerful are allowed to dominate those of the masses.

Ultimately, the cost of organizing and lobbying for the average voter is much greater than any benefits that can be accrued, so any such endeavors are rendered impractical. Solmitz observes that the monumental expenses of campaigning are defrayed by large corporations who have their own interests in how their pocket politician will vote. The candidate is therefore constrained to serve the interest of their financial backers and not necessarily those of the people in their districts. However, both Foldvary and Bristow assert that this decisive disadvantage can be overcome if enough people become aroused and dedicated to a cause. If the people are willing to take a stand, defray costs among a large number of individuals, insist upon having their voice heard and otherwise fight for change, a representative democracy will begin to thrive and function as a government for the people and not just for the wealthy and powerful. Marx and other conflict theorists spoke of alienation and disenfranchisement, but it appears they never considered such conditions as being brought on by those who suffer from them.

Historical Application

The first two decades of the twentieth century were chiefly characterized by a spirit of agitation and desire for reform in the first decade, which was replaced by patriotism and progressive fervor brought on by the first world war during the second decade. Social activism reached an almost feverish pitch just after the war. These two rather lively decades were followed by the twenties which was regarded by many as a period of decadence and moral upheaval. The depression in the thirties and the second world war in the Forties, left Americans ready for prosperity, fun and peace.

The decade of the fifties is nostalgically portrayed as the period of "ultimate Americana". There is a plethora of banal and somewhat overdone images portraying a time of affluence, when almost everyone could live the American dream of owning their own home and otherwise live the good life. Many television shows hearken back to a sweet but fictitious time when there was no such thing as crime, poverty or any other social ills. The decade of the fifties is seen by many as the pinnacle of America's economic and cultural development.

However, according to Horowitz, the fifties was a time of extreme conformity, materiality and elitism. Everyone had to drive the right car, wear the right clothes and belong to the right groups. Institutionalized racism was very much a factor of American society, as was extreme and widespread poverty. American politics was made highly stagnate by the Red Scare brought about by the machinations of Joseph McCarthy. If ever there was a time of widespread and extreme Apathy, it was the fifties.

In his article, Horowitz puts forth the notion that such aspects of American society such as governmental and corporate bureaucratization, the wide spread availability of credit cards and the introduction of television, all did their part in contributing to social apathy and a hardening of class boundaries. People became driven to seek personal fulfillment and social advancement through the acquisition of material possessions and status symbols. Horowitz sees the decade of the fifties as being the genesis of the rampant materialism, extreme lack of political activism and social indifference that permeates our culture today.

Apathy: A Social Condition Subject To Change

In his book Taking Back America, Harris dwells at length on the sense of helplessness that most American citizens experience. Because of this feeling of helplessness and impotence, people have become cynical and fatalistic, thinking that nothing they do will have any significant or positive impact upon the world around them. However, as Harris notes, the British departure from India, and the Civil Rights movement in the U.S., were initiatives that most certainly did not start from the top. Rather, they started at the bottom, and the initiative was taken by the masses. In other words, in Social Psychological terms, the people went from making external attributions, to forming internal motivations.

Both in India and in America, the people realized that it was the system and not themselves who were at fault. This realization formed the internal motivation to address the external attributes which had such a negative influence upon their lives. In both instances, reform did not come through governmental proclamation. Rather, it came about, because the people were willing to lead the government. According to Harris, "we sent our politicians to Washington, and then we abandoned them there". Perhaps it is time for Americans to once more become involved in their government and strive to make a difference.

However, in order to do this, says Harris, it will require us to "strip off our armor of cynicism, indifference, hopelessness, denial and destain for government". What it amounts to is this. People have two basic paths of choice. On one hand, they can take the path of least resistance by making external attributions, which allow them to blame their government to their heart's content. However, by choosing to look within themselves and form those all important internal attributions which will mandate taking the initiative and becoming proactive, people will find themselves on the path to reclaiming their government. Granted, Apathy is a personality trait, but any personality trait can be changed or eliminated.

The Culpability Of the People

Social problems such as crime, poverty, unemployment and war have multiple causes, and for each cause that we discover for any of these problems and many more, there will always be the follow-up question of "why?". For instance, why is there poverty in the richest nation on earth? We might start to answer this question by observing that either jobs are scarce, or they don't pay adequate wages. One might then ask why it is that jobs are scarce, and why do they not pay enough to allow wage earners to enjoy a decent standard of living. One might then speculate that job scarcity is caused by massive and widespread layoffs, which are caused by miss management on the part of powerful individuals or groups who have vested interests and who are receiving the lion's share of remuneration. High taxes and limited benefits from said taxes is another contributing factor to the problem under consideration. One might then enquire as to the reason behind a minuscule minority's ability to garner the bulk of wages paid out by any given company. One might also wonder why taxes are so high, and yet afford such limited benefit. In order to answer such questions as these, one must turn to special interest groups and their lobbying power over legislation and other government functions. One might ask how it is that these powerful lobbies have so much influence in Washington. One can then discuss the power of money and influence. However, after they have delved deeply enough to expose the bear roots of the problem, they will find the mother of all the other causes.

The one single causal factor which provides the genesis for all the rest, is Voter Apathy. The particular structure of governance that is in place at the moment, along with its consequences, is the product of the vote/ the voice of the people. The American people either didn't take the time to educate themselves about their candidate of choice, or they didn't even bother to vote in the first place. America is governed by a representative democracy, which is a form of government that depends upon knowledgeable participation on the part of its people. When the people drop the ball, so to speak, the government begins to falter, and ultimately fail. The government then, fails the people, because the people failed the government. However, is it really fare to blame we the people? Apathy after all, is a learned condition, so how did we the people learn to be apathetic?

The Culpability of the System

Solmitz (November 2000), views the term Apathy as being synonymous with Passivity, Submissiveness and Numbness, and he feels that (it), is becoming an epidemic which is proving potentially fatal to us socially, economically, environmentally and politically. Symptoms of this widespread malady include lack of awareness, interest, social responsibility and proactiveness, which especially includes voting. Solmitz and Bristow feel that one of the primary causes of these symptoms is the Media, the Entertainment industry in particular. The British and American populations, especially under the age of thirty, are constantly bombarded by numerous forms of sensationalism. Due to all of this razzle dazzle and excitement, people have developed short attention spans. If anyone wishes to use the media as a form of communication, they must grab the viewer's attention with a proverbial fireworks display, impart the message and then conclude their presentation quickly, so as not to lose the focus of the audience. One of the most regrettable results of modern sensationalism, is the fact that politicians must wow their constituents, in much the same manner as would actors, talk-show hosts and advertisers. The all too predictable consequence of this state of affairs, is that politicians aren't taken seriously, no more so in fact, than are performers and marketers.

Candidates for office are trained by their campaign experts in the art of performance just like any other thespian. The would-be office holders are schooled in the art of presenting themselves in a compelling manner in front of the cameras. They are taught how to deliver titillating tidbits of information in such a way as to convince their audience of their, the candidate's, expertise and authority. The viewers seem to base their choices in the polling booth on the slogans, cliches and bloopers exhibited by the candidates.

Since politicians have limited air-time/ spots, they must present large amounts of information within a very short time frame. The networks and campaign experts know full well, that the people have neither the inclination nor the ability to focus their thoughts and attention on deep and weighty issues. Solmitz observes that the vast majority of the American population was intimately acquainted with the in depth issues addressed by Lincoln and Douglas in their eighteen fifty-eight presidential debate concerning slavery. In comparison, it is hard to imagine the average modern American as being capable of obtaining such a level of political knowledge and forming any deep seated opinions on any given political issue today.

Mental/ Emotional Apathy

We have considered Apathy as a condition that has been induced by the media. This condition however, is comprised of other components than just media and social influence; it is also a personality trait. Apathy is directly linked to self esteem, as is Locus of Control. Self esteem and the corresponding Locus of control, are personality traits that are learned. They are products of nurture and not nature; they then are environmental traits. Baumeister, Heatherton & Tice (1993) report that, statistically, individuals with high self esteem are more unlikely to suffer from mental disorders, they enjoy good physical health, They aren't known for procrastination, success is attributed internally, and they tend to attribute failure to external factors. Those with high self esteem tend to set and achieve higher goals. They may respond vehemently to ego threat. Colvin (January 1999) theorizes that, persons with high levels of self esteem are confident of and feel positively about who and what they are; they have a firm sense of identity. Persons with a high level of self esteem and locus of control, are much less likely to become apathetic, preferring instead to take a proactive role in their society.

Locus of control refers to one's own perception of the level of control which they have over events in their lives. Marx might say that extreme alienation and a lopsided stratification would cause people to develop low locuses of control, and subsequently low self esteem as well. Marx might agree that these two particular personality traits seem to be integral nuances of alienation. That being the case, it would logically follow that oppressed people would tend to be more apathetic. Durkheim would refer to this condition as fatalism, since the oppressed are over-regulated and kept from pursuing a more lucrative and rewarding lifestyle. Locus of Control exists in two forms, external and internal.

One with an external locus of control will tend to attribute the cause of events as being out side his/ her sphere of influence, where as someone with an internal locus of control will feel that he/ she either caused the event, or had something to do with its occurrence. However, one with a high level of self esteem will be more likely to attribute failure to external factors or at least factors within their own personal sphere of control. Individuals who make internal generalizations may tend to be more inclined toward apathy. One who makes external generalizations on the other hand, will be more disposed toward action, and be eager to set about fixing a faulty system. It is important to note here that generalizations, whether they are external or internal, can be either negative or positive in nature, depending upon the individual and or the situation.

Induced Apathy; Human Programming

We've looked at how such variables as social trends, prevailing attitudes and certain circumstances can engender a state of apathy in either the individual, or a population. However, one of the worst forms of Apathy by far, is the programmed variety. John, B. Watson once said that it wasn't the business of a company to ask what the consumer wants. Rather, it is the business of the company to tell the consumer what they want or need. It is then a company's business to convince the consumer to buy that particular product. In the mid nineteen-twenties, with that aim in mind, marketers set out to develop mass advertising into a fine science or art. Through the use of this ultra technical science, the public at large is induced to buy billions of dollars worth of products yearly that they don't even need. The one key component at the very core of Media based advertising, is programming AKA brain washing. The key component of human programming is the skillful use of the power of suggestion. During nearly eight decades, human programming or brain washing techniques have been gradually honed so finely that in many instances, the public has been reduced to little more than a vast collection of marionettes.

Zimbardo (1969), outlines several tried and true methodologies which are used to alter group dynamics, such that the people wax too apathetic to question authority and hence become tractable and adhere to the status quo. These methodologies include the mandate phenomenon, The iron law of oligarchy, compliance verses internalization, and the "foot- in-the-door" effect. All of these techniques are employed to varying degrees by the American government, marketers, religious leaders and any number of would-be authority figures in order to maintain control over a group.

The mandate phenomena occurs when ever someone enjoys overwhelming group support, and they seek to gain even more power and influence. These leaders rely upon the apathy of the people which keeps them compliant. Thanks to a state of national Apathy, Adolph Hitler was elected as the head of his party during the nineteen thirties, and he went on to achieve near god like status as Germany's fuhrer. The apathy of the German people was fear based. So far as group dynamics are concerned, when once a group gives overwhelming support to a leader, they could very well find them selves losing a lot of influence in the group.

Any dictator in the third world follows the "iron law of Oligarchy", when they take steps to cement their power and make their position even firmer. They are then driven to acquire even greater power, as they become absolutist rulers. They may not have been given absolute group support, but the group members nonetheless, because of Apathy, lose power to the dictator. Whether or not they gave up their power, or it was taken by force isn't really all that relevant. It is apathy which keeps them under the thumb of the authority figure.

Compliance has two basic forms in this particular context. Either the subject is complying because of compulsion, in which case they will tend to disobey in the absence of authority, or they are compliant because they identify with the authority figure, in which case they will remain obedient. A truly compliant individual actually idolizes the authority figure, and if taken to extremes, internalization can take place. Internalization occurs when the subject has undergone radicle change, and has completely adopted the ideals, beliefs, attitudes etc of the leader. The followers of Jim Jones provide a perfect example of this particular group dynamic. In the case of cults, the compliance to authority is due to Apathy, which can be either fear and compulsion based, or it can be Spiritually based. The main effect upon the dynamics of a group, is the loss of personal sovereignty, and the absolute capitulation to authority.

The "foot in the door" routine is nothing more than gaining influence over a target group in successive steps. One starts out with small requests, that lead to not so small requests and ultimately become strict demands. Or, one might simply have a single goal in mind, such as trying to sell something. The salesman will begin making small innocuous suggestions designed to gradually persuade the target person to make the purchase. If once the salesman gets the target to listen, they have their foot in the door. So far as group dynamics are concerned, many cults are expanded by the use of this tactic. It is designed to recruit and gradually cause compliant behavior.

Spiritual Apathy

We have considered Apathy from a political, social and cognitive standpoint, which chiefly involves doing little or nothing/taking a passive role in life. More to the point, we have addressed the issue of how Apathy is induced by the media and other aspects of our society, and we have dealt with it as a personality trait. However, when one becomes aware of the shear malleability of the average person, and when one stops to consider just what people are capable of doing, given the right circumstances, we must look more deeply into the issue. It is more than a media induced and or socially learned trait. Stanley Milgram's 1965 Obedience experiments, have shed disturbing light upon another and much darker form of Apathy, that I personally call Spiritual Apathy.

Milgram's experiments were designed to assess basic human reaction toward authority. He was curious as to the extent to which individuals were willing to obey authority figures. His findings reveal that humans are frighteningly susceptible to the demands of authority, often to the exclusion of every moral value they have ever been taught. Because of this seeming moral lassitude, one might consider this particular type of Apathy to be spiritual in nature.

One can't help but wonder what it is, that lurks at the root of this spiritual ennui and Apathy. Moreover, what do Milgram's findings tell us about ourselves? Milgram and his colleagues discovered a set of significant factors that determine human obedience. His work has shed an abundance of light upon the Nazi atrocities under Hitler, and their causes.

We as social creatures are motivated to conform more strongly than we are motivated by our own personal morals and inclinations. We are all too willing to follow the commands of established authority, regardless of what we are told to do. Had Milgram's experiments involved roll playing, the participants would have found it easier to fall back upon their own morals and values, and not harm the "learner" with electrical shocks. An obvious role playing situation would have possessed a strong sense of surrealism, which would have compromised the stature or the magnitude of the authority figure. The subjects were convinced that they were in a real and not feigned situation. To them, it was not a game; they saw themselves as following orders to actually cause harm to a fellow human. The experimental subjects were frighteningly similar to Nazi soldiers.

Milgram found that the demands of authority consistently won out over one's personal conscience. Most of his subjects were apathetic, because they didn't even make the effort to question authority during an extreme situation. From a Durkheimian standpoint, both Milgram's subjects and Hitler's followers would be experiencing an unhealthy level of social integration. The Apathy would come into play as individuals began to identify too strongly with the group and especially the authority figure. Due to their excessive identification with the group and their subsequent willingness to obey authority, these individuals could be seen as overly regulated as well.

According to Baumeister et al, one's self serving bias would lead them to deny their willingness to harm others, and yet they would suspect others of being of a more conforming nature than they themselves; their self estimates belied the raw reality. The personal experiences of the subjects wouldn't have been nearly so profound as they turned out to be, had they been knowingly playing roll games.

Many defining characteristics between the atrocities in World War II and Milgram's findings were highly consistent. Societal demands, the orders of authority figures and outright fear of legal reprisals and of being different, cause one to act very much outside the confines of conscience. The human by nature is a follower, regardless of the nature of those whom they follow. Ultimately, according to Milgram's findings, anyone in any given society, can easily be induced to commit atrocities, as is evident from what happened in World War II Germany, and in nineteen thirties Russia. Psychoanalyses gives us a clear prototype of the basic mechanism that is employed as a means of inducing a state of Spiritual Apathy.

Psychoanalytic Overview

In his book Civilization and its Discontents, Sigmund Freud (1930), discusses the difference between internal and external authority. Freud coined the terms Ego, Super-ego and Id as a means of describing the innermost workings of the human personality. The super-ego is one's conscience or their internal authority, and the environment provides external sources of authority. In order for one to commit atrocities or otherwise deny their conscience, external influences must totally over-ride/ cancel out one's internal and deeply rooted center of personal authority and locus of control.

One of the key objectives of Psychoanalysis is to explore our more primitive instincts, including our capacity for brutality, selfishness and our need for different forms of gratification. We learn to control this atavistic aspect of our being, our Id, by years of social development and healthy maturation. Likewise, civilization is attained by the renouncing and or redirecting of these primitive drives. However, Milgram's work reveals that our veneer of self mastery and civilization is all too thin.

Psychological Reactance: A Redeeming Factor

In a follow-up experiment in 1974, Milgram discovered that "Psychological reactance" is a mechanism which is triggered when one's personal freedom is threatened. A person will rebel when there is a perceived threat to their sense of personal freedom. If one is able to shift responsibility to others, they will tend to be more obedient, but if they are called upon to be accountable for their actions, a good deal more thought is given to the matter. Anonymity is another reinforcer of obedience, and without it, one might not be so willing to comply, if they and their deeds are exposed to the scrutiny of others.

Ultimately, authority figures have a shocking amount of power over us, and Milgram's subjects were more like us, than perhaps we care to admit. They were certainly not evil in the least. A serious fundamental attribution error is committed when we see the nazis or Milgram's subjects as evil or fundamentally different from our selves. Whether it be of a political, mental, emotional, behavioral or spiritual nature, Apathy is an induced trait; it is a product of one's environment. The nazis didn't just start committing mass genocide; rather, events escalated to the point where things just began to happen.

Conclusion

We have examined nearly every conceivable form of Apathy, along with its results and its causes. It's time to deal with the question of the ultimate cause and perhaps the one thing that has to happen before we can even begin to formulate an antidote. In his book, Culture of Surveillance, Staples dwelled at length upon the ever increasing authoritative stance modern technologically based governments are taking. As the populous settles into their imposed role of carefully monitored and strictly controlled automatons, they will gradually lose their sense of individuality. Le Bon (1895) in his treatise on crowd or herd mentality, first coined the term "Deindividuation". As an individual finds them self caught up in the midst of a group, whether they choose to be a part of that group or not, they eventually end up incontinently connecting with or becoming a part of the group mind-set. They find them self doing things they would never dream of doing on their own. The

type of Apathy which characterizes a group mind-meld is by far one of the most difficult forms of Apathy to avoid or resist. Imparting social norms, morality, values and other necessities that permit one to become an effectual part of human civilization, used to be the primary responsibility of the parents. Even that basic aspect of human freedom is being usurped by Big Brother.

The characters in George Orwell's Nineteen-Eighty-Four, were apathetic to the point of near catatonia. In truth, we as citizens of a culture of surveillance aren't all that different from Orwell's people. Moreover, the disparity between us and them is growing ever smaller and smaller with each passing year. Sam Harris writes about taking back America, but I feel that we have much more than just a country to retrieve from an increasingly authoritative and intrusive oligarchy. Before we can even think of "taking back America", we need to set about taking back our basic freedoms and our personal identities as autonomous individuals. That exhilarating and invigorating sense of personal sovereignty coupled with the knowledge that we once more live in a nation that is ruled by We The People, will serve to dispel the lethargy that makes us so apathetic.

When once we have rediscovered our own personal freedom and power, we will also discover that oh so critical sense of responsibility that comes with having personal and political dominion in a free country. The American people need to once more accept accountability for their personal lives and for the welfare of their nation. It has become all too easy for us to just sit back and let Big Brother take care of everything; in fact, we have come to expect it. We must rekindle the desire and motivation to resume our rightful share of the burden that comes with freedom and individuality. It is up to We The People to take care of ourselves and our own. Instead we have allowed Big Brother to assume that responsibility, and he has gone from being our protector and provider, to being our keeper. We need neither a protector nor a keeper. We need to become once more capable of taking care of and thinking for ourselves. When once we have regained our sense of personal accountability, the problem of Apathy will take care of its self.

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