This blog is meant as a place for me to try to get a better grip on my own understanding of various things by trying to write them down in a reasonably organized, coherent way. Topics will likely include current events, modern history, a dilettante's take on markets, and maybe, occasionally some car stuff.
One question I've increasingly asked myself is why should one care? Not about this blog or my opinion on anything, but about politics in general, about the big picture issues which so many, (myself included,) have strong but inconsequential opinions? Why should someone who doesn't have, and is unlikely to have any power regarding these things, (myself included), bother caring? Plenty address this pretty simply: they don't, and that's that, but millions who more or less fit the above description do. Don't believe it? Next time your out at a bar or a big dinner or something, make a point of mentioning how great (or terrible) the AFL-CIO, Barrack Obama or Ronald Reagan is. People don't get that pissed off because they don't care, so the question stands.
I'm reminded of the joke, in which a housewife explains to her friend, that the husband makes all the big decisions and she makes the small ones: to paraphrase, he decides on how to fix the deficit, achieve peace in the middle east, what Fed policy should be, and she decides where they should live, what schools the kids should attend, how to dispose of the family budget, etc. So to some extent, it could be a pointless, somewhat narcissistic indulgence.
There's always the Civics 101 argument, that in a democracy, an informed electorate is critical so you have to pay attention. True in theory, unlikely in fact. Your vote, as an individual, doesn't really matter. In your in a gerrymandered district, many voters will likely make their determination based on news from the past few months if independent or based on party affiliation if not. Odds that your single vote tips the scales in a major election are probably about the same as winning the lottery three times in a row.
Some of this stuff (politics, current events, modern history) is inherently interesting of course. These are events and decisions that impact millions, often profoundly. But many of the issues of the day can also be pretty eye-glazing stuff, even when the implications are profound; take, for example, entitlement reform.
I think people care about recent history and current politics in largely because doing so requires an understanding of how things were, how things are, and how things should be. Explicitly or implicitly, this is the framework for any opinion on or understanding of current events. One's knowledge and previous analyses, but also values and biases come into play in setting up that framework before even considering specific question. That framework, in turn, has to do with who we are, which is ultimately why many (myself included) care.
