While I can enjoy a good debate, politics is not something I want to dominate my life. It's just not a good use of the limited time one has in one's life, compared to most of the other paths life offers.
That's why most people have never been involved in politics - they don't want it taking time in their limited lives.
People do care about political matters - they care about the debate, but living life is much more important to most people than mucking with the political framework around that life they want to be living.
Yes - politics matter. But it's not being lazy to not want to spend a large part of one's life involved with it.
And it's REALLY not motivating to see the issues being promoted by either side as alternatives.
Support for wiretaps/whistleblower punishments, overwhelming insufficient healtcare, rewarding corporations with massive bailouts then allowing unemployment to lapse, escalating wars, and loss of legal protections for the accused... and those are the "good" guys pushing for these changes. And those are just a start, without even getting into social issues.
I'd love to see more/better progressives - but why on earth should I devote a portion of my very limited lifespan to what we've been actually getting?
Why is it only the good guys are expected to compromise on every issue, then still work just as hard for what ends up being NEGATIVE progress on most of the important issues? When even those politicians with some guts to actually accomplish progressive things are shouted down half the time.
I'll be off on the sidelines, along with most people - waiting for something actually worth the sacrifice, living my own life. When it looks like there's something that actually may gain traction against the circumstances again - I'll get interested again.
I'm certainly willing to listen to any arguments to the contrary - but only if they actually address the full issues involved, instead of being the usual provocative insults for caring about different priorities, or boilerplate slogans that only advocate the same end result.
Standing alone and being crushed on your own is at least more enjoyable than joining together, giving up most of what you care for, then accomplishing nothing with all that time. I completely understand why the politicians and their cheerleaders do what they do - and I don't see it as a good use of time.