It’s not Anger Ripping America Apart — It is Apathy

Silence is a slow walk toward consent.

The Wounded Angel — Hugo Simberg | Public Domain

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All across America, decent people are asking their friends not to talk about politics. They say they want to focus on the good — places filled with light, not shadows; hope, not fear. I understand the impulse. Who wouldn’t want that?

But if fear is a contagion, so is compliance.

You can wall out the headlines. You can mute the political discussions. You can tell yourself that kindness and good intentions are enough. You can go silent.

But the fire doesn’t stop burning just because you close your eyes.

It grows.

There’s a name for this kind of silence — quietism. Quietism is a passive, withdrawn attitude toward worldly affairs. It’s the art of retreat — retreat into the self, into family, into hobbies, into career anxieties, weekend plans, and garden parties. It is the desperate insistence that one’s personal peace is worth more than the collective good. It is the belief that Democracy is a background noise you can mute at will without consequence.

In small doses, it’s understandable. Necessary, even. But when whole communities…