BRADENTON FL- They’re at it again. On Sunday September 15th another attempt was made on the life of former president Donald Trump. This time as opposed to a public rally in Pennsylvania it was a little closer to home at his golf course in West Palm Beach.
Now assassination attempts riddle our countries history but two in two months must be a record of some kind. This sparked the expected political controversy as one side blamed the other for the attack, but the bottom line is that this hardly affected the general public. After all, who really thinks about the wellbeing of politicians on a daily basis?
For reference, several students, when asked had one of two responses: surprise as if they had no clue of the events that happened four hours to our south, or indifference. Those who had apathy for the entire situation showed a sort of ‘not my problem’ attitude that frankly seems surprisingly common.
This apathy doesn’t seem teen-exclusive, think back to the week after the first and second assassination attempts. It made headlines for what? One, maybe two days? Federal news agencies seemed to lose interest before all the information was even out.
Let’s look at this from a slightly larger perspective. Think about the several wars happening concurrently. Think about the biweekly protests. Think about the monthly mass shootings. Think about the daily threats of violence against schools. When you think of all these incidents a sense of numb but vague sympathy is the new norm.
Some people blame video games, some blame politicians, some blame the news and some blame parenting, but who cares what the cause is? What really matters are the effects. An apathetic population that views an attempt on someone’s life, a mass shooting, a threat as nothing more than a headline or an object of morbid interest.
