There are many causes why a people politically ignorant cannot be roused to action. Perfect political ignorance must be accompanied by indifference to the general interests of society, and thus one of the most powerful motives which can act on the human mind is totally destroyed.
Interpretation
Political ignorance leads to apathy, preventing people from engaging in societal issues.
In this quote, Benjamin Robbins Curtis highlights how a lack of political awareness not only breeds ignorance but also fosters indifference towards the welfare of society. When individuals are politically uninformed, they are less likely to be motivated to act in the interest of the community, which can undermine democracy and civic engagement.
In practice
In a discussion about civic duty, one might say, 'As Benjamin Robbins Curtis noted, ignorance leads to indifference.'
No government can be strong and flourishing while the national character is weak and degraded. A government must flourish and decay with its subjects; and, when a prince makes a law or performs an action which has a tendency to injure the character or prosperity of the nation, he injures himself.
Whatever may be the merits of a religious system, its effects upon the mass of mankind must depend in an important degree upon its teachers. All instruction and all truth, except simple mathematical truth, is modified by the medium through which it is conveyed.
There's a lot of fuss on the Left about election irregularities, like, you know, the voting machines were tampered with, they didn't count the votes right, and so on. That's all accurate and of some importance, but of far more importance is the fact that elections just don't take place, not in any meaningful sense of the term 'election.'
We are not making this demand for the sake of a principle, but in the interests of the proletarian class.
Politics is the art of the possible, the attainable — the art of the next best
Political leaders still think things can be done through force, but that cannot solve terrorism. Backwardness is the breeding ground of terror, and that is what we have to fight.
So many idealistic political movements for a better world have ended in mass-murdering dictatorships. Giving leaders enough power to create 'social justice' is giving them enough power to destroy all justice, all freedom, and all human dignity.
Our American friends offer us money, arms, and advice. We take the money, we take the arms, and we decline the advice.
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