The most I get from my close friend when I ask them about anything political (Gaza, Climate change, etc) is a “wow” or “damn”.
With my family members it’s a literal “I don’t care about politics” or “talk to [insert random distant relative name], he knows all about this stuff”
How can I make them care? How can I convince them that this stuff is important and shouldnt shrugged off so easily?
How can I convince them that their boss cutting their wages in half is an important matter that shouldn’t be justified by some abstract notion of “that’s just how it is”?
We are conditioned to believe that politics is only election campaigns and inter-party disagreements and compromise.
We are typically not taught that wages, rent, transportation, community, and so much more is also political, and more impactful on our lives than party politics. I typically start there to gently suggest to people that there’s more to politics than just election season theater.
Really big or emotionally heavy topics like Palestine or climate change are too big and too abstract for most people to even begin to engage with.