For:
To not care about politics at all basically means that you have to not care about the destruction of the environment, the cost of living, and the eroding rights of women, queer and racialised people. Basically it’d be like selecting for people who are both out of touch and don’t go outside. When the rights of workers and minority groups are under attack, it is an immense privilege to be able to be “uninterested in politics”.
And do they really not care about politics? Because often the supposedly enlightened centrists of the world are also the ones who seem to be very much against other people caring about politics. Political apathy is just a political position in favour of the status quo – a status quo that is driven by exploitation and driving towards the climate apocalypse.
Let’s face it, you don’t want to go on a date with someone whose personality amounts to “I have no strong feelings one way or the other”. If they can’t even care about their own wages, living conditions and rights, then how the heck are you supposed to believe that they’ll care about you? The irony-stricken outlook is so 2010s, we need to move on. When the alternative is someone who is passionate, energetic and organised, someone who you could have a post-protest pint with and someone who has your back, why would you choose someone who doesn’t care about anything at all.
This isn’t to say that everyone has to burn themselves out relentlessly watching Parliament and keeping up to date with all of the latest atrocities. It just means that, frankly, in order to be an interesting person you should probably care about at least something and hopefully care enough to do something about it.
Against:
Some of the most delightful people I’ve met take no interest in politics, because the reality is plain and simple: not everything has to be political. And there’s a big difference between being aware of politics and taking an interest. It’s virtually impossible to avoid politics in a sphere of violence and changing legislation, but to think that it's a red flag for someone to not take an active interest says a lot more about your own political stance.
You’d think in such an interconnected global society, we’d be a bit more open to others' beliefs and opinions, but these echo chambers we’re placed in algorithmically by elitist billionaires only cause more divide. Our reality is shaped by the media we consume (in one way or another) and when you step back, who's to say the way you see and understand politics is the correct way?
It's human nature to take another's conflicting opinions as a personal attack, and likewise just because someone doesn’t have a particular opinion doesn’t mean they love climate change and hate women's rights. That’s absurd.
It’s good to stay grounded, and being around someone who isn’t interested in politics is a great opportunity for a reality check, because politics aren’t black and white. Sometimes it’s impossible to develop a strong opinion, and writing someone off because of the fact is petty, and shallow. It’s the people who are so stubborn in their political stances that drive others to take no stance because of the social consequences.