It's not complicated for me. I try to do what I can (sometimes I don't). -nandu
I know that you do not feel that it is complicated for you, but I wonder how that informs your political views, which are how we as a society determine the nature of governance. Not all of the following questions are meant for you personally, nandu, they are wonderings about geopolitics.
If you can vote, how much power are you willing to give up so that parts of a society perform functions you do not have the time, or will, to do yourself? Can private industry be trusted to perform these functions?
I'm not sure how "off topic" this direction is in this thread, but in my mind all of these subjects that are largely social are interrelated in ways that allows for some room to go a bit off of the main line of discussion. Science, technology and politics are in a dance. If economic conditions drive our needs to a more basic level (eg. food, water, shelter), how will this affect funding for science and the technological advances that help to produce clean water, more nutritious food and efficient shelter? Will we cycle backwards if the forces of austerity gain control of how societies function?
The political discourse is caught up in closed spheres of philosophical thinking. Much of the conversation is about ideological issues rather than practical ones. This, in my view, keeps society caught up in an endless fight over what amounts to be a big distraction and keeps us thinking in purely transactional economic terms. The powerful elite are defined as greedy unethical puppet masters operating in the shadows and the poor are defined as lazy leeches who want nothing more than everything to be handed to them. The folks in the "middle" are elevated to a heroic social status, which keeps the poles tugging them toward one interest or the other.
What I see in almost all cases across the globe is the power of the narrative to define how we understand reality and how that understanding is implemented sociopolitically. The power of this narrative is such that it is largely invisible, like gravity, and requires effort to find and understand it. We are being pulled along by economic chains that are fastened to our noses and our brains have been trained to see nothing wrong with this.
"He was a dreamer, a thinker, a speculative philosopher... or, as his wife would have it, an idiot." -Douglas Adams