We think mighty highly of ourselves don't we.
If everyone had the same interest in politics as those on atlas the country would be even more dysfunctional and divided than it already is. The more invested people become in something the more irrational and unwilling to compromise they become.
There might be something to that considering that even though we saw record turnout in the last election and people are apparently getting more interested in politics than ever, that clearly isn't helping things.
However, I would separate "interested" from "informed" or "understanding." The problem we have lies in the fact that a hell of a lot of people THINK they know a lot about politics when really they know nothing about it, or are completely misinformed about it. Or just treat it as a spectator sport where they passionately root for their team (and now, even violently riot like European soccer fans when their team loses) but don't really understand the rules of the game or even what the goal is necessarily.
Say what you will about Atlas, but most people here (even many who I strongly disagree with on many things) are generally more
informed about politics and have a deeper
understanding of it than about 99% of the population. And I don't think it's a coincidence that it's mostly liberal/Democratic as a result... Even most of the Republicans here (with some notable exceptions) are more moderate and reasonable than the average Republican today. I think if all Americans were just as informed about politics and understood it just as well as most Atlas users, regardless of their level of interest in it or their ideological persuasion, politics probably would be a bit more sane. Which really says far more about the sad state of our politics and the American people than anything positive about Atlas.
