At best they care about the financial parts of the news.
The "problem" with principles is that living by them sometimes means going against something we want right now. People don't want to concede anything, even for their own ideals.
People cannot concede anything anymore. We are all trapped in survival mode at this point.
Try to imagine living on $60k, then think about the fact that that’s a good salary to a majority of US workers.
The safety net in America is tattered and torn, with the current administration working to remove it.
A tech worker who graduated and entered the market in 2012 could easily retire in their 40s with millions. One who graduated in 2022 is going to struggle to stay afloat and employed, and you are surprised people care about that?
"Then they came for me, and there was no one left to speak for me"
There is still time to react, in a year from now it will be like something like McCarthy, only worse.
Congress-critters are concerned about losing reelection. (And of being primaried even in safe districts)
Yet the minification of attention spans has confused the average American voter that they're impotent, when really they're just lazy, ignorant, and unwilling to muster real-world action.
When's the last time you saw someone pepper a House district with self-made signs?
There are things every single person can do, but just doesn't. And because of this, media has been able to turn political engagement into profitable passive consumption.
Never, because it would be totally ineffective. Incumbents in Congress have about a 95% win rate[1]. For almost everywhere in the country, districts are what they are and no amount of hand drawn signs are going to change it.
1: https://ballotpedia.org/Election_results,_2024:_Incumbent_wi...
Primaries are the place to beat candidates in most districts.
[0] https://ballotpedia.org/Primary_election_competitiveness_in_...