America's Cult of Ignorance (1980) [pdf]
I love Asimov, and he&#x27;s right that we should educate our population better, but why would anyone pay attention to the papers when it seems completely remote and irrelevant to people&#x27;s lives? People pay close attention to stuff that they feels significant to them and that they can control. People read the sports section because they can talk about that with their friends and are invested in the outcome. You and I read the politics section for the same reason even though without popular mobilization, we have basically the same effect on outcomes as a sports game.<p>If policies are promoted that people actually like as opposed to barely resent, they&#x27;ll start reading and talking and you won&#x27;t hear the end of it.