Why are you not interested in elections?

 Why are you not interested in elections?

Why Some People Lack Interest in Elections: A Spiritual Perspective

From a spiritual perspective, there are several reasons why people may lack interest in elections.

Personally, when I was younger, I also had little interest in elections — or rather, I had little interest in politics itself.

For most people living ordinary lives, private time is precious, and especially for younger individuals, there is a natural tendency to spend time on activities they personally wish to pursue.

There are significant differences between Western countries and Japan when it comes to politics.

In Western countries, political discussions often take place at home from a young age, and schools also engage children in conversations about political parties and ideas.

In Japan, after the war, there arose a societal tendency to avoid instilling political ideology in children, based on the belief that the education system had contributed to the war. Teaching political thought to children was therefore seen as undesirable.

Even so, there were student movements in Japan advocating political change. However, extreme left-wing factions committed acts of violence, which created a negative atmosphere around political activism during the era of student movements.

Why People May Lack Interest in Elections: A Spiritual and Psychological Perspective

As discussed many times in this blog, the growth of knowledge comes from each individual insight, and likewise, the growth of the heart—what we call spiritual rank (reikaku)—comes from each insight of the heart.

When spiritual rank is high, one’s existential presence strengthens in a spiritual sense, and the ability to create and fulfill the hearts of others also increases. The more insights one has, the broader one’s perspective on life becomes. This is not a difficult concept—it simply describes spiritual maturity.

Conversely, when spiritual rank is low, existential presence is weak in a spiritual sense, and the desire to fulfill one’s own heart tends to take priority over fulfilling others’ hearts. With fewer insights, one’s perspective narrows. Again, this is not a complex idea—it reflects spiritual immaturity.

Those with high spiritual rank tend to act proactively, while those with low spiritual rank often take a more passive approach.

To take an interest in politics, one must possess a proactive attitude that seeks participation. People with low spiritual rank may therefore naturally show little interest in elections. This is one way to interpret the phenomenon.

Today, society emphasizes horizontal relationships more than hierarchical ones.

This is similar to living in an apartment building: elections are actions taken by people “above,” and for most individuals, these activities may feel largely unrelated to their own lives. This can contribute to the lack of interest in elections.

Moreover, many people feel content with merely sustaining their basic life needs and may have no dissatisfaction with society. For them, politics and elections may seem irrelevant.

Freud proposed the pleasure principle, noting that humans seek pleasure in everyday activities like eating, sleeping, and excretion. In an extreme sense, one’s existential presence = pleasure, meaning that when people feel happiness, they simultaneously experience strong presence and strong pleasure.

A lack of felt presence is not just a psychological gap—it has physiological implications. Body and mind influence each other, and a lack of presence can trigger stress, which in turn prompts fight-or-flight responses, both of which consume energy.

With the rise of the Internet, people increasingly seek their sense of presence online, where their presence may generate a sense of pleasure.

Politics, by contrast, is an external matter and may feel distant or irrelevant, making disinterest in elections understandable.

Stress narrows perspective, and for those under stress, political engagement may simply be the last priority. In this context, it is natural that some people feel little interest in elections.