Should I feel guilty for sitting on my apathy?

I was lounging in the back yard with Blue's mom the other night. It was a beautiful early summer evening and I was expounding on my dream of opening a store that sells just footstools which I would proudly call The Ottoman Empire. As I was astounding her with my ambitions, I started thinking about current events, politics, and how my passion for these things had changed over the last 15 years.

During the 1990's, I followed current events closely. I was politically astute and had an opinion on about anything. I started listening to talk shows as I traveled for work and was one of the early followers of Rush Limbaugh, G. Gordan Liddy, etc. I sometimes even listened to the conspiracy theorists who monologued about one world government.

Somewhere along the line, though, I discovered my constant awareness of all things political were obscuring my enjoyment of the here and now. None of my frustrations and worrying about the current affairs of the country were within my immediate realm of influence. Unless I got actively involved in a campaign or ran for office myself, my aggravation did nothing but gave me heartburn.

Since 2000, I have pretty much checked out of the political arena. Oh, I follow the presidential campaigns and am aware of their platforms and I will vote, but if my candidate doesn't win, I won't lose too much sleep.

I don't even get overly exercised over gas prices, since I am not sure what I can do about them anyway and my next door neighbor usually leaves his truck outside at night (and his gas cap is on my side).

I don't worry about global warming too much. I keep waiting for someone to ask the experts about the areas that will benefit from climate change. After all, change might mean the deserts of Utah and Arizona become green and tropical and can grow bounteous crops. And isn't it a little presumptous to think we as humans are so powerful that we can change the earth?

So my question to you is: "Is my apathy toward current events hurting me in the long run or is my energy better spent focusing on things where I can make a difference?" Please leave a comment or vote on the right. As they used to say in Chicago, "Vote early and vote often!"