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I have watched, with varying degrees of interest as time permits, the events in Egypt unfold, and observed that the cable news coverage of these events are as extensive as any international event I can recall that does not directly involve Americans. The three major 24/7 news channels all have dedicated large blocs of their programming to this story.
For all of that, I see a ho hum reaction on the part of everyday Americans. This is not a water cooler topic in offices, nor, in my belief, in households, schools or on the street. It is of interest to the so called 'chattering class', media pundits and wanna be media pundits, news junkies and a smattering of the constantly curious.
Americans , it seems to me, would much rather see the efforts of the news media , and especially politicians, be spent on improving conditions here in the USA. The country has too many problems of great magnitude, most notably ongoing unemployment and underemployment, people forced to work three part time jobs to make ends meet, for example.
But even more than that, the media never seems to understand that Americans don't care much about the rest of the world. If it's sons and daughters were not fighting and dying in Iraq and Afghanistan for the past decade, we wouldn't have cared about those two countries much either.
We don't really care anymore about England, Japan, Russia, etc etc either. Most Americans NEVER travel outside the US, in their lifetime. Most Americans have no great desire to travel outside the US in their lifetime. Their interest is in their families, their jobs, their local sports teams and their hobbies and personal interests. Americans have always been abysmal in understanding geography, and world history.
Is this right, or wrong? Nope. It is just the way it is.
We should give as much consideration as is practical to becoming more isolationist, in improving this country for the benefit of it's people. The US cannot cure the world's problems, and most of us don't even care to try.
