In recent weeks there has been much discussion across the intelligentsia about the growing presence and influence of voter apathy.

This is owing to the 29.6 per cent voter turnout at the recent local government elections — a new low for such polls.

Though disappointing, all told, there is enough evidence to declare that this decline is a trend started years ago, so it should present no surprise.

But what is even more worrying, coming out of frustration and confusion with the results of the recent parish council elections, is the seeming disaffection with the whole bag that is politics.

More than a lack of interest with the voting process, there is a noticeable disconnect from all matters of politics and governance.

No official pollster has submitted results, but the usual fiery social media space was lukewarm at best in discussion of the major activity occurring in the nation’s Parliament — the opening of the 2024-25 National Budget Debate.

In recent days the Standing Finance Committee has been poring over the tabled Estimates of Expenditure that will guide the upcoming financial year, and reportage of these deliberations has not stirred much talk from even the die-hard factions of the society.

Only the politicians themselves have made any commentary on the suitability of the allocations.

We know that in some quarters silence is consent, but in an era of every man and his dog having a soapbox, this silence gives rise to the question: Is anyone listening?

There was a time in this nation that even when a large chunk of people did not understand a thing being said in Gordon House, they were glued to their transistor radios and television sets to find out what would be their lot.

Nowadays, with technology affording multiple options to connect in the political theatre, the average Jamaican is not even sparing a glance.

Such apathy is the precursor to a descent into listlessness that will threaten the very democracy of this nation.

With noticeable strides in access to education and employment, Jamaicans are better equipped to analyse the talk in the House to determine what is good sense and what is mere posturing. Why, then, is there no interest?

On Tuesday, Minister of Finance and the Public Service Dr Nigel Clarke began the National Budget Debate.

Within the many instances in which his compatriots pounded the benches in support of his presentation were announcements that will affect — in one way or another — every single Jamaican. We therefore cannot afford to be unaware of what these policies are.

We, in this space, will no doubt play our part in sharing the information and offering clarity where possible, but is the regular Jamaican listening?

Reputed father of the nation Mr Norman Washington Manley offered the view that the duty of his generation was to deliver political independence. Economic liberation was the next leg of the national relay. This spreading state of political malaise does not augur well for the achievement of this mission. Ownership of this leg — or at least interest in the matters that affect it — is crucial to how well, and how soon, the handover can be made to the duty of yet another generation.

It behoves every Jamaican to pay attention to what is happening in the nation’s Parliament. If we do not, we risk waking up in a place of which we can no longer be proud.