What does buckley argue is the relationship between our failure to complain and our failure to care about politics? how does he attempt to convince us of that relationship?

Buckley had three examples of situations in which one might complain.  Buckley’s first example was sitting on a train, where the inside temperature was 85 degrees and the outside temperature was below freezing.  Buckley wanted to complain to the conductor, but the man across from him glared at him as he was about to ask the question.  This caused Buckley to ask the conductor when they were going to get to Stamford instead of asking him to turn the heat down.  Buckley had another situation where he was at a movie with his wife and the picture was blurry.  Buckley complained to his wife, but she said that when someone saw it they would fix it.  Buckley accepted his wife’s opinion and waited for the movie to become clear.  Buckley waited and waited and he told his wife again that the movie was blurry and he was going to talk to someone.  Buckley’s wife assured him that he shouldn’t go talk to someone and that they would fix it when they saw it.

the answer is not negative reinforcement.