Voting apathy

[AdamW]

I don't think anyone else has posted this yet (feel free to flame if you have!)

Not apathetic

They want people who don't vote due to no confidence in the choices to spoil their papers instead of not turning out. Sounds like a good idea to me!

 

[felix]

I've just had a quick read and picked out this last comment:

Democracy sucks. Why it sucks? Because it is the process by which idiots are elected by the ignorant to govern a nation.

Sadly, there is a lot of truth in it but we would do well not to lapse into apathy as a result. Democracy is a fragile thing. It might not be perfect but the alternatives are many times worse.

Prior to 1997 people went out to vote in the great management versus labour argument which had dominated UK politics since the birth of the Labour party. The choice was a simple one and even those incapable of understanding the issues could blindly copy their parents. Now it's all gone wrong. Why? Because Tony has nicked all the Tory party's policies. We didn't get a Labour government at all, just a better bunch of Tories than the last lot. Now I happen to think this was a big step in the right direction but it has left the ignorant masses wandering around completely lost.

So what are we left with? How do we get people interested in politics again. Had any politician asked me that question a few decades back they would have got a right ear bashing:

The licensing laws
The age of consent
Free radio
Censorship
Segregated schools
Blood sports
Abortion
Pollution
Sunday trading

And that's only the ones I can remember; I'm sure that list was a lot longer. The common factor amongst all those issues I cared about so much was that both of the major parties treated them as one would a British rail pork pie pickled in astatine. They simply didn't want to know, presumably because there were no party political points to be had. More out of protest than anything else I voted Liberal!

The list has changed a bit these days (we now have free radio and Sunday trading) but the broad principle remains the same. Many of the issues that matter to me and, I suspect, a lot of other people simply don't fit the traditional model of British party politics. It's time we had some fresh ideas in Parliament.

I hereby call on the great silent majority not to spoil their ballot papers as a protest but to use them. Your share of democracy is not very big but it counts. Vote Lib Dem, vote Green, vote Independent, vote Monster Raving Loony if you like but get off your backsides and VOTE.

 

[masona]

How do we get people interested in politics again.

Only if they stop lying and misleading the voters, Labour has created over 800,000 pointless jobs advertising in The Guardian which make them a Labour voters and that is all they will need to win the election. They will do anything to stay in power and I hate them all, we need a new honest party or am'I dreaming?

I agreed everyone should get off their backsides and vote.

 

[oilman]

Yaaaawwwwwwnnnnnnnn, who cares? Yaaaawwwwwnnnnnnn, zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz..............

 

[jasy]

Those who dont vote have not got a point of view

 

[Igorian]

Those who dont vote have not got a point of view

Or looking at it another way, those who don't vote, don't have a party to represent their point of view.

 

[david and julie]

Those who dont vote have not got a point of view

Or looking at it another way, those who don't vote, don't have a party to represent their point of view.

Or even another way, those who do vote, don't get a party to represent there point of view either.

 

[Damocles]

The voting system is deliberately designed to discourage anyone from voting for any party except the top two.

This has worked very successfully from discouraging most people who dislike both those two parties from voting at all.

 

[kendor]

Those who dont vote have not got a point of view

Or looking at it another way, those who don't vote, don't have a party to represent their point of view.

Or even another way, those who do vote, don't get a party to represent there point of view either.

Here's a thought, all that vote get put in a draw to win a lottery payout, might increase the vote?

 

[Sparky Jim]

Perhaps we should all refuce to vote. I wonder what they would do if no-one voted at all

 

[kendor]

Perhaps we should all refuce to vote. I wonder what they would do if no-one voted at all

the present government would win by default

 

[Damocles]

The BNP would win, or someone like them. Do yourself a favour, vote lib dem and hope for a genteel cockfight if the other two get so stupid they loose alll their support.

 

[ninebob]

My boyfriend is a local councillor, he was previously with the conservatives but has stood (and won) the last 3 years as an independent.

I intend to vote Labour at the GE, I wasn't going to because the Iraq issue went against all of my principles and still does, but I think there has been some redemption in the budget with the lowering of the stamp duty threshold (I had thought I might never own a house but with the average terrace here being about £90k it's now looking better); also I agree with most people I have spoken to in that Labour have their bad points but are still the lesser evil of the other incompetents.

Stephen disagrees, he reckons he stood independent in order to deal with local issues but at a national level he's still conservative.

Much like all other voters, what the heck do I know, I only have to live here......

 

[Damocles]

Fiddling with stamp duty isn't going to change much. It ought to be changed but that is not going to alter house prices. The way to sort out the housing inflation is simply to build more houses.

BL is going broke. Why? Because car prices are going down. Because other people are making better cars cheaper. How come no one can see that prices go down because there are more and better goods for sale. How come no one can see that housing is exactly the same. The price will only ever stop going crazy if there are more of them on the market. You can't exactly import a foreign house like you can a foreign car, but people are even buying houses abroad because British ones are ridiculously expensive.

Blair had a chance to make voting meaningful for people who can not bring themselves to vote for either top party by reforming the house of lords and giving it proportional representation. He refused to do it. Man who talks big about the people but fails to do what they want.

 

[WoodYouLike]

BL is going broke. Why? Because car prices are going down. Because other people are making better cars cheaper. How come no one can see that prices go down because there are more and better goods for sale. How come no one can see that housing is exactly the same. The price will only ever stop going crazy if there are more of them on the market.

What's that called again: market mechanism That's all we need, everybody recognising/understanding that this is the way the world works (and has been working from the start). No subsidies anymore, no more expansive loans to big companies from taxpayers money.

That's real democracy