Comments | aussiedave: DOING YOUR DUTY

aussiedave

DOING YOUR DUTY

Apr 07, 2010 23:39

...and I seriously fucking mean it. This is your duty. Yes, you, reading this now. I'm not going to mince words or be diplomatic.

Not doing the below officially negates your right to complain. About, like, anything. Even movies you don't like and stuff like that.

The UK General Election is coming up. I expect these three things of you:

1. Be ( Read more... )

Comments 10

black_faery April 8 2010, 07:48:58 UTC

I will vote because I always do. BUT...

...it would be easier if there were someone standing whose policies I actually agreed with. It is a difficult choice when you dislike all of the four options but don't want to spoil your ballot.

Ho hum. I spent most of yesterday evening getting irritated with politics, but that's only because I give a damn. If I didn't care, it wouldn't annoy me so much. *sigh*

aussiedave April 8 2010, 08:34:24 UTC

But giving a damn is a good thing!

Look at it this way; none of the three main parties is going to be completely off the mark, or they wouldn't have the support they do. Populist politics can get you a long way, but consistent failure to represent anyone's interests will eventually lose you your place. Both the (original) Tory party and the Whigs discovered this when the political world was shaken up at the beginning of the twentieth century.

So grit your teeth and look at their policies in detail. There are bound to be things that your candidates believe that you do agree with, so find out what they are, which candidate you agree with more, and which candidate has policies you find totally unstomachable. Hell, I even found some policies my incumbent Tory MP supported that I agreed with (not that I'm gonna vote for him; he supports some views that I despise ( ... )

putrescine April 8 2010, 08:15:55 UTC

Putrescine likes this.

utopia_necro April 8 2010, 10:26:09 UTC

i agree with your post and hate people who whine and whinge about things like taxes etc which are directly linked to which political party are in place.

ajntornj April 8 2010, 18:35:02 UTC

Yes, yes, yes and yes some more. Can I be lazy and nick the text of your three points to pass on to others as I *really* want to motivate everyone I know to vote this year, even if it is only for the 'least bad' option.

aussiedave April 9 2010, 10:28:10 UTC

By all means, go ahead. The more the merrier.

I almost agree shawgreen April 9 2010, 07:56:08 UTC

I kind of feel though that an informed non-vote should really be an option. If I genuinely feel so passionately that all my options are just plain wrong ( ... )

Re: I almost agree aussiedave April 9 2010, 11:39:58 UTC

Of course, the only difference between a principled non-vote and an apathy-justifying refusal to validate the electoral process is purely one of perspective anyway. :)

The informal vote is one approach. Someone going to the effort of attending at the polls and placing a deliberately-spoiled ballot in is registering themselves as a principled non-voter, although for the most part the vote is still disregarded. A vote, even for a margical party unlikely to win, is by far the most effective way of voicing your opposition to the major parties.