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Not Apathetic

Tell the world why you're not voting - don't let your silence go unheard

They're not voting because...

voting for a candidate is not democracy...

voting for a candidate is not democracy; it is futility. I can only vote for a candidate; the party chooses the candidate - I am not invovled in the selection process. If I vote on the basis of a manifesto, I have no way of enforcing it. It is not a contract. The winning party is under no obligation to make or break any law; it can do with its majority as it pleases. It is in any case unbelievably difficult for any new party to unmake the changes of the previous, due to the nature of our partliamentary structure, timetable and legal system. For any party to claim that it make drastic changes to public services within one month of office is either incredibly stupid or, more likely, thinks the electorate are. Finally, I have tried to engage in the democratic process and been firmly told that people like me are "simply not significant". The incumbent government has behaved reprehensibly, imposing laws designed to atagonise, oppress and punish the law abiding, tax the consiencious and demoralise the . Every single thing I do costs me twice as much now as it did five years ago, but services have become worse and indeed become aggressive, distant, bureaucratic and confrontational. But short of jailing myself for public disorder offences, there is nothing that someone earning so little with so small an influence in so safe a seat can do about it. Government does not represent me, or my views, It (necessarily) represents the views of those willing to support them (financially and ideologically) when in office - the super rich, the media and the wider global community.

written 28th Apr 2005

Responses

Michael M. replies: With citizens' direct democracy you can help to make policy. We can begin to govern ourselves. More detail is at http://www.iniref.org/

written 29th Apr 2005

Sany replies: Thank you for the info!

written 17th Sep 2005

About Not Apathetic

NotApathetic was built so that people who are planning not to vote in the UK General Election on May 5th can tell the world why. We won't try to persuade you that voting is a good or a bad idea - we're just here to record and share your explanations. Whether ideological, practical or other, any reason will do.

A lot of users would like us to mention that if you spoil your ballot paper, it will be counted. So if you want to record a vote for "none of the above", you can.

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