They're not voting because...
- If you don't vote, you have no right...
If you don't vote, you have no right to complain about the government.
written 29th Apr 2005
Responses
-
SM replies: How does that work, then? Want to walk me through the logic?
written 29th Apr 2005 -
rhia replies: If I don't vote this time, it's because I feel that anyone I could possibly vote for would do things I wouldn't approve of.
Are you trying to say that I am mistaken, and that I would acctually have to put someone I didn't approve of in power in order for me to complain about them?
written 29th Apr 2005 -
andy replies: exactly right rhia its people like this guy that piss me off lets get this down to the facts, we bassically have a choice of 3 parties with a chance of winning so your saying we should feel forced to vote for one of these 3 parties to have a say in our own countrys future? bollocks to that ill vote for someone when I belive in then not just becasue I dont have much other choice. you my friend are an ignortant asshole.
written 30th Apr 2005 -
Barbara replies: We have every right to complain if we do not vote. It's not the electorate's fault if they could not sincerely endorse any of the political candidates put in front of them. And we pay our dues like anyone else.
written 3rd May 2005
If you knew that custard was bad for me and would make me ill, would you force me to eat it, just so I would earn the right to complain about it? -
Tiger43 replies: If you don`t vote, your`e insulting my dad and many other dads, dead and alive who fought to keep that right in the last war. Just think on it.
written 3rd May 2005 -
Tom replies: Tiger43..your logic is absurd. I am grateful to everyone who has ever fought in a war to protect this country from invasion and therefore protect my right to live in a democratic society, your father included. The mere fact that I am entitled to vote does not, however, mean that I should feel obliged to endorse a party who I feel has conducted themselves improperly and imorally, or who has policies that I deem to be against my interests or those of the country as a whole. I have yet to read a manifesto that does not include at least one proposition that I disagree with, and I fear that I perhaps never will do, so I refuse to endorse any of the candidates.
written 3rd May 2005 -
a voter replies: I must admit that I agree with the original writer. Surely it's clear that if you're dissatisfied with the way the country is run, you must do all you can to change it. And surely the only way we can change it is by voting the current government out. Blair is relying on apathy, or protest, or whatever you'd like to call it, but he knows that it will only benefit Labour. Therefore sitting on your bottom moaning will only keep Blair in and no, sorry, you'll have no right to complain because you didn't even try to change that outcome.
written 3rd May 2005 -
Alex replies: I woudl say that is actually the wrong way around. Not only do I have the right to complain, but I actually have MORE right to complain.
You see voting is like going to teacher to settle an argument. It may get you an answer but you also implicitly agree to go with that answer.
For those of us with a little more intelligence, faced with more complex problems than a simple question, one vote in 40 million, once every 4 years does not seem like a great way to decide the direction of the nation, how 40% of our money is spent, and the myriad of other areas of life that government is involved in.
I find that I don't even have the same frame of reference as any of the potential candidates, or even a broad sympathy with any of the parties. What is the point in voting for any of them? And how does not voting negate my rate to criticise?
written 3rd May 2005 -
SM replies: Dear "Voter"
You write: "I must admit that I agree with the original writer. Surely it's clear that if you're dissatisfied with the way the country is run, you must do all you can to change it. And surely the only way we can change it is by voting the current government out."
Yes, I'm dissatisfied with the way the country is run, but voting won't change that. It'll only change the colour of the rosettes the people with whom I am dissatisfied are wearing. If, indeed, that.
In the constituency in which I live, Labour has a fair majority over the Tories in 2nd place. If I vote SNP, Lib Dem, SSP, Green or the Christian loony candidate, the closest I'll come to changing the government is by letting the Tories in by default. And I don't want a Tory government either.
I am disgusted by political parties. Not by politics; I campaign on a number of issues, from the war, to refugees, to my membership of amnesty. But whichever way I vote, very, very little will change in government. The issues highlighted by the facile pro voting ads on TV (pub hours, football teams, etc) will be unaffected by voting. What is the array of choice on football coaching between the parties? I imagine their policies are pretty damn similar on the issue.
It's a complete farce.
written 4th May 2005
