Voting and Civic Duty
It looks like this might be a really influential and important election. As such, I'm certainly going to vote. However, please ignore people who tell you that you have a duty to vote. You don't. You still get to complain, as long as you didn't vote for a party who had already said they would do something
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If, given the opportunity to vote and the opportunity to have a postal vote if you cannot actually vote on the day, you cannot be bothered then you are voluntarily excluding yourself from the Demos.
Rights exists with concomitant duties; anyone who wants a right to complain about government has a duty to either vote or actively refuse all available candidates.
This idea is almost as fallacious as the suggestion any vote for the candidate you wish elected could be a "wasted vote".
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In fact, the right to complain is enshrined in our legal system - I'm perfectly entitled compain whether I voted usefully, decided not to vote, or voted without really being informed, and diluted the impact of reality on the political process.
Or even, come to think of it, if I don't have the right to vote and never will. I sometimes criticise American foreign policy, for instance. That's my right, and not voting doesn't remove it.
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A fallacy is, inter alia, an untrue belief. You believe that people who have not voted through apathy have a right of complaint; I hold that untrue; hence I hold your view a fallacy.
...if I don't have the right to vote and never will. I sometimes criticise American foreign policy, for instance. That's my right, and not voting doesn't remove it.
If you have no right to vote there is not commensurate duty to vote; as no duty exists you have a liberty to complain.
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To me, a fallacy means an error caused by unsound thinking, or the unsound thinking itself (which is why you can list fallacies - argument from authority, ad hominem, argument from consequences...). I think this is a far more common usage, right?
Anyway, the statement is factually correct - I have a right to complain. That right is being diminished by banning peaceful protests in certain places, but I still have that right, and it is granted regardless of whether I voted, deliberately voted in a way to cause harm, voted in ignorance (and caused harm or didn't) or voted in an informed way.
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Actually I hold your statement to be factually incorrect.
You have a liberty to complain in that no-one can stop you; to have a right there would have to be an obligation upon someone to acknowledge your complaint.
An example of the distinction can be seen in the ordering of gazpacho soup in a restaurant: I have a liberty to complain that I did not like it because it was served cold; however I cannot expect the restaurant to refund me the price.
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(1) Everyone has the right of freedom of expression. This right shall include freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart information and ideas without inference by public authority and regardless of frontiers.
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However, I do not agree that holding or exchanging of opinion is the same as complaining. For instance, if I purchase a television that does not work I can both express my dissatisfaction and take it to the shop and complain; if I steal the television I can still express dissatisfaction but I cannot complain.
Are you suggesting that a general right to be heeded exists? If not, what specific right exists for non-voters that their dissatisfaction be heeded?
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