I would say that I think it's your civic duty to vote, but by that I mean something like:
I think it's your civic duty to think about this issue, and make a deliberate decision to do whatever you think is appropriate. Appropriate courses of action may be spoiling your paper, not voting at all, or standing for parliament yourself.
So I don't think that not voting is a bad thing, unless it's done due to apathy or lack of interest in the whole process.
I'm surprised that you're not voting, though - the letter you posted here a week or two back to one of your prospective candidates sounded like you were planning to. Were you planning to vote only if her response was exactly what you wanted, or has something else changed your mind in the interim ?
I would have been willing to vote for her if she'd been willing to make some kind of pledge on the digital rights issue -- because I would have regarded that as my duty, not as a good citizen, but as an honourable human being (since I'd agreed to vote for her if that occurred). She wasn't.
I occasionally get optimistic, thinking that a brand new MP might not yet be fully corrupted by the system. If I offer something as part of a deal, while in optimism-mode, it'd be churlish and dishonourable to later renege on the deal just because I'm feeling more realistic about politics.
I talked it over with Bridie (who, incidentally, is voting) this morning, though, and came to the conclusions in my entry, above. I particularly hate the party whip system; it's not even like we vote for an individual, with their own opinions. We just vote for The Party; MPs who are willing to defy the whip and vote with their conscience are few and far between.
I managed to live in the UK for a surprising number of years before I realised how the whip system worked (surprising, but <18, fortunately). I remember going home to ask my mum about it because it seemed so ridiculous I felt I must have misunderstood it.
Thanks for the explanation. I guess all of us are occasionally afflicted by optimsim in the face of the prevailing evidence :)
Yeah, one of my friends that suggested that the party system should be illegal and that gatherings of more than 5 MPs should be punished as treasonous.
I can't disagree with that.
Also, the link in my previous comment was supposed to support your view, not be an exhortation to vote.
Got to jump in here, apologises :) I hear a lot of people talking about apathy and lack of interest but non-voters. Millions of people who don't vote, choose not to because they don't believe anyone who wins will make their lives better. Our society makes it morally hard not to vote and yet these people still reject the idea that even taking an hour out of their lives, once every four years, will be of benefit to them. That speaks to me not of apathy but of failure of the system.
I wasn't disputing that there are people who choose not to vote for non-apathy reasons - or even that they're a hefty percentage of the non-voters. I've never seen any stats on how many people claim their non-voting was a deliberate choice (possibly with good reason - if there's a high percentage of people who reject the system, it's not really in the policiticans' interests to publicise that).
But I have met plenty of people who don't vote due to apathy, forgetting, or similar. Admittedly, fewer this time around.
But their apathy stems from the perception that it'll make no difference. I bet if you offered them £10 to vote many of them would do it, because they saw the chance for gain.
Really? In the US, they make it as easy as possible to register and vote, suggest that it is your duty as a citizen, and say you can't complain if you don't, but I can't recall seeing a moral argument for voting. Sure, there are extremists, but for the most part I don't think people see not voting as evil. I have seen a moral argument for the census, though.
Voting is just a mechanism to make you feel like you're participating in the government so that you don't want to overthrow it. Ian's letter writing serves the same purpose. It's a bit like workman's compensation insurance here in the US: it pays you 60% of your salary so that you don't sue your employer for a lot more when you're injured on the job.
I have to say I've felt morally guilty at times not voting. It's the same guilt that I've felt on the odd time I've done something bad, that wasn't really bad.
And it's that very participation that drove me away from parlimentary democracy. That I had taken part in the illegal invasion of Iraq, I had help bring in a vast array of new, pointless way to criminalise people and that I had been part of the group that bailed out capitalism in the most socialist of ways made me look very hard at other forms of politics. I never want my name being associated with such underhanded, murderous thieving gits again. Of any colour. Except black :)
I think it's your civic duty to think about this issue, and make a deliberate decision to do whatever you think is appropriate. Appropriate courses of action may be spoiling your paper, not voting at all, or standing for parliament yourself.
So I don't think that not voting is a bad thing, unless it's done due to apathy or lack of interest in the whole process.
I'm surprised that you're not voting, though - the letter you posted here a week or two back to one of your prospective candidates sounded like you were planning to. Were you planning to vote only if her response was exactly what you wanted, or has something else changed your mind in the interim ?
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(Does that sound antagonistic ? it isn't meant to, I'm just curious.)
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I occasionally get optimistic, thinking that a brand new MP might not yet be fully corrupted by the system. If I offer something as part of a deal, while in optimism-mode, it'd be churlish and dishonourable to later renege on the deal just because I'm feeling more realistic about politics.
I talked it over with Bridie (who, incidentally, is voting) this morning, though, and came to the conclusions in my entry, above. I particularly hate the party whip system; it's not even like we vote for an individual, with their own opinions. We just vote for The Party; MPs who are willing to defy the whip and vote with their conscience are few and far between.
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Thanks for the explanation. I guess all of us are occasionally afflicted by optimsim in the face of the prevailing evidence :)
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I can't disagree with that.
Also, the link in my previous comment was supposed to support your view, not be an exhortation to vote.
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But I have met plenty of people who don't vote due to apathy, forgetting, or similar. Admittedly, fewer this time around.
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Really? In the US, they make it as easy as possible to register and vote, suggest that it is your duty as a citizen, and say you can't complain if you don't, but I can't recall seeing a moral argument for voting. Sure, there are extremists, but for the most part I don't think people see not voting as evil. I have seen a moral argument for the census, though.
Voting is just a mechanism to make you feel like you're participating in the government so that you don't want to overthrow it. Ian's letter writing serves the same purpose. It's a bit like workman's compensation insurance here in the US: it pays you 60% of your salary so that you don't sue your employer for a lot more when you're injured on the job.
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And it's that very participation that drove me away from parlimentary democracy. That I had taken part in the illegal invasion of Iraq, I had help bring in a vast array of new, pointless way to criminalise people and that I had been part of the group that bailed out capitalism in the most socialist of ways made me look very hard at other forms of politics. I never want my name being associated with such underhanded, murderous thieving gits again. Of any colour. Except black :)
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The red one's for the bureaucrats
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