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A similar idea

When I was in college I was surrounded by lots of people who were far, far more liberal, politically speaking, then me. Yet when the presidential election came around most of them couldn't be bothered to vote (apparently absentee or mail-in ballots are a lot of work?)... but they assumed (incorrectly) I would automatically vote for Bush and told me not to vote at all.

I said put up or shut up... and offered to let them pay me fifty bucks not to vote at all... no takers.

People don't take basic civic duties like voting seriously anymore. And I had one professor (of philosophy, no less) who told me to try and get out of jury duty when I was called, so I wouldn't miss his class.

.

With so many civil rights being removed I guess folk feel less inclined to accept there are civil responsibilities. Mind you, if there is no appropriate candidate, then it must be your civil duty not to vote to inflict one of the unsuitable ones on the rest of us.

How much did it get in the end?

As for the Loony party not standing in your area, you know what to do about it next time.

http://omrlp.com/category/elections/

Re: A similar idea

> People don't take basic civic duties like voting seriously anymore.

Lets face it though, in the local elections, if I vote Labour and they win, they'll probably paint the slide in the new playground red. If I vote Tory and they win, they'll probably paint it blue. If I vote Green and they win, they probably won't paint it at all. In any case, the local teenagers will repaint it to their own 'design' within 72 hours, guaranteed.

At the end of the day, I take my civic duties seriously when the need arises but to be honest, my local councillor has such an insignificant effect on my life that I'll have probably forgotten who I voted for by the time I leave the booth. Perhaps if local politicians actually engaged their public and made a difference in their lives (like, for example, giving the local kids something to do with their evenings besides graffiti and breaking wing mirrors) some more people would get out and vote for them.

Invisible but probably not insignificant

Jeremy said

"At the end of the day, I take my civic duties seriously when the need arises but to be honest, my local councillor has such an insignificant effect on my life that I'll have probably forgotten who I voted for by the time I leave the booth."

I agree in part, by and large local councillors are not very visible with a few notable exceptions. However, they do have a surprising amount of influence over our local environment. They decide planning; rubbish collection; road building and maintenance; libraries;parks and so on. And if Private Eye is to be believed also sell off playing fields, forge expense accounts and go on expensive jamborees.

My guess is quite a lot would rather we just quietly forgot about them and let them get on with it, partly why they are so often invisible perhaps? I say we should vote and in large numbers to make it clear that we are at least trying to keep some sort of democratic eye on them. A vote ain't much but many votes are one of the most powerful voices in this country.

[Cue uplifting music and mild surprise that I came out with that last bit]

not insignificant at all

At least not according to the various 'vote for me' slips I've received. Apparently they are all either entirely responsible for all the crime, and great swathes of global warming, or possibly are mankinds last best hope of saving the future; depending upon who is writing about whom.

All very exciting, if slightly difficult to decipher. I think I shall be voting on local rather than national politics though, which leaves me in the unusual situation of considering the nice ineffectual ones with some degree of seriousness. Perhaps I shall wear sandals on Thursday in recognition of my new beardy weirdy status.

I'll vote...

I'll vote for the first party that promises to abandon regional assemblies, expand the size of a constituency so that it covers several counties instead of having a local politician in charge of 20 people and some sheep, abolishes all the quangos and "jobs for the boys" positions AND insititutes a scheme so that you're unable to become a minister for something unless you actually have some experience of that field (i.e. the minister for education has to have worked IN education for some years), of course they have to stop teaching to take a position in parliament - and make all political jobs have a 4 year term, after which time, to keep their skills current, they have to go back to working in the fields of the people they're supposed to represent.

We DO NOT need 700+ politicians with all their associated hangers-on, impotent "advisory groups", PAs, secretaries, under-secretaries, under-secretaries to the under-secretaries, ad infinitum, and other such useless government entities - want to save a few million quid on the public spending budget? Cut the dead wood from the politcal system and give those that remain a "normal" civil service wage, say between 10 and 30 grand per year - maybe 50k for the PM.

... oh and pass a law so that anyone who actually wants to become a politician is deemed mentally unsuitable for the position and is therefore, by default, not allowed to become one.

Personally I think Thatcher didn't privitise enough - had she privitised everything there'd be no need for a government and we could get shot of the whole worthless bunch of c.......