May I make a suggestion I’ve been ruminating on for a while? The Idea is VOTE STRIKE. The main problem as I see it with politics is the filthy lucre.
if we go on vote strike, the lot of us, then we can send a very clear message.
Our one demand? A maximum cap on political donations. That should level the playing field somewhat.
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In the U.S., the only “voters” that count will still buy the politicians. Not many humans can find a national politician that represents us. (Follow the money)
I’m not aware of any campaign promises at all that the Lib Dems have broken, given that the tuition fee pledges were made by individual Lib Dem MPs rather than by the party, and that the Lib Dem manifesto contained an implicit “If we win a working majority in the Commons…”, the same as any other party’s manifesto. In fact, it’s almost impossible for a party that fails to win a majority to break any promises, since parties don’t generally make any promises that start “If we fail to win a majority and enter coalition negotiations, our red lines will include…”.
The Green Party’s policies aren’t quantified, because the numbers don’t work. Much of what they want to do would be nice if it could be done, but it can’t.
My MP, Jullian Huppert (Cambridge, Lib Dem) seems to be one of the better ones, so part of me wants to vote for him on that basis; but I also am very disappointed with what the Lib Dems allowed to happen in their name. They could have instead promised to support the conservatives on a bll by bill basis, and would probably had a better effect…
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That was my thought years ago but now not so much. Think about it. The first thing they’re going to do is extend the congestion zone further and further out of London. In effect creating another tax for us.
“Green” these days just means we pay out more of our hard earned money…
I haven’t voted for years because these fuckers are all the same. It’s false democracy. Pirates sound interesting though. Going to look them up now.
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Some years back a neighbouring ward had a candidate for the “Acolytes of the Worm-god Shoggoth”. I’d have voted for them if I’d had the chance.
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Do you remember back when the Conservatives where hanging on to power though the assistance to two Ulster Unionist MPs and they managed to get all sorts of goodies out of the evil Tories in return for their support. I am afraid that the GlibDems are simply crap.
The question i’d like to ask is was there ever a government that people were happy with? And i don’t mean looking back with rose-tinted glasses - i mean at the time of their power.
I remember my dad and grandad arguing endlessly about politics. Even as a child i found it slightly silly: you say one thing, he says another - you’ll never agree - what’s the point? It just seems like everyone spends so much time endlessly arguing and complaining and it plays right into their hands…
Given we have no “None of the Above” option, I was flirting with the idea of forming a “None of the Above party”* to attract votes from the many of us who find the whole thing so abysmal we can’t even find a least worst party any more.
The aim wouldn’t be to get seats, so much as to force the discussion on the whole issue. I’m fairly optimistic you’d get your deposit back. Who’s in? Russell?
'* Above - others - whatever
Russell Brand nailed it. Absolutely nailed it. I wish i was articulate as him when i explain to people why i don’t vote. I’ve never seen Paxman silenced like that.
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Think about it. The first thing they’re going to do is extend the congestion zone further and further out of London. In effect creating another tax for us.
and…? I mean I drive, I live in Enfield, North London, however I can’t see how a party can just be judged by that, really? They may do that, I’d be really surprised if they were keen on getting us into any other conflicts. So less conflicts vs congestion charge. I know which one I’d go for.
Yes you are right though, they are all the same. I’ve always thought that politics should not be a viable career move, this is were the corruption starts. That needs to be removed.
Politics should not be a career, it needs to be the public service it was always meant to be.
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I generally vote Green, Libertarian or Working Families party, but I won’t vote for anyone who I have not studied before the election. I’m in the USA and I take George Washington’s plea that Americans vote for individuals rather than parties very seriously. No big lever for me; all parties rapidly become corrupt, just as ol’ walrus teeth predicted. And let’s face it, some of the Libertarian candidates are fine, but at least as many are completely unsuitable for government.
When I have not managed to find time to study carefully the candidates (which makes me feel guilty, but it does happen) or when there is no acceptable candidate, I write in my mother’s name. She is more than capable of doing any job in our government, despite her age. Apparently enough people were doing write-ins in my state (Delaware) that we’ve recently frightened the incumbents into passing a law to prevent any write-in candidates being elected; this is sort of a bleak victory, in a way, since it clearly exposes their opposition to participative democracy.
Voting for someone unlikely to win, or writing in a name, isn’t ever “throwing your vote away” as proponents of lesser evils always insist. According to my friend the political analyst, when you make the effort to vote, but do not vote for any legitimate candidate, this tells him there is a potential constituency available to anyone willing to take up the appropriate causes. He then works to identify the appropriate causes and either tries to find a way to fit them into his candidate’s platform or, if that won’t work, tries to find a way to discredit the ideas those causes embody so no other candidate can use them.
Similarly, when you do not vote at all, you send a message that you aren’t a threat to the re-election of any incumbent. You will be part of the large group that political analysts and candidates quite literally ignore - as far as they are concerned, you are perfectly happy with the way things are, or else so weak and apathetic that you won’t ever mount any effective protest, so they don’t have to do anything for you, ever. And they won’t, ever. If they identify an issue as being primarily of concern to non-voters, that’s an issue that does not need to be resolved, as far as they are concerned; they will devote resources to satisfying screaming loonies that always vote, instead.
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I wish more Americans would pay attention to old walrus teeth (like that) as well as us British. He made a lot of sense. Basically resist, do not take any shit, right. However I think even George would concede that corruption is just as prevalent in individuals as parties? They all become corrupt.
It’s the system of politics, well the only one really, that is prevalent across the globe that encourages that. It is that system that is broken, both parties and individuals are allowed to become corrupt in the current systems. The issue to me is that there is temptation in politics, power, wealth.
I suggest a lottery system. We pick and filter the best minds to be on a sort of political jury service, no funding, no lobbying, no money, no cult of personality. Funds would be allocated to serve a government, essentially though ‘politicians’ would serve their term, just to solve political and to some degree social issues, that is all.
For me one of the issues in UK politics is that there is essentially now a lot of corruption, there is way to much money to be made from politics. That should not be the case, politics should be able to have the higher moral ground, at present it can’t because of the majority of individuals in it.
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I vote for the candidate I believe least wants to be in power. It’s my primary filter.
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Are you british?
See my comment above?
I agree in that that is what we need to remove, that ambition for power, more focus on real problem solving. There is a conflict of interests that breeds corruption.
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yup.
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In the US we have the Tea Party, which is a front organization for the oil companies and other big businesses.
Likewise one of political parties no longer makes it members resign if they get caught with drugs or prostitutes or a criminal history or a WW2 reenactor with his own custom tailored Waffen SS uniform. When they go to jail, this is a huge plus for the party, because they represent corporate interests, and the fewer people vote, the greater the corporate power. Now they are working directly to disenfranchise millions of voters with restrictive new laws.
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That’s the problem right there
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