Originally Posted by Sketchy "The rule of the few" is not the same as "dictatorship", which is what you claimed.
If we could have a "rule of the intelligent & moral few", then wouldn't that be better than "the rule of the many"? It doesn't have to be a military dictator.
Not voting, and not taking any interest in politics, are two very different things. I was very clearly only talking about voting itself.
And stop patronizing me with phrases like "above the petty squabbling of democracy".
Vote if you want to vote, but don't act like it makes you anything special.
All I will say is that you mentioned the squabbling first. But that really is petty squabbling.
According to the most recent polls, the Tories are falling slightly in relation to Labour, but still hold an 8 point gap (Con 38%, Lab 30%, LD 20%) - but are doing better in the North, where there are a number of marginal seats. So although the current swing might not look enough to secure a Con majority, the way the regions are split might mean it will be http://www.politicshome.com/uk/article/7761/the_view_from_the_regions.html . My opinion is that the Tories will get a majority in the end simply because of New Labour's ineptness and similarity to the New Con's - when both parties are so similar, people will vote for the one not in power. LD not faring too well compared to the last election's polling, probably because the War isn't such a big issue this time. Minor parties in some regions are doubling their support, but this would be spread out amongst many parties (BNP are lumped in with Green, UKIP, NF, SocLab, and Independents). Should be interesting.
I think all but the two main parties will do worse this time around. The smaller parties tend to be viewed as more idealist rather than pragmatist, which is fine when things are going well, but when everything's gone to pot as it has now, people look for a party with a bit more experience. Also, they are mostly quite strongly against things like immigration which have taken a back seat to the economy this time around, except in places like Leeds/Bradford/etc (same with war, as you pointed out).
I find it almost unbelievable that Labour are still in contention after everything that's happened.
I also find it funny that noone ever liked Brown, yet the one thing people would always argue in his defense, was that he would do a good job of managing the economy. Having been the Chancellor and now the PM, in the period leading up to and during the worst financial crisis in living memory, he's quite clearly shown that isn't the case - so why on Earth would anyone vote for him now? What do they see in him now, that they didn't see 5 years ago?
I know Cameron is a bit slimy, but surely not enough to drive voters away?
Where I live, LibDems have a 52% share of the vote anyway, so I think they're pretty safe.
Personally, I think it balances itself out. People who don't really feel like voting for either party don't. I don't like any candidates, but I vote for the one I dislike the least. If you're on the fence enough, don't vote. Most fence-sitters just vote for the last face they see, which is where money, flyers, and banners win.
But it's also why some poorer candidates get elected. You have people like Bush, Clinton, and Schwarzenegger with a huge smear campaign. People feel sorry for them and give them a sympathy vote because they don't like others throwing empty insults at them. Yeah, democracy kinda screws up there.
Disclaimer: Any sarcasm in my posts will not be mentioned as that would ruin the purpose. It is assumed that the reader is intelligent enough to tell the difference between what is sarcasm and what is not.
The Tories came out today saying they want to give "power back to the people" and that they will "make Britain better" - which is a load of poop. Labour have made claims just as bad too. The policies of Labour and the Tories seem fairly similar in some ways to me - so if I was to make a choice it would be between those two. The other parties offer some interesting stuff, but nothing that major - and I don't really think they could keep their promises.
I can personally understand why people wouldn't want to vote - the majority of politicians are so up themselves that it would be difficult to want to give any of them your vote. It also feels like everything they say is a lie - at least to me. It's typical election drama were all the parties make claims and promises, yet none of them would ever be able to keep those promises.
Either way I still think if you have the right to vote you and you care about the country, then you should vote - but it's really up to you. I don't have anything against anybody who doesn't want to vote.
HaHaHaHa I don't like it how in America, we always have commercials encouraging people to vote IMO the people who need encouragement to vote were not going to make informed votes anyway
I don't like how those commercials are always just slagging off the opponent, rather than saying anything good about the candidate themselves. It's exactly the same in British politics though.
Also, if you see coverage of parliament, they're all trying to talk over each other, and making snide remarks or lame jokes to make each other look bad, which I find very disrespectful. They're getting paid big bucks to make decisions that affect the lives of millions of people, and they're acting like school kids - they can't even have a mature debate about something.
Originally Posted by Ricky HaHaHaHa I don't like it how in America, we always have commercials encouraging people to vote IMO the people who need encouragement to vote were not going to make informed votes anyway
In my country there have been experiments with vote-fests. People get to buy tickets to get a free drink at the party, and they can cast their vote with the same ticket.
We will have general elections soon as well(our cabinet fell over Afghanistan issues). Just like Boothman I am doubting between our green party and the "liberal" democrat party.
Originally Posted by Ricky HaHaHaHa I don't like it how in America, we always have commercials encouraging people to vote IMO the people who need encouragement to vote were not going to make informed votes anyway
In my country there have been experiments with vote-fests. People get to buy tickets to get a free drink at the party, and they can cast their vote with the same ticket.
We will have general elections soon as well(our cabinet fell over Afghanistan issues). Just like Boothman I am doubting between our green party and the "liberal" democrat party.
I thought you'd be National Liberal if anything Hayo!
I never have had any interest in politics and as a result I don't know anything about what each party has to offer. This is the reason I didn't vote last time around, I feel I really should do some research and make a decision for this General Election, but it really doesn't interest me in the slightest.
Well... I'm not going for David Cameron because he smoked pot at Eaton, and because he's tried to promote green-ness to the world... one of his first trips... To Iceland! On a plane! Cameron seems too faced.
Gordon Brown is just a prat, full stop.
Lib Dems... They don't seem to do anything.
UKIP... maybe.
The Green Party... maybe.
The Monster Raving Loony Party... absolutely. Hey, we have one of its members hoping to get a seat in our constituency.
Really though? I really, honestly, couldn't give a damn. I'd vote for anyone just to get Labour out of power.
"Well... I'm not going for David Cameron because he smoked pot at Eaton, and because he's tried to promote green-ness to the world... one of his first trips... To Iceland! On a plane! Cameron seems too faced."
I almost thought that was a joke. They seem like really weak excuses to me.
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Edited by Sketchy
