Friday, April 29, 2011

Younger Voters and Vote 'Mobs'

Young Voters Interested In This Election!

While I am always beating the drum that for democracy to work, it requires all of us citizens to be actively involved not just at election time and I am delighted to see the younger generation finally taking an interest in doing what was once considered a civic duty.

However, I have a few issues with some current trends in the sudden interest being taken by the younger generation.

For example, on the CBC there is an electronic quiz you can take which purports to tell you which political party you are most likely to agree with. I took the quiz, using the same answer  for each question, and each time it told me I was a Liberal! Well, sir I just ain't buying it, no sir not at all. I have to wonder though, how many new voters just starting to get involved will consider the results of this quiz as a valid guide for their political alliance?

Then I see the 'mob' vote, which I realize is one of the new, electronic, everybody's wired on Facebook and Twitter social networking things, but call me old fashioned, I have never had a positive opinion of what a 'mob' produces. Don't they lynch people and run wily nily headlong off of cliffs because the one in front just did? Mobs are like flocks of birds, they just go to and fro based on what the bird out front decides to do. A mob is no way to run a country.

I have heard much excitement surrounding different youth movements encouraging becoming engaged in the process, but just like the older generation, if you listen to what they actually believe about how leaders are going to accomplish what they promise, you get sort of a blank stare. That is a bit of conjecture on my part, as I have never heard any of their 'spokespeople' being asked how and why they are chosing to vote a certain way.

The idea that you can make an intelligent decision about where to park your vote, based on all the hot air and promises thrown about by ANY party during an election campaign is just another example of people who are totally uneducated in the whole process. Clearly they haven't seen this movie before.


There seems to be an understanding in this country that the real truth can be suspended or at the very least stretched during election campaigns simply because that is what WE have allowed over the decades. Politicians of all stripes have learned in order to gain support, they should tell people what THEY want to hear, and if what they say is completely undeliverable, oh well, that is just they way Canadian politics goes! Remember wage and price controls? I do.

The 'mainstream' press is complicit in this little game and play their roles quite well, never holding politicians to account during the campaign period, as they produce their little snippets for the 15 second bite they have to file for their next 'news' show. There is very little depth these days in any of the media, and I suspect that is because the general public is not interested in depth.

The current surge in NDP support is most likely something you can attribute to the fact that Jack Layton has been allowed to pretty much go around making whatever outlandish and undeliverable promises he thinks will draw a few more into his carnival tent. And true to form none of the press lap dogs have really bothered to ask him to explain HOW he intends to fund all of these grand sounding promises.

Then, there is the Conservatives vilifying of Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff and the Liberals vilifying Harper and Layton ...... does anyone really believe that stuff!! I guess their polls say it does give them some traction with some people, but personally it just turns me off of both of them.

Instead of telling me all the stuff that is wrong with the other guys, just tell me what is right about you! That is what Layton is basically doing, and his more positive sounding blarney is getting him lots of traction. The fact he can't deliver, is just a trivial side issue, that will likely go unnoticed for years as he will have lots of reasons for not being able to deliver should he ever find himself in the position of actually having to deliver on any of his promises. I think that in his deepest moments, Jack really hopes he remains in opposition as from that secure position you can snipe all day, and never have to prove your capability.

If you have been paying attention to what YOUR government has been doing over the past few decades you will be able to see the 'spin' all parties put on certain events from the past and only from your own observation can you distinguish truth from spin.

One current 'spin' is on the subject of deficits. The Conservatives are rightly accused of running up our largest historic deficit, however, the fact of the matter is they also paid down the deficit for several years and chose to give it all back during the latest round of world wide crisis in the whole financial sector. The opposition will howl about the government should be creating jobs and then scream blue murder because a deficit results from funding these make work projects. Get a grip guys! We are all in this canoe together, and it's time we all started rowing in the same direction.

The bottom line is that NONE of the parties and NONE of the leaders have all the answers, and in fact this form of controlling civilization is all being done by trial and error, and no one really knows how it will turn out, as we are just making this up as we go along.

When it comes to deciding where to park your vote, if your only input is what the politicians have to say during an election campaign, and you have no knowledge of guiding philosophies behind a certain party's ideals and approach to running the country, you might as well blindfold yourself and throw a dart at the wall.

I entirely agree with the statement that democracy is the worst form of government ------ except for all the others.

allvoices

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